Having trouble finding something to do in Sudbury? Looking for an escape from the norm?
Sudbury Escape Artists Games and Outfitters opens July 14 at 615 Kathleen St. and is Sudbury's first and only escape room.
The trend is wildly popular overseas and has been slowly creeping its way into larger centres in Canada, but Sudbury and much of the north is without the interactive puzzle games that challenge your problem solving abilities and demand poise under pressure.
Husband and wife Dave and Wanda Deloye* have been working tirelessly for a month and a half to get the escape room prepared for its July 14 opening, and are both avid fans of the theme-based activities that are like a mixture of a murder mystery party and a team brainstorming session.
“My husband and I and our kids were in Budapest in the summer of 2014 and we were looking for stuff that we could all do together,” said Wanda.
“We looked on Trip Advisor and these escape rooms were all the top rated activities. The kids and Dave and I loved it and we did them in a bunch of different cities around Europe, there's thousands of them over there and it's starting to catch on over here now.”
Wanda and Dave bounced the idea around of having an escape room in Sudbury but it got put on the back burner for a while until they travelled to Florida and reignited the plan.
“These are popular with everyone, they're not physically demanding but you do have to be clever,” said Wanda.
“We're in an area with Tuco's Tacos, Sweet Nothings, Cosmic Dave's, and there's a cafe opening up the street as well. It's a pretty trendy area so I think our business fits in well there.”
The couple had to do plenty of renovations to set the place up, as it's the entire main floor of a house. When asked what goes into building an escape room, Wanda was cagey in her response.
“I can't really say what needed to be done without giving too much away, you'd have to see it to find out,” she said.
The theme of the Sudbury escape room is Berlin '63 and is described on the business' Facebook page as follows:
"The date is June 26, 1963, the height of the Cold War, and the United States President John F. Kennedy is in West Berlin giving his famous 'Ich bin ein Berliner' speech on the steps of the Rathaus Schöneberg in front of a crowd of 450,000 people.
While investigating a report of men having been seen climbing out of manholes, you happen upon a secret room in the sewers that belongs to a group KGB spies located under the Rathaus Schöneberg podium where the speech is being delivered.
Your mission is to solve the clues that allow you to disarm the bomb and escape the bunker before the KGB spies return. As the clock ticks, the fate of the future is in your hands. Good luck!"
A group of four people is required to participate and children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult.
Admission is $25 per person but will be on special for $20 per person for a limited time (cash only).
Due to space, reservations are encouraged and you can make your reservation by calling 705-222-9933 or sending an email to escapeartists@vianet.ca or direct message on Facebook.
*In an earlier version of this story, the family's last name was misspelled. The error has been corrected.
