Oslo, are you ready for the world' new craze? It is all about escaping the room in 60 minutes...
Real-life escape room games went viral on all of the continents. The concept is easy and out of your comfort zome and you are going to like it. Because it will all happen to you for real and not online.
You and your friends are physically locked in a room. Your task is to escape this room within 60 minutes. And no, it won't help to turn this room upside down in search of the key, because physical force won't get you out of the room. You would need to THINK your way out of this room by solving puzzles, riddles, using your logic and imagination depending on the plot of the room. You can say you would need to be a bit of the detective here as rumor has it all mysteries and challenges in the original escape room games were inspired by the works of Agatha Christie.
I hope by now you would be intrigued in the same way as I was. And therefore this is the best time to announce that one of the first real-life escape room games has opened in Oslo! The owners of this amazing place are Miklos and Balint from Hungary. The mention of the country is important here, as the first escape room games in Europe were started exactly in Hungary.
Our City Stories team (further mentioned as CST) went down to Parapark premises in Oslo to meet the owners of Parapark Balint (B) and Miklos (M) to get more details about this challenging game they prepared for Oslo to experience.
CTS : Balint, what was your first Escape Room experience?
B: I got to experience it for the first time in Budapest, Hungary. This is where the concept of Parapark comes from. My colleague dragged me into this, she suggested it as the team-building activity. She was very excited but did not give away any spoilers. The excitement was catchy, so it did not take long before we were locked in the room (smiles).
CTS : Does the name Parapark actually mean anything?
B: Oh yes. "Para" is something ....(hesitates choosing the right word), something spooky, something on the edge of this reality. So the first time we went to Parapark in Budapest, I thought it would be something scary. But of course it wasn't, it was a great fun. It felt like you got to experience somewhat different reality.
CTS : What happened after that? Did you think back then that in a couple of years you would open a place like that?
B : No, not at all. I mean it was fun and exciting but I did not think back then that I will end up opening a game room like that myself.
M : As for me, yes, I knew straight away that I would love to do something like that. I fell in love with the game and the concept. Besides, opening it in Norway seemed logical as there was nothing like this game offered here
CTS : What kind of plot or theme do you have for your game? Who developed the plot for your room by the way?
M: This is a franchise. We invested into it and decided to bring it to Norway. The plans of the room were purchased from the Hungarian owner as well. You can say he is a Master of the Game in Hungary (laughs)
B : You need to understand that creating a plot for real-life game like that takes several years, it is really a difficult task. No detail should be missing, the real life game should be tested for "bugs" ...Almost like a computer game. If the plot is not smooth, it will just ruin the game
CTS: What was your inner motivation to open live escape room game?
B : I think I can speak on behalf of both of us. We are united by the same motivation. To let people experience something they will never forget. I have had many jobs in my life and they were all united by the same thought - to make maybe a small difference for the people around. I am not sure how deep you would like to go into this discussion?
CTS : I am very curuious. Please, continue?
B (laughs) : I think in the end of the day, my inner motivation is quite selfish. I feel good when people get great emotions because of my efforts. We are NOT here to entertain people. Entertainment is something passive, something you receive. We are here to give experience. And experience is something you do actively, not passively.
CTS : This is a very interesting thought...So Parapark is not entertainment. Parapark is experience, right? But my next quiestion is how difficult it was to introduce this kind of experience to the country which never encountered Escape Room games before?
M : Very difficult. First of all....people do not realise that this is NOT an online game. We actually have to tell them that everything will happen to them in real life, in the real room, etc.
B: Yes, that is true. We also had doubts about the name Parapark as it doesn't tell much to people. The brand Parapark is from Hungary. This is why we needed to add words "Real-life Escape Room" game, to describe it better, you know.
CTS : and how one can find you? I mean I found you without any problems because I knew what I was looking for, but people who do not even know about the concept of real-life games...How do they find you?
M : we have a website, Facebook page, we ran a promo in Let's Deal and yes, the game becomes more and more popular.
CTS : A tricky question now...Can you describe a typical customer of yours? Who is this average person playing Escape Room games?
B (laughs) : Someone who likes to be challenged. Open to new things. Definitely not a couch-potato or TV-person. Curious. Usually it all comes down to one curious person who brings the rest!
CTS: By the way, what is the percentage of people who manage to escape the room in 60 minutes?
M : approximately 60% manage to escape. But chances are always higher if you a bigger team but the limit in our game is 5 people.
CTS : coming back to our conversation about typical image of the customer...What about you? What is the typical image of Escape Room business owner?
B: Enthusiastic. We like to do things in slightly unorthodox ways. Nothing extreme though (smiles). I like working with people, talking to them. It makes me feel better when I know someone is living the experience we created!
CTS : Ok, we got it what you love about your job. And now we want to know what irritates you about it.
M (smiles) : What we love about our job is people. What irritates us sometimes is people as well. When we were setting up our business and our game here, we went through some difficulties which we did not expect at all. Some things just did not work in the way it should due to the human factor, but now it is all over, so we are very happy people here.
CTS : Last logical question. I know you have just started and opened in March this year...But what happens next? What are your plans?
M (looks at the room around us and smiles) : Can you guess what it is? It is the second room. We will open the 2nd room soon with a different scenario and plot. And after that... we will Go Big!
CTS : How big?
M (with a very broad smile) : Very Big. You will see!
From the CTS team - this place is really worth visiting. No spoilers. We cannot tell you what the game is like. What the plot is like. Because it will ruin your experience. But we can guarantee it is the place to be in Oslo! To find out more about Parapark and book 60 minutes adventure, please visit http://oslo.parapark.no/. Go ahead, challenge yourself and get to experience a different reality! Escape the Room!!!!!!!
