Rat Races and Fabled Forests: Escaping Reality in Seattle and Los Angeles
Interior at Lab Rat taken by Terry Podgorski
Escape Room Field Report - West Coast
We’ve been on a wander to discover what is going on out there in the world of entertainment in 2023. We’ve hit up theme parks, immersive museums, conference, and escape rooms.
To be clear, Nordo is NOT opening an escape room. But, escape rooms are increasingly more narrative and theater is increasingly more interactive and somewhere in the middle is a sweet spot that will sweep audiences off their feet and into a suspension of disbelief and wonder. This is the spot we are looking for
So, for your perusal, a top secret Field Report.
Location(s):
1)Seattle, WA
2)Los Angeles, CA
Event(s):
Environmental Conditions: spring to summer delight. Almost bordering on too warm for these Northwest souls. Visit the La Brea Tar Pits everyone! They’re so cool. LA is weird.
Seattle Summary:
1) We put together a team of nerds and competitive game nuts and met for dinner and a couple of drinks in Fremont at the Red Star Taco Bar. We then headed out to find Locurio. The business hides in a sneaky apartment complex in central Fremont. Down an alley. Through a gate. Up the stairs. The first part is a success. We feel pretty good. A bit edgy
“Storykeeper” is rooted in fables of old. One of these stories has been absconded and must be returned and fixed! We begin in a library with shelves of tales, traverse a magical forest full of creatures and mazes, and end in a hut with a particular disgruntled creature that might seem familiar once you’re there.
We struggled at first. It took us awhile as a group to get our puzzle brain on, but once we did we made good progress with minimal hints. The last couple of puzzles nearly got us, but with an “aha” moment here and a bit of luck there, we put the components together and turned the crank to “solve” the room with a whole 3 minutes to spare.
The world of fables was back to how it should be!
L.A. Summary:
2) Flying in for the Next Stage Immersive Conference we only had a few friends to hit up for our team in Los Angeles. Though our team was small, it was mighty. We met in a neighborhood that I’m sure has a name, but to me, who has only been to L.A. once or twice, seems to be between many neighborhoods, but then again most of L.A. seems that way. Labrat is in a tall, older warehouse that used to house copies of all the Screen Actors Guild scripts ever written. Truly. Every script submitted to SAG had a copy in this building. I think that’s hilarious.
You’re a human. Duh. In a cage. Oh no. With real bars. Giant rats in lab coats are experimenting on your team to judge the extent of human intelligence if there is any at all. The rats (really actors on screen in rat garb so don’t worry) are a bit rude and demeaning, but then again you would be too if you had been test subjects for centuries and the tables flipped.
We passed through a series of tests based upon true lab experiments, win the treats, conquer the giant water bottle puzzle, stumble at charades a bit (I am terrified of charades and nearly froze), then spin the hamster wheel in the correct pattern to prove our intelligence and win our freedom!
Humans do have intelligence! Even the rats have to agree!
The unassuming entrance to the Hatch underworld, where LABRAT is contained. Photo by Terry Podgorski.
Conclusions:
1) It’s amazing what Locurio has done in the confines of the space they have. The worlds are clear and delightful. Because it’s based on common fables you feel like you should know what to do, and in a way you kind of do if you could only see it, but surprises abound. The puzzles are a masterful blend of styles and everyone in the group found a way to contribute and win the day!
2) Labrat is hilarious. Cute. A riot. The event is full of “aha” group moments. I’d love a video to take home of our team in the throes of delight chasing a ball rolling through a track system suspended from the ceiling. The story is also clear and complete, and the puzzles flow from one to the other in the context of the “experimentation”. “Inventive” is the word!
Recommendations:
1) Visit and support Locurio now. It’s in Seattle. So close to downtown. Plus, based on a reliable source we know that Locurio is also looking for a new home to expand their brand of narrative escape rooms. Rooted in literature with a wicked eye for good puzzles, we’re sure the new venue will be a success.
2) If you like this kind of thing and are in L.A. hit up Labrat. It’s a laugh. But also, keep an eye on Hatch Escapes, the parent company. In their building they also house “The Nest”, immersive narrative designed by a couple of Imagineers for only two guests at a time in which you explore the life of person through what is left in storage. And, they have a couple of promising new rooms on the horizon including “The Ladder”, a corporate espionage piece with multiple characters and multiple endings that we are eager to see. The tour we were given of the almost finished rooms blew our little tech minds. They’re on the edge of new things.
That concludes Field Report #1. Stay tuned…
Our intrepid L.A. team of “Lab Rats”. Photo by Terry Podgorski.