5 Virtual Escape Rooms You Can Solve From The Comfort Of Your Home
No travel necessary!
The team at Immersia launching their virtual escape rooms. Right, people try to solve an in-person puzzle.
Sometimes, for fun, people lock themselves in lavishly decorated rooms and desperately argue with each other about made-up problems until they either run out of time or manage to remove themselves from the situation. Montreal has a wide array of such spaces, including globally ranked and locally beloved challenges. We're talking about escape rooms, obviously, and there are enough of them to keep you busy for years.
But if you'd rather not leave your home — or you can't, for any variety of understandable reasons — it can be a little sad to miss out on the chaotic adventuring to be had at an in-person room. Thankfully, some escape room companies offer completely remote, virtual games you can play sitting right on your favourite couch.
For beginners, intermediate gamers and everything in between, here's a quick list of some creative virtual escapes you can try with your friends, coworkers or (perhaps) even your family.
BlackBeard's Prison
Company: Scape Laval
Length: 1 hour
Price: $23 per person
Why You Should Try It: In this game, you and your friends are trapped in Blackbeard's prison and must work together to get out before the pirates return to seal your fate. You'll need a minimum of four players, who will have to solve all of the challenges in an hour or less in order to win.
The Grand Immersia Hotel
Company: Immersia
Length: 1 hour
Price: $119.96 for four spots, $30 for each additional player
Why You Should Try It: Immersia is a highly ranked escape room company, boasting plenty of immersive experiences in person and online. This Zoom-based virtual escape room follows the same story as one of their breakout hits: The Grand Immersia Hotel, whose in-person solve rate is 45%. You and your team are trapped by a mysterious figure who wants to prevent the hotel's grand opening, and you have to figure out how to save the hotel — and yourselves — before it's too late.
Memory of a Spy
Company: Défi-Évasion
Length: 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours
Price: $17.40 per person
Why You Should Try It: More of a mission than an escape, this spy story brings you and a recommended max of 5 other players into a secretive world. In this game, you are all spies working for an agency. Every morning, it seems your memories of the recent past disappear mysteriously. It's up to you to follow the clues and figure out what's happening to you — and why.
The Piccadilly Cabaret
Company: Immersia
Length: 1 hour
Price: $119.96 for four spots, $30 for each additional player
Why You Should Try It: Another reimagining of an in-person Immersia classic, this room sets you and your team in a 1930's cabaret, where a famous diva used to perform. The cabaret is now condemned, and you all have decided (for better or for worse) to explore the location, despite rumours of the woman's vengeful ghost stalking the halls. This room is well-suited for two to six players and has an in-person solve rate of 40%. If you're looking for a challenge, this might be the room for you.
Locked! in the Library
Company: Défi-Évasion
Length: 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes
Price: $17.40 per person
Why You Should Try It: This room is on the easier side and is suitable for kids as young as ten. You and your team — ideally no more than six people in total — were calmly studying in the library, only to lose track of time. Once you come back to your senses, you realize that the library is now locked, and to make matters worse, your phone is dead! It's up to you to find your way out of the building before you end up having to sleep there!