When we first created “The Postmaster’s Riddle” in the attic of the historic 1912 post office in Harriston, we knew it would be unique enough to stand the test of time and win the hearts of even the biggest “escape room addicts”. We quickly realized however, that there was a bigger challenge to make the overall experience for every single person that enters to feel like this room was made for them.
We’ve seen how most escape rooms operate. They usually take your team into a small room and play a professionally made instructional video. Once the video is done, there is no repeats. You enter the room and play the game. This works for big city adventure rooms where there is multiple games happening at the same time, but at Escape The Old Post we are in a small town with only one game running, and one Gamemaster, at one time. In a building with a rich history and a 1200 sq.ft. room a quick video wasn’t going to work.
When we opened, we saw all kinds of different groups. Families, birthday parties, team building events, seniors & teenagers. You never knew who was going to walk in our door. It was important to us to get to know each and every team. We began to create time for the Gamemaster to chat, laugh and begin their “intro” sharing with the team the history of the building. This gives the context to the space they are in and gives each team a thrill as they are about to play in a previously abandoned attic. Once the cool history is shared, we actually bring each team up to the attic and explain the so helpful rules in a 15 minute detailed explanation. This allows us to form a connection with the team and understand how they play best when the game begins.
We find these methods far more effective in making a brilliant escape experience. Forming a connection with each and every group allows us to personalize the game far more. We’re able to tease them over the speaker system or make them comfortable if they have never been to an escape room before. Last summer, we had a group of all 10 year old boys without a parent chaperone. With our personalized method, we were able to work on the boys’ level, and our Gamemaster actually played the game with them instead of being in the gamemaster room. They couldn’t stop raving about the fun they had! The next game was an experienced group looking for a challenging experience. The same Gamemaster made the escape room more challenging than it already was, which pleased the team.
We want to exceed every groups’ expectations and by doing our personalized intro combined with the little things like writing each team’s name on packages and our chalkboard. Getting to know each and every team makes this exclusive room feel like it was meant for everyone who walks in our door.
