E H T T A E R G E P A C ES DON’T MISS
BELOW: Team Barton celebrates escaping Escape Vint Hill. Photo courtesy Keith Barton.
I’VE DONE SEVERAL ESCAPE ROOMS, AND THIS WAS BY FAR THE BEST. WE WERE GREETED AT THE START AND TAKEN TO THE BY MIKE ALLEN PUB WHILE THE ROOM WAS PREPPED. THE ACTUAL ROOM WAS CHALLENGING AND FUN BUT NOT OVERLY COMPLICATED. AFTER IT WAS OVER, THERE WERE FRESHLY BAKED COOKIES WAITING ver since the advent of escape rooms in the early FOR US. I’LL FOR SURE BE GOING BACK!
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2000’s, game night has taken on a different and more active dimension. Inspired by “escape the room” style video games, virtual reality has become reality. Escape rooms require active participation, teamwork, clock management, good eyesight, and logic. They also provide a great opportunity for team-building among work and social groups, goodnatured competition for friends and family, and a means to settle bitter feuds for political rivals and warring parties without the bloodshed…hypothetically. Generally speaking, the premise is that by solving various puzzles, riddles and other clues within a set amount of
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{ OCTOBER 2018 |
— KEITH BARTON, BRISTOW
time, players will uncover the means by which to escape a room. Typically, the room is set up to portray a theme which could be a kidnapping, murder mystery, haunted house, or, in the case of Escape Vint Hill, to defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis and save the world from nuclear war and eating borscht forever. Unlike Friday game night in the den, you will actually have to venture out to the Inn at Vint Hill to play. You will also need to make a reservation ahead of time. Similar to Friday game night at
WARRENTON LIFESTYLE
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your house however, alcohol is served before and after, and you may also take your favorite brain power libation in the room with you. Just make sure your group is made up of people you like, because when it gets toward the end, and the doomsday clock is ticking with the fate of the world hanging on the precipice, you’ll need encouragement and teamwork, not snide remarks and snarky comments. It’s also a good idea to have at least one friend with good eyesight…the room is dimly lit. Bring cheaters if you need them!