Scan Magazine | Special Theme | Autumn Experiences in Sweden – Our Top Picks
Escaping a Sherlock show “I think what makes the experience so special is that everyone’s full and genuine presence is needed. It’s like you leave reality for a moment when you’re locked up in here,” says Niklas Åkermyr, owner and founder of Sherlocked. Being locked up may not be most people’s idea of the perfect break from reality, but escape rooms are booming globally, allowing groups of friends and companies out for team-building days to enjoy a very special blend of drama, problem-solving and fun. By Linnea Dunne | Photos: Sherlocked
The escape room trend started in Asia about a decade ago, based on the idea of locking up a group of people who know each other in a room and giving them a limited amount of time to find a way out using clues and hidden items and riddles. A few years later the concept came to Europe, but the Nordic region was relatively late to catch on. “We were the second company in Sweden doing it, and that was at the very end of 2014,” says Åkermyr. With a past in investment banking, Åkermyr had been nurturing a dream of entertaining people, and he was tired 44 | Issue 103 | August 2017
of his old career and wanted a change. Then, at a concert in Berlin, he heard of escape rooms and started Googling. “I realised how popular it was and that it hadn’t hit Sweden yet, so I found a place in Malmö, moved in, got a brilliant writeup in Sydsvenskan – and from that day, we’ve more or less been fully booked,” he says. What is unique about Åkermyr’s Sherlocked – bar having pioneered the escape room concept in Sweden – is its environment. As the name suggests, the experience is Sherlock Holmes themed, and that goes for everything from the
wallpaper to the props and the staff. “That’s part of why it feels like you’re in an alternate reality and you forget all about work and your everyday life. You’re not allowed to bring your mobile phone along, and you’re in this environment that feels like it’s lifted from 150 years ago,” the founder explains. “From the details on the desk to the original wallpaper, everything contributes to that environment that transports you to a new world, and you forget all about that email that’s been sitting in your inbox for three weeks, waiting for you to deal with it.” The main Sherlocked building is a house from 1873, bursting with charming original décor, just a stone’s throw from Malmö Central Station. While Sherlock fans from all the corners of the globe flock to the destination, companies looking for team-building packages make up the majority of the customers. “The central location in an area with plenty of character as well as some great con-