On the northwest corner of a 20,000-square-foot building at 2070 Waldorf St. NW, a group of five people are locked in one of three 2,500-square-foot rooms and given 60 minutes to solve a series of puzzles designed to lead players to a satisfyingly challenging escape.
It's the premise Jim Burns' latest venture,
Escape Michigan, whose simpler and much, much scarier tourist attraction
The Haunt has been housed on he Walker compound for about 15 years now, bringing in more than 350,000 visitors each Halloween season it opens.
“He’s always loved to build and to make things, so as far as entertainment attractions go, he loves to create something that can bring everyone together…” says Amy Johnson, marketing manager for Escape Michigan. “That was his background, he’s always wanted for people to have that shared experience.”
Slated for a mid-June opening, renovations are currently underway for the first live-action room escape game to come to West Michigan, though the genre's venue had already become a fixture in cities like New York and Detroit and has origins rooted in the European adaptation of what was created as a digital puzzle game.
“Jim realized it’s just a matter of time before there would be one here in Grand Rapids and a matter of time before the demand for that kind of activity would grow, too.” Johnson says.
Each experience is led by one of the Escape Michigan game masters, who brief players in a staging room prior to locking the door and starting the clock at 60 minutes. Players can choose from three background settings that create the story for the room escape game — the first is called "viral outbreak," the second called "Spy's Safe House," and the to-be-determined third room, which is also expected to open alongside the others in June — and use problem solving and teamwork skills alongside hints and clues displayed on some kind of monitor in the room, typed by the gamemaster who is in charge of keeping the flow of the game from another nearby room.
Groups of 2-5 can reserve an escape room for a flat rate fee of $125, with available game slots at 6:30, 8 and 9:30 p.m. — limited hours of operation that Johnson says Escape Michigan will adjust as demand for those kind of room escape game attractions grow in downtown Grand Rapids.
The attraction is for all ages and Johnson says Escape Michigan has already received requests from work groups who want to use the escape game as a team-building exercise.
“Jim will put together a very challenging but fun game, so it can really work toward this team building effort,” she says. “When you have a live integration game it not only challenges your brain but challenges [the] element of teamwork, which is something that will be a very central focus for these escape rooms."
Although the new attraction isn't accepting room reservations quite yet, anyone interested is encouraged to fill out the information form online to receive updates from Escape Michigan including more details about upcoming events and ticket availability when it opens next month.
Visit www.escapemichigan.com to fill out the online form, or visit
Escape Michigan on Facebook to stay updated on the official mid-June opening.
Written by Anya Zentmeyer, Development News Editor
Images courtesy of Escape Michigan
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