“The first thing you must do is get out of these,” advised our leering host, gesturing towards the handcuffs wrapped around my wrists, which were padlocked to a second set strapped onto my friend. In total, the combination to three padlocks would have to be found to free us from our bonds.
The fact that advice came from a hungry lab assistant nicknamed Beetle, complete with maniacal laugh, raised our anxiety to near panic, especially since we were locked in the basement of the home of a serial killer with an appetite for blender drinks made from human flesh.
With the clock ticking, we began our desperate, and unsuccessful, attempt to solve a series of puzzles within 45 minutes in order to gain our freedom, more than aware punishment for failure would land us in the hands of a psychotic cannibal.
Despite the fact our group, composed of me, my sister and my friend, weren’t actually at risk and instead were attempting to escape from one of the theme rooms at SmartyPantz, located in a four-storey, Edwardian-era building located at the corner of Abbott and West Cordova in Gastown, I was surprised at how much our adrenalin was pumping. It was palpable.
Prior to being handcuffed together — my sister opted out of the restraints — we had to hand over our mobile phones, which were placed in a locked box. We were also given a walkie-talkie and told we could ask just two questions during the course of our ordeal/challenge.
We were attempting to escape from the Thirst for Murder Room, while our male counterparts had chosen Doomed Submarine as their quest. The three other escape rooms at SmartyPantz include Spies & Lies, Dream’scape, and Morning Never Comes.
And while many of the puzzles we needed to solve to escape were extremely challenging, the solutions to others were often right in front of us — when we weren’t overthinking things. (For the sake of not spoiling the fun, that’s all I’ll say about the puzzles.)
SmartyPantz co-founder Chris Ricard says he became interested in creating an escape room attraction while working on a business development plan as part of his master’s in business administration studies. As escape rooms began popping up and trending in Asia and North America, Ricard and friend Dan Civiero visited several locations and took away one impression: “We had a good time, but knew we could do better.”
The rest, as they say, is history and this first SmartyPantz location opened in Gastown at the beginning of 2015. Knowing they’d need help creating the ultimate challenges, they turned to friends in the movie industry who recommended award-winning prop master Ben Krakowsky and set decorator Heidi Wilkinson. The team brainstormed ideas and came up with the concepts for the SmartyPantz rooms. The name SmartyPantz plays homage to the thought needed to solve the puzzles. SmartyPantz also employs a host of local actors who play characters, such as the demented Beetle from our room. Â
Since then, Ricard says he and Civiero have been literally living and breathing all things escape. Their largest customer base comes from businesses and corporations with hopes that by locking employees into a submarine with only a 45-minute air supply, they’ll learn team building and how to work together.
“People have a preconceived notion of how things work in their minds,” says Ricard. “We wanted to shake that up a bit.”
SmartyPantz has just opened a second location in Edmonton with more escape rooms planned for Calgary in the near future. For more information visit .
@sthomas10
