Few opportunities allow horror fans to immerse themselves in a beloved universe like escape rooms, with the Seattle-based Hourglass Escapes turning H.P. Lovecraft fans’ dreams into a reality with the all-new Arkham Horror Files escape room. Officially licensed and approved by Asmodee Entertainment and Fantasy Flight Games (the publisher of iconic game titles like Arkham Horror, KeyForge, Legend of the Five Rings, and many more), the upcoming experience marks the first such experience in the United States. Hourglass Escapes debuted their officially licensed Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn escape room last year, with that experience’s challenges and franchise Easter eggs ensuring that the Arkham Horror Files escape room will surely be a go-to destination for all Lovecraft fans.
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“It was such an amazing experience developing and opening the Evil Dead 2 Escape Room,” Hourglass Escapes founder/creative director Seth Wolfson shared in a statement. “We feel so lucky to have a chance to create a new experience based on the iconic board and card games set in the Arkham Horror Universe published by Fantasy Flight Games.”
The escape room is described, “This summer, players will travel back to 1927 where the owner of the Gilman Hotel on the sea-worn coast of Innsmouth has died under mysterious circumstances. Players will have 70 minutes to solve this most unnatural mystery or fall prey to eldritch horrors.”
“This new game is going to blow both Arkham Horror and Lovecraftian fans away,” Wolfson pointed out. “Based on A Shadow Over Innsmouth, this will be a story-driven escape room with the classic Arkham Horror Files game mechanics woven in.”
Yuri Lowenthal (Spider-Man himself from the hit PS4 game Marvel’s Spider-Man) stars as the in-game narrator. In a fan-favorite addition used in the Evil Dead 2 game, players will be able to download their characters and costume ideas. They will also receive a special item on arrival that will help their chosen character within the game.
For those unfamiliar with the concept, Wolfson previously broke down what makes escape rooms so exciting.
“In an escape room, you usually, and should, have a goal or a mystery to solve, which might be to escape the room, or to help somebody escape, or stop a virus, or break a curse, or what-have-you,” Wolfson explained to ComicBook.com. “You usually have an hour, it varies, to solve a mystery, or complete a mission, or a goal, through the use of puzzles and props, all in a self-contained environment.”
He added, “I usually tell people it’s like they’re in a movie, but you’re the main star. Reminding them it’s like in The Goonies, when they play the piano, to then do things in the pirate ship.”
You can head to the Hourglass Escapes official website to keep up to date with the new experience.
