MONDAY 19 JANUARY 2015 • [email protected] • www.thepeninsulaqatar.com • 4455 7741 inside Hollywood’s addiction to franchises reaching CAMPUS • Bhavan’s Public new extremes School celebrates Annual Day P | 4 P | 8-9 COMMUNITY • Month-long campaign ‘Together Escape Room challenges teams to work together, for Virtue’ ends search for clues, crack codes and solve puzzles to escape a locked room within 45 minutes. Several items P | 6 need to be unlocked and figuring out the code is part of the fun in this new game. FOOD • To the rescue: The freezer and home-cooked beans P | 7 FITNESS • If food’s your reward, you can’t win P | 11 TECHNOLOGY • How to make your PC CRACK CODES, more secure? P | 12 SOLVE PUZZLES LEARN ARABIC • Learn commonly used Arabic words TO ESCAPE and their meanings P | 13 2 PLUS | MONDAY 19 JANUARY 2015 COVER STORY ‘Escape room’ adventures become popular in US Contestants work together to figure out a riddle on one of the clues in the room at Escape Room Live DC in Washington. By Jessica Contrera The voice comes through the loud- branch of a New York City room escape Overall, Escape Room Live DC doesn’t speaker in the corner of the room, and is set to open in DC’s Chinatown neigh- feel claustrophobic and creepy, as one ou’re Indiana Jones in the you’re shaken from the adrenaline- bourhood in late February. might expect from a basement adven- map room, positioning the fuelled mission that had you feeling It could be just a fad. Or, in a world ture. The vibe is meant to be fun and Staff of Ra to reveal the like an adventure movie hero. Then where screens are the constant source cozy — as cozy as being locked in a Ysecret location you’ve been you remember you’re in a setup. That of entertainment, it could be just the room can be. searching for. You’re Harry Potter in you paid for. kind of shake-up people want. Here’s how it works: A group rang- the TriWizard Tournament, and you The name of the game is “Escape The escape room adventure at ing from two to 12 people is briefed must solve the sphinx’s riddle in order Room” — a literal description for a Escape Room Live DC starts with a with the story line by the “gamemas- to pass. You’re the star of “National complicated endeavour. A team of peo- descent into what was once a base- ter.” They are spies breaking into the Treasure,” and you’ve just found the ple sign up to be locked in a room, and ment office, behind a Starbucks on office of one of their co-workers, who red and blue glasses in the hidden they must find clues and solve puzzles Connecticut Avenue. The room is is believed to be leaking information brick, and now there’s another mes- to complete a given mission and find packed with trendy, Pinterest-esque to the enemy. Tomorrow, this evil sage on the back of the Declaration of the key to escape. decor — chevron walls, barn wood, spy is going to drop off information Independence. After taking off in Asia, Western chalkboard art — a nod to the 20- to in a secret location in the city. The You’re you, trapped in a DC base- Europe and the West Coast, these 30-something age group that escape mission is to find out where. But as ment, frantically searching for clues attractions are popping up across the rooms hope to attract. The spy theme they enter the room, they will trip to root out the spy defector and the country. In the DC area, one opened is throughout, with accents of mus- the security system. The door locks authorities are coming and time is run- in College Park, Maryland, in May, taches, maps and fedoras. The sound- behind them and they have 45 min- ning out and — another that opened in Washington in track sounds like it should be playing utes to find the key before being “Do you want a hint?” October is already expanding, and a while James Bond orders a drink. “caught.” PLUS | MONDAY 19 JANUARY 2015 3 The timer is set, the rules (no break- locked box, and now it’s feeling like ing stuff, there are no clues inside the “National Treasure” again, and the dad electrical outlets, etc) are recited, the character is saying, “And that will lead door is shut, and then, it’s go time. you to another clue, and another clue!” The room (more chevron here) All the while, the clock is ticking. appears at first glance like a well-dec- “It’s hilarious to see how differ- orated office. Then, the group tears ent groups handle the pressure,” said it apart, looking for clues. There are Ginger Flesher, the owner of Escape locked suitcases — where to find the Room Live DC. She’s a retired math combination? Books — will one con- teacher and her husband, Darren tain a hidden message? Broken clocks Sonnier, works in intelligence. They — should you pay attention to the time first tried an escape room while visit- it’s stopped on? Mugs, flashlights, mag- ing Prague this past summer. By the nets, paintings, vases, sticky notes, end of their trip, they had completed to use the room for baby gender reveal are moving toward headsets that com- watches, trench coats, wigs, compasses, five escape rooms all around Europe, parties. Congrats, you escaped! Also, pletely immerse the user in another lamps, board games, playing cards. And and Flesher was determined to open it’s a boy! world. Even games that are solitary, in them or on them or under one in DC. In the 12 weeks this escape room like “Minecraft,” are commonly made them there She and her employees have watched has been open, its reviews on Yelp and social. Gamers live-stream themselves are clues and (via video monitor) hundreds of peo- TripAdvisor have been overwhelm- playing on websites like Twitch.tv and riddles and ple tackle the game. During the week, ingly positive. That’s seemingly true for post completed games on YouTube for puzzles whose her customers are typically co-workers escape rooms in every city, regardless others to watch and comment on. answers lead using the room as an exercise in team of who runs them. Frank Lantz, direc- Escape rooms tap into that desire to a letter building. On the weekends, the groups tor of the NYU Game Center, points for social and physical while also pro- that means are mostly friends, families or dates. to similar computer-based escape viding intellectual stimulation and a bit a number She’s had many birthday parties, a few games as the starting point for physi- of a thrill. Some rooms try to make the that points bachelor and bachelorette parties, and cal escape rooms. He believes their experience slightly scary, to add to the to another is hoping to attract couples who want success is unsurprising, given current rush of the time crunch. trends in gaming. And Sigmund Freud, “When we’re just the right level obviously. of aroused — which can happen from “Freud has the concept of the fear, stress, anxiety, fun, etcetera — The room appears at first repressed,” Lantz said. “If you try to we perform better,” said sociologist repress something that is a power- Margee Kerr, who is known for her glance like a well-decorated ful force, it comes back in a stronger work studying the effect of fear on the office. Then, the group form.” brain. “This is the well-tested finding tears it apart, looking for In this case, the powerful force is the that a little stress is good when doing human desire to play games that are something like taking a test or com- clues. There are locked both social and physical. Sports have pleting a challenge.” suitcases — where to find always been this way, for example. Escape Room Live DC is set up so the combination? Books — “For a long time, video and computer about 30 percent of participants can games had become very solitary,” Lantz escape in time without help from the will one contain a hidden said. “But now, we’re seeing the emer- gamemaster. But most end up with the message? Broken clocks — gence of the social and the physical.” minutes ticking down, wigs and trench should you pay attention to Video games like “Call of Duty” coats and puzzles scattered all over allowed players to talk to other gam- the floor, stuck on some clue that they the time it’s stopped on? ers playing at the same time. Then can’t figure out or don’t know they got came the incredibly popular Wii, wrong — the perfect time, most find, to which was entirely about being physi- decide on an answer for “do you want cal while gaming. Today, video games a hint?” WP-Bloomberg 4 PLUS | MONDAY 19 JANUARY 2015 CAMPUS Guests and school officials at the Annual Day function. Right: Students performing various cultural programmes. Bhavan’s celebrates Annual Day havan’s Public School cel- BHPS. The school calendar for 2015- ebrated its 5th Annual Day at 16, magazine Mirror and the curricu- BAl Arabi Volleyball indoor sta- lum plan 2015-16 were released by the dium recently. The KG programme dignitaries. was inaugurated by Girish Kumar K R, Prizes were distributed to the win- President, ICC, and Raj Kumar Singh, ners of sports and Talent day events Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of followed by various cultural pro- India inaugurated the primary and sec- grammes by the students.