Have you ever gone with a group of friends to an escape room? Now thanks to virtual reality headsets you can experience an escape room unique from anything else you have ever seen before!
A real-life escape room puts participants through a series of challenges and brain teasers in order to break out of a room. Virtual reality escape rooms allow users to join with their friends in out of this world locations. Combine a well-loved activity with the enjoyments of virtual reality.
So grab a couple of your friends and go test your luck in a virtual reality escape room! Want to do some more research before you put on the virtual reality goggles? Keep reading to learn more about the different kinds of escape rooms you can try.
VR Escape Rooms
Virtual reality escape rooms are still relatively new designs, there are not many versions ready for residential use.
However, this does not mean that you have to keep playing the same old VR games. Many commercial virtual reality stories offer an escape room for you and your friends to try out.
In fact, I was walking down Hollywood Blvd the other day and there was a very nice VR escape room there!
Participants are placed in a room and fully detached from any cords so that they can fully experience the reality they have been placed in.
To allow players the maximum amount of time in the escape room, each wears a backpack attached to their goggles. Each player is then free to roam about the virtual escape room for the entirety of their experience.
What to Expect
Now that you know a little more about how a virtual reality escape room works, you may want to know a little more about completing the virtual reality escape room yourself.
Some questions you may have include: How long does it take to complete a VR escape room? How many people can do an escape room at once? How hard can a VR escape room be? What should you wear to the escape room?
Luckily for you, we have the answers to all of your questions and more!
The true length of a virtual reality escape room will vary depending on the room, difficulty, and amount of people in the escape room.
Typically a virtual reality escape room can take anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes. The amount of time you spend inside the escape room will also vary depending on how well you and your friends work together to complete each of the tasks.
The number of people able to play in one escape room at a time will depend on where you are playing the game and what scenario you choose to play out.
Be sure to leave yourself a little extra time between your next activity incase the escape room takes a little longer than expected.
Most virtual reality stores will allow for 2 to 6 people to play at a time. While planning a group VR escape room, chances are someone will ask you what they should wear.
As I mentioned before, you will be wearing a backpack and for some escape rooms, they may have you wear a haptic vest (vibration vest). You will also be walking around quite a bit.
With these things in mind, you will want to dress comfortably and avoid wearing any bulky clothes that will either get in the way of the backpack or that will make you too warm. You don’t want to end up being too hot and needing to stop to take a big hoodie off.
There are also different difficulties of escape rooms you can try while using a virtual reality set. Be sure to ask the game operator what the difficulty level is before you enter the scenario!
Don’t worry about getting “never escaping” your assigned room, there are employees who will be there to help you if you and your group end up stuck on one task for too long!
The most important question to know before booking your own escape room experience is how much it will cost.
Most escape rooms cost anywhere between 20-40 dollars per person; however, some virtual reality stores will offer you a group discount! Be sure to look for any discounts before purchasing admission to your local VR store.
If you are hoping to know exactly what the escape room you are going to be attending will be like, be sure to do a little research on their website or call in and talk to one of the employees!
Reality vs Virtual Reality Escape Rooms
Now that you know a bit more about how a virtual reality escape room works, you may be wondering how they compare to a normal escape room.
In-person escape rooms come in all different shapes and sizes. In fact, an escape room can vary from small to chest to the size of an actual house!
Like virtual reality escape rooms, an in-person escape room is usually themed. The most common themes are zombie apocalypse or murder mystery.
One of the pros of virtual escape rooms is that there is more freedom in the themes the room can take on. As well as the fact that you can pass through multiple rooms without ever leaving the room you began in!
Virtual reality also allows users to work through more diverse activities than an in-person escape room; however, while the activities may be more varied in a virtual reality escape room in person escape rooms still seem to win in this category.
While playing a virtual reality escape room, players are holding motion-sensing controllers, because of this, the activities can not be hands-on. Part of the fun of an in-person escape room is that you can do puzzle boxes or other hands-on tasks in order to escape.
Another benefit of in-person escape rooms is that you can avoid the problem of motion sickness.
Virtual reality games will not always cause motion sickness but it is still possible. If you are worried that you may experience motion sickness, an in-person escape room may be the better choice for you.
Learn more about motion sickness and virtual reality by clicking here!
Personally, I think that if you have the opportunity to go to a virtual reality escape room, take it! It will blow your mind way more than a regular, in-person escape room.
If you love virtual reality and escape rooms, I highly recommend trying a virtual reality escape room at least once and decide which version is better!
Other VR Activities
There are so many unique activities you can use virtual reality for! While you may have already tested your luck at activities such as Beat Saber or a virtual reality roller coaster, there are so many more things you can use your virtual reality set for!
Exercise
Spice up your daily workout routines with a virtual reality set! This works best for stationary bikes, ellipticals, stair-masters, or treadmills.
Transport yourself outside of your living room or garage, start your morning run on a beach or by riding your stationary bike up a mountain pass!
Explore
One of the greatest things you can do with a virtual reality set is to see the world! No longer do you have to spend hours crammed in a little airplane seat to see what sights such as the Eiffel Tower or the Golden Gate Bridge look like in person.
Use Google Earth in combination with your virtual reality set and the world is suddenly in the palm of your hand.
Date Night
If you are looking for a unique date with your significant other, virtual reality might be exactly what you are searching for.
You can either take them to one of the many virtual reality stores located across the country or even use your own personal VR set.
Eat dinner with your significant other in a cafe in Europe or sit on the beach in Australia. Use virtual reality to your advantage and bring your date nights to an entirely new level!