Immersive adventure game, The Room Escape, comes to Batavia

You wake up in a hotel room beside a dead body - murdered. You must've taken a bad blow to the head because you have total amnesia. You can't remember your own name, much less how you got there.

In the room are all the clues you need to discover who you are, what happened, and how to make it out of the room alive. But you only have an hour to figure it out and the clock starts now.

No, this isn't a nightmare. It's an escape room: an immersive, interactive adventure game in which players race against time to conquer the room's puzzles and challenges using teamwork, logic, and out-of-the-box thinking.

What began as an online game first crossed over to real life in Japan in 2007. Since then, escape games have taken off around the world, with the number of rooms at over 3,000, with more popping up all the time. And now Batavia has its own: The Room Fox Valley, 160 S. Water St., right next to Water Street Studios, will be opening on April 1.

Its creator, Catherine Arne, says, "I hadn't even heard of an escape room a year ago. But as soon as I tried my first one, I was hooked. Even though we didn't escape the room, we still had a blast! The only thing I thought it was lacking was a story. Being a writer, I could immediately see the possibilities."

And, thus, "A Victorian Murder Mystery," the first room that will be offered at The Room Fox Valley - was born. The room is a hybrid of sorts, wedding the escape room concept and with a traditional country-house murder mystery. The goal of the game isn't to escape the room but to unravel the whodunit. Players are not just solving puzzles trying to get to the end, but finding clues to the mystery every step of the way.

Although the room was initially envisioned as a conventional one-hour game in which players who get to the end of the trail of clues in under an hour are rewarded with the killer's identity, Arne quickly discovered that players wanted more time to discuss the clues and solve the crime themselves. So a two-hour "deluxe" version of the game is also available at select times.

Reservations can be made online at TheRoomFoxValley.com. Tickets for the standard room are $30 and each room holds up to six players. If your group doesn't fill the room, you will be placed with others. "Six is really the sweet spot," Arne said. "Enough to get the benefit of multiple perspectives but not so many that communication suffers."

Escape rooms are an excellent option for anyone tired of the same old "dinner and a movie." And it's an experience that appeals to any age group and audience, making it perfect for dates, family nights, and girls/guys night out. They are even exploding in popularity as a corporate team-building event.

Arne plans to eventually open two other rooms in the same location and to branch out with other games as well. "We plan to have a portable 'room in a box' and special events like scavenger hunts and a spy night which can be played in a restaurant or bar."

The Room Fox Valley have a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 5:30 p.m. Friday, April, 1, at 160 S. Water St., Suite B in Batavia, followed by a grand opening celebration at 7 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public. There will be games, prizes, an exhibit of quirky art from internationally acclaimed artist Keri Colestock and a chance to play "The Circus Tent," a teenie-weenie "mini" game room for people to get a taste of what the concept is all about.