Escape ordinary?
Two intriguing entertainment venues have recently opened in downtown Asheville, North Carolina: Conundrum and Breakout. They use virtual reality and other technologies to create adventures of escape, journeys from lost to found, and mysteries to explore.
Participants assume new identities as hostages, questers, secret agents, or detectives. It’s like being in a movie as it unfolds or bringing a mystery thriller to life. For a couple of hours, be like Jason Bourne, Katniss Everdeen, Stephanie Plum, or a Ghostbuster.
I understand the drawing power of this kind of entertainment. We face daunting problems which seem to elude solution, so it’s reassuring to deal with a problem we might actually be able to solve. It’s good practice for dealing with hard things outside the safe container of a temporary fictional world.
