RATING: 2 Keys          RESULT: Loss          REMAINING: 0:00

For those nights that are better left forgotten.

Waking from a blurry fog you slowly open your eyes. Your head spins, as you look around an unfamiliar room. You seem to have slept in your clothes, on a stranger’s bed. You slowly spread your arms, feeling no one. There is evidence of another, but they have left the scene. 

You reach for your phone. You check your pockets and nothing. You check the nightstand and come up with the same result. You pull yourself up on one elbow and spot your coat, draped across a chair, on the far side of the room.

On all fours, you crawl across the room at a snail’s pace and recover your jacket. No phone.

Feeling defeated, you turn your body over and sit, legs spread out, on the floor of the alien space.

The questions come quickly: Where is your phone? What happened last night? Whose room is this? Why are your pants still on? Was this a one-night stand?

One Night Stand deviates from Krakit’s typical horror theme to provide an adventure that is reminiscent of the movie, ‘The Hangover.’ The room starts off in the same manner as the movie, waking up not knowing what had occurred the night before. Perhaps some drinks were involved, or maybe a romantic companion? When booking this room, it’s made clear that this is an adult-only experience, no minors allowed. This could have several connotations, but with a name like A One Night Stand, one would expect a round of adult ‘hide-and-seek’ had occurred the previous evening. 

This narrative is established well at the beginning, utilizing the first puzzle and scenery to tell the tale. But continuing through the game, the story fails to progress. Never are any of the above questions answered, nor is there any trace of the aforementioned companion or phone

It was obvious that an attempt was made at creating an immersive environment true to the narrative. Appropriate furniture and a few props decorated the rooms, yet the surroundings felt worn-in and unpolished. It was as if the set pieces had been gathered from the back alley and deemed good enough for use.

Per the storyline, the party goer wakes up in a dorm style room outfitted with a simple single bed and nightstand.  An argument could be made that sparse and secondhand was exactly the esthetic the game designers were going for, however this lackluster décor continued into the next area too; the party room. 

A black glass bar, black lights, disco ball effects, and neon paint splattered walls. All the stereotypical rave elements are present, as well as some undesirable items. Conspicuously against one wall is a large undecorated black box, presumably for a puzzle. In the other corner sat a prop that is taped off; a relic from adventures gone by. Again, there is thought put into the staging, but it could have used a second effort.

One Night Stand’s puzzles fall into one of three categories: engaging and teamwork-based but disconnected from the theme, required huge logic leaps but on-brand to the storyline, or broken and impossible to solve. 

One puzzle relies on a design drawn out using electrical tape on the wall. However, during our game the electrical tape had peeled off the wall and fallen to the ground, making the solution to escaping impossible to solve. Having previously used our two allowable hints earlier in the game due to the above-mentioned logic leaps, we were unable to obtain assistance from the staff. This frustration killed what little immersion the game had created up until this point.

While the One Night Stand may be a miss, it is worth mentioning again that the majority of Krakit’s rooms are of the horror variety. Credit must be given to Krakit for stepping out of their comfort zone and utilizing a unique concept; an adult-only game. Such a theme could have potential if executed correctly and tastefully but in this instance it is not. One Night Stand leans hard into adult themed puzzles for (what feels like) the sake of it. This unfortunately compromises the story and puzzles for the sake of a risqué theme.

In this case, glaringly obvious storyline issues, puzzles with logic-leaps and lackluster scenery dominate the room and breaks the immersion. Like many One Night Stands, this one unfortunately ends with us taking a walk of shame.

#DaniaForgotToTakeAPic but please enjoy this picture of Escape Authority’s Guest Editor – Riven.

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Venue: Krakit

Location: Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada

Number of Games: 0

GAME SPECIFIC INFORMATION:

Duration: 45 minutes

Capacity: 8

Group Type: Public / You may be paired with strangers.

Cost: This venue has permanently closed.