Channeling Your Inner Sherlock Holmes

Batavia has just been rattled by a mysterious murder case: a very wealthy local businessman was found in his bedroom, fatally shot in the chest. Since he was a prominent and well-connected man, the police is under pressure to solve the matter quickly – a growing list of suspects only adds to the mystery.

This is the premise for one of the game rooms at the Escape Hunt Experience Jakarta in Kemang, an indoor detective game that has been attracting numerous visitors channeling their inner Sherlock Holmes since it opened in May 2014.

It is the brainchild of Wito Krisnahadi who first played a similar game in Bangkok and then decided to open his own branch in Indonesia.

A fun activity for families and groups of friends of at least two players, the Escape Hunt Experience offers several game rooms with different cases to be solved – Murder in the Bedroom, Kidnapping in the Study, Explosion in the Kitchen, The Laboratory and Ransom at Borobudur.

Players become detectives, searching the rooms meticulously for clues within a time frame of 60 minutes. Solving the crime is not a simple task and requires logic, wit and out-of-the-box thinking. If the puzzles are too hard, a game master is only one button-click away to help out – but the team will lose one minute of time each time the game master gets involved.

“Ransom at Borobudur is the latest addition to our game library,” Wito says. “The storyline involves the kidnapping of a little girl at her father’s office in Central Java, near the historical Borobudur temple. A ransom has been asked to be placed at a specific area of the temple. The task for the group of detectives is to find out who the kidnapper was within 60 minutes.”

This new storyline, he adds, takes the escape game to the next level as it introduces new features, such as deductions and sensory puzzles.

“The reactions from our clients about the new game room have been great, but the game is not really aimed at first-timers as the puzzles are a little bit more complex than our other game rooms,” Wito explains, adding that Ransom at Borobudur aims to blend culture and a historical monument with the concept of the escape-the-room game.

“We hope that clients will be able to enjoy and relate to this [case], and it clearly sets us apart from our competitors as it provides a unique difference by adapting to the local culture,” Wito says.

After escaping from the room, players can relax in the lounge over a cup of tea and have some photo sessions, dressed up as detectives with fun props like pipes and magnifying glasses.

Playing detective can be nerve-wrecking – especially when one is stuck and the clock is mercilessly ticking down – but one thing is for sure: it will unleash your sense of adventure and urge to fight crime.

For more information, visit www.jakarta.escapehunt.com