[Image courtesy of LaCrosse Escape Room.]

Escape Room puzzles are really pushing new boundaries in terms of themes and storytelling. Horror, post-apocalypse, and other disaster themes are fairly common, and we recently discussed a escape event in Chicago with a monsters-on-the-loose theme.

So I’m definitely not surprised to see media companies getting in on the action. As it turns out, Nintendo has gotten in on the ground floor and will be producing a touring escape-the-room event this year.

The theme: The Legend of Zelda. One of the most beloved video game franchises of all time.

Defenders of the Triforce offers the opportunity for game fans and puzzlers to leap into the vast universe of the Zelda games, exploring, solving puzzles, and becoming an adventure hero just like Link!

Unlike traditional escape-the-room challenges, you’re not locked in a room with only your team. Several teams use the space at the same time to try to solve all the puzzles and “escape,” but each team has its own table to serve as a base of operations. (Though the organizers warn “you will need to get up and explore the game space in order to find all the clues. Write everything down!”)

You have to buy tickets in advance to ensure a spot at one of these events, and teams of six will participate in the game. So you can sign up with friends or sign up on your own and join a team!

[Image courtesy of Zelda.com.]

No specific Zelda game knowledge is required in order to play, but I suspect long-time fans of the Zelda games will get more out of the experience.

These are the dates announced so far:

San Francisco: Jan 31 – Feb 5 (sold out)
Los Angeles: Feb 10 – Mar 12 (sold out)
Phoenix: Feb 15 – Feb 17 (1 date with spaces left)
San Diego: Feb 23 – Feb 25 (sold out)

Further information on events in Seattle, Houston, Chicago, and New York will be announced on January 24th. And be quick on the button, because these things are clearly selling out fast!

This sounds like a perfect matching of video game puzzlers and traditional puzzle solvers, and I can’t wait to hear about the events. I’ll be sure to keep you posted, and if anyone in the PuzzleNation readership is planning on attending, let me know! I’d love to hear from you!

[You can find more details on the event here, along with links to The Legend of Zelda and SCRAP, the escape room team organizing the event.]

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