Some would say that it is enjoyable to get locked in a room with five friends for 35 minutes as they try to solve puzzles and codes to escape.
This situation sounds like a fun brain and teamwork exercise for many UNC students and outside participants — and luckily for them, the UNC Urban Gaming Club is hosting an Escape the Room until March 5.
Sophia Chen, a senior and vice president of the gaming club, said this is a first for the Urban Gaming Club.
“This has been one of those games that we have talked about and hoped for, and we have thought about it, but we have never really got a chance to do it. So when Laura Stubbs was able to get the research done, we let her organize it,” Chen said.
Laura Stubbs, who graduated from UNC in 2011, is the main organizer of the event.
During her time as a student, Stubbs said she ran many of the Humans vs. Zombies games, one of the more popular events the Urban Gaming Club plans. Stubbs got the idea to bring Escape the Room to UNC after participating in escape games nearby.
“I’ve played different escape games in the area, like Bull City Escape in Durham and Cipher (Escape) in Morrisville. I had a really great time with them, and I wanted to see if I could plan one,” Stubbs said. “Since I knew Urban Gaming Club was searching for new games to bring to the campus, I brought the escape game to UNC.”
This event is the club’s first planned indoor activity, and so far, it has received a good response.
“The response seems overwhelmingly positive; it essentially exploded, and I don’t think we predicted this much of a response,” Chen said. “We initially had 96 slots, and then we had to up it to 196 — there are even people on the waitlist.”
