In an alley, just down the street from the Sacramento, CA capitol building, hides the Golden Puzzle Rooms, where people of all ages can take on the challenge of “The Vampire’s Study.” This study is no ordinary den—it’s an escape room. In it, players work together to solve the room’s many riddles, brainteasers, and puzzles in order to break the curse that has haunted a man known only as “The Master.” But, there’s a catch: the team has only one hour before the Master returns and falls victim to his vampiric appetite.
The Golden Puzzle Rooms has been open since Halloween of 2015, and has provided thrilling entertainment for thousands of tourists, company team-builders, and families alike. Players can wait for their adventure to begin while enjoying a refreshment at the PreFlite Lounge bar next door, operated by Jason Yee, the same man who owns the Golden Puzzle Rooms. A costumed, in-character host then escorts the players up the stairs of an old bank to a small waiting room for a brief orientation before the adventure truly begins.
The players quickly discover a story that draws both upon Juan Ponce de León’s search for the Fountain of Youth and the legends of Dracula. Eerie lighting, decorations, and music help players suspend their disbelief and focus on the critical thinking, communication, and collaboration skills required to solve the puzzles and find the key to their escape. After their adventure, victors are both given certificates as proof of their accomplishment, and take a picture with a giant, golden, key-shaped trophy.
At dusk, players can look up to see a cloud of Mexican free-tailed bats emerge from the abandoned building next door to streak across the sky. It was these very bats that lead the Golden Puzzle Room to team up with the Organization for Bat Conservation. One night, the manager of the Golden Puzzle Rooms, Daniella Cabrera, saw people taking pictures of some bats that had darted for a nearby tree. As Daniella walked towards the tree to look more closely, the photographers called out, “Don’t go over there; you’ll be bitten!” They then revealed the notion that they believed these were vampire bats, and that they craved human blood. They were simply misinformed, and out of that misinformation they grew fearful of even approaching these “pests.”
Some days later, Daniella noticed a different group behaving strangely near the same tree, but this time they were jumping and swatting above them. She saw they were attempting to hit the bats out of the air. Then, to her horror, she saw one person succeed, only to raise their foot, and stomp on it. Just as she did before, she realized that this cruelty was born out of fear, and this fear was a result of being misinformed.
A while after, Jason noticed there was a small corpse of one of these bats in the alley. This sparked the idea of finding and displaying a taxidermy bat in “The Vampire’s Study,” allowing players to feel connected to the bats next door. He asked Robby Tabor, one of the room hosts, to explore this idea. This drew Robby to the NorCal Bat Organization just outside of Sacramento. NorCal Bats identified the bats in the alley, and provided a plethora of information about them. After Robby asked if they provide educational material the Golden Puzzle Room could distribute, NorCal Bats directed him to the Organization for Bat Conservation and their brochures to help spread the word about the benefits of bats. Robby then contacted the OBC to learn more.
The Golden Puzzle Room now proudly displays Sava the Vampire Bat’s dossier under the logo of the Organization for Bat Conservation, right next to a vampire plush toy, with which players can now pose for their victory picture along with the golden key trophy. A hundred “#SaveTheBats” brochures rest on the window sills next to the Magic School Bus The Truth about Bats book. In the near future, the hosts of the Golden Puzzle Room will distribute hundreds of these brochures to the nearby businesses in downtown Sacramento to help raise awareness about the benefits of bats.
The Golden Puzzle Rooms finds itself in a unique position to help inform the public and dispel the myths that surround bats, given that “The Vampire’s Study” plays upon the myths of the most famous vampire. It is their belief that by teaming up with theOrganization for Bat Conservation that people all over the country can learn a little more about bats, and through that understanding realize bats are not to be feared, but protected and appreciated. And, hopefully, if enough people appreciate them, then together we can all save the bats.
Check out the Golden Puzzle Rooms online and on Facebook! And, for more on escape rooms in general, click here!
Robby Tabor is an employee of Golden Puzzle Rooms
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