Living in a Virtual World: An Escape Room with a Twist

Posted byAbPosted inADHD, adoption, FASD, Fun, ParentingTags:, , , ,

T had his first virtual reality experience, which ended with a meteor destroying Earth.

On Saturday evening, we took T to check out VRCade and we tried their popular VR escape room: Space Station Tiberia.

For the unfamiliar, here’s a primer:

  • Virtual reality involves wearing a headset that fully immerses you in a 360 degree digital environment where you can explore and interact with the environment through the use of the headset and handheld controllers.
  • Escape rooms are immersive games, played in groups, that involve solving puzzles using clues embedded in the room – with the goal to exit the room within a time limit.

The hubby and I have previously tried VR and escape rooms separately but this was our first time trying a VR-based escape room.

This was T’s first time trying both – and he looked bad ass in the gear.

Space Station Tiberia was so fun.

Players are placed in a broken down space station and must work together to power it back up and destroy a meteor headed towards Earth – within 40 minutes.

Here’s the game’s trailer:

There are three separate rooms that have to be completed one after the another.

My favourite was the second room, which had an extraordinary view of Earth, and you have to power the ship’s main controls.

We made it to the final room: the outside of the space station. We had to figure out how to power the ship’s laser gun and use it to destroy a fast approaching meteor.

You can imagine trying to do an escape room with a child with ADHD and FASD who was trying VR for the first time. 🤣

He didn’t really work with us on the puzzles and instead busily explored the environment, picking up virtual objects and throwing them at us.

But he had a lot of fun, which is all that matters!

The hubby and I were both impressed with how life-like the experience was. We felt like we were up in space and I took the time to walk around and look all around us, including “down” at the gigantic view of Earth below.

The outing provided much-needed distraction from recent challenges at school. I’ll share an update later. T is innocent but is impacted by sickening BS caused by an incident that didn’t even involve him!

So while I believe real life is always more interesting than virtual life, I can see the appeal of virtual escapism from time to time!

So I know you’re wondering, did we survive?

Well…

… the puzzles were very tricky. 🤣

As the final 60 seconds counted down, the hubby frantically tried to solve the puzzle, still missing six battery cells to power up the laser gun; T probably hurled some batteries out towards space. 🤣

T and I knew we were dead and made peace with our fate.

We walked towards and stood at the edge of the space station. I wrapped my arms around him and he hugged my arms and we enjoyed the view of the meteor rapidly approaching us. 😂☄️

43 thoughts on “Living in a Virtual World: An Escape Room with a Twist”

  2. WOW! WOW! WOW! I tried VR in the safety of my home, and it was mind-blowing—I can’t even imagine your experience, let alone trying to sort puzzles and rooms! 🤯 And as always, your wisdom is the cherry on top of this fun post!

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    1. Thanks Vickie. 😊 VR layered on top of an escape room is definitely another experience in itself. You’ll have to give it a try. I bet your grandkids would greatly enjoy it too!

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      3. I’m a bandwagon fan so I’m only interested now that they’re in the World Series. 🤣 I read the highlights and what a fight it was!

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  3. Gosh this sounds like a lot of immersive fun, I’m glad you all enjoyed it. I’m yet to try a pair of VR goggles – the way of the future no doubt 😊 The space station looks so real, 🛰 I hope the meteor ending wasn’t too scary lol✨

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  4. This sounds so much fun! Even how it ended! 🤣 I’m sorry, though, to hear about the challenges T had to face recently. I hope this VR experience lifted his spirit up. But maybe he also learned not to throw things away, because they could be very important. 😆

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    1. Thanks Bama! I actually love how it ended. It’s so appropriate to T and I still chuckle thinking about it. 🤣 It’s been a very challenging while dealing with this school issue and it makes me stressed and mad that T is being impacted for something he didn’t do. So yes, this was a wonderful escape!!! 🙏

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    1. I hope you find something in your area. And I can so see you walking into a wall! 🤣 I do the same too so it’s not just you.

      Have you and Hawklad tried an escape room? That would be a lot of fun too!

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  6. Aaack! An adrenaline rush to read — I can’t imagine the experience itself. Like Erin said, I’ve done an escape room (thank goodness for tolerant friends…that’s a whole story) but the overlay of VR, too? I think I might puke. A little too much for me! 😜 But I loved being a ‘ride along’ with the three of you!

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    1. Thanks Vicki! It was a lot of fun and I think you should give it a try if you see it in your area. It was a very unique experience – worth the potential puking! 🤣

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  7. I had no idea there was such a thing as a VR Escape Room! I couldn’t help but laugh at how T was more interested in exploring than solving the puzzles. But it certainly sounds like everyone had a lot of fun, even if you didn’t survive!

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    1. You’ll need to give it a try! There might be one closer to where you’re at!

      We think the Escape Room was probably required too much focus for him. We’ll try a zombie shooter experience next time! 😊

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  8. This sounds like so much fun! I’ve done an escape room before, but not VR. I’m glad to hear T had fun, even if he wasn’t too focused on solving the problem. 😂

    So sorry to hear about the challenges at school. I hope everything is resolved quickly and with minimal impact to T.

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    1. I know you’re very techy, Erin, and I bet you’d enjoy the VR twist on the escape room experience. 😊

      And thanks for your words of encouragement. Not fun times right now with the school! 🙃

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  10. this might be the ultimate ‘escape from reality experience.’ I tried on a vr headset that my grandson had, and wow, it was wild, it was such an unusual feeling. I have done a couple of escape rooms with friends and loved the experience and they can really be a challenge but are very fun to do. I can’t even imagine combining these two things, but clearly, you guys were able to do so, and I love how you awaited your fate at the end. I hope that the school issue gets resolved soon, that is not good for anyone, and glad that you had this positive respite from it –

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    1. Thanks Beth. I do find VR can be disorienting and also challenging as I wear glasses. But it is also quite fun. I was pleasantly surprised by how fun the combination of VR and escape room was. You’ll have to let me know how you enjoy it if you ever try it!

      The school issue is not going to get resolved anytime soon but we certainly are not going to let it go as it severely impacts T in a negative way. Fun times! 🙃

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  11. That is SO fascinating Ab. I would love to have something like that around here. My grandkids would love it as would I. I’m not sure if my husband would go but he did say he would like the headpiece you can buy that takes you all over the world.

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    1. Thanks Diane. We stumbled upon it by random through a cousin’s discovery and glad we tried it. I hope you and your grandkids get to try it! And yes, your husband is correct. You can get the headsets from an electronics store or online store too. Enjoy it if you try it!

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      1. My grandson is 11 and has some issues as you know. If T hadn’t been successful I would have never thought my grandson would. We have an escape room locally but I didn’t know kids could do it too. Do they make it easier for kids? How many people were allowed in the room?

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      2. Thanks Diane. We’re here to support each other and I find a lot of inspiration and encouragement from you. 😊

        I would ask the Escape Room staff for their thoughts on whether a specific room is kid friendly and what their capacity is. It varies. For T, he found the task itself too cumbersome to follow so he did his own stuff. lol. But he had fun!

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  12. Very cool! I’ve never done anything like this, but I would love to try it. So sorry to hear about T’s negative experiences at school and hope you can all work through it. I hope the school is not ignoring a situation they need to deal with.

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    1. Thanks Pete. It’s a very interesting experience although I recommend limited exposure, especially for young kids, as it can be disorienting.

      The school issue is messy and I’m so mad T got dragged into a mess he had nothing to do with but is now being negatively impacted by. Fun times! 🙃

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    1. Thanks Margie. The ending was quite calming actually. I’m still chuckling at how at peace both of us were with our virtual demise.

      The school issue is not going to get resolved anytime soon but definitely not letting it go because of the impact it’s having on T. Fun times! 🙃

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  14. I’ve never tried either VR or an escape room but I bet both would be a blast- no pun intended there on the looming meteor ready to destroy all life 😉 I’m sorry there is negative stuff happening at school for T. He’s resilient and he has great dads to help him figure things out.

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    1. Thanks Deb. If there are escape rooms in Colorado, I bet you and your daughter’s family would enjoy it. It’s wonderful wholesome fun – even without the VR.

      The school stuff is definitely a test of our resilience and resolve. 🙃

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  15. Oh my goodness – this sounds intense. I’m laughing about accepting your fate. Well, probably not a bad way to go!

    Sorry to hear about the school BS. That’s no fun! Sending my best wishes that you are having a good week!

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    1. Thanks Wynne. I recently learned about the term radical acceptance so that was me radically accepting a flaming meteor headed towards us. 🤣

      The school BS is absolutely infuriating but we’re not letting it go. Appreciate the well wishes during these fun times! 🙃

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