Hide in plain fright
Note: Stay in the Dark is slated to close on March 17, 2024 so book your tickets now!
Location: Vlaardingen, Netherlands
Date Played: July 9, 2023
Team Size: 2-6; we recommend 3-5
Duration: 2.5 hours
Price: From 60 € per player
Ticketing: Private
Accessibility Consideration: All players must be able to crawl, climb, and move quickly through dark, uneven environments. There are loud noises, flashing lights, intense situations, and heights.
Emergency Exit Rating: [A] Push To Exit
Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints
REA Reaction
I've often passed by a creepy abandoned building and thought "someone should turn that into an escape room." DarkPark's Stay in the Dark fulfills on this lofty pipe dream, transforming an absolutely ginormous 4000 m² multi-story warehouse into a 2.5-hour immersive horror epic that feels spine-tinglingly real... because it is.
Blurring the lines between escape room, immersive theater, and urban exploration, Stay in the Dark took full advantage of the unique resources and constraints around which it was designed. Creating an experience like Stay in the Dark is impractical and improbable: past the initial herculean feat of gaining access to such a space, the logistical complexities of safely running this show are immense. While most escape room sets are created from scratch, the "set" of Stay in the Dark is curated — cleaned up, edited, and augmented — from a mostly already existing environment, playing on the salient features and the inherent ephemerality of the gamespace while also ensuring it is properly fitted with theatrical lighting, sound equipment, security cameras, and safety features.
But Stay in the Dark is so much more than just a massive space. What impressed me most about this experience was its artfully theatrical approach to immersive horror. After earning our trust in the opening act, DarkPark guided us on an emotional arc of anticipation, fear, and confrontation, all cinematically scaffolded by a lush original soundtrack. There was a strong narrative shape beyond just a binary on and off of intensity, of being chased or waiting to be chased. The game mechanics surrounding actor interactions meaningfully evolved as the experience progressed, gradually building our confidence and making it so that even a more timid player might become an action hero by the end.
Yes, Stay in the Dark is actively scary, but its aim truly is to tell a story and provide a safe and enjoyable experience for all players, not to terrorize and traumatize them. To that end, DarkPark embraces a horror style that they call "fun-scary." In their own words:
"Stay in the Dark is our scariest experience yet, but we never cross your boundaries. We strive to build up tension in a fun way and carefully try to sense how far we can go. We therefore like to use the term 'fun-scary'. So yes, it is scary and at times even very intense, but always with the aim that you have a great time and not that you come out with gray hair. You are going on an emotional journey."
If you are strictly opposed to scary experiences, lack physical mobility, or have a strong fear of heights, Stay in the Dark is not the game for you. But if you have yet to dip your toes into more intense horror and are up for an unforgettable adventure, DarkPark genuinely stays true to this "fun-scary" mission statement. Demonstrating a remarkable flexibility and adaptability of the game's design, my horror-loving and my more horror-averse teammates all had a fantastic experience, despite sharply contrasting play styles. Certain teammates who were tempted to tap out early on made it to the end and were glad they did.
Image via DarkPark
Since its opening, Stay in the Dark has been accompanied by an expiration date, which sadly was just announced to be 3 months from now. If you are able to make it to the Netherlands by March 17, 2024, do not hesitate and get your tickets to Stay in the Dark as soon as possible. This singularly memorable slice of the DarkVerse is not to be missed.
No comments:
Post a Comment