World renowned opera singer Sharleen Joynt and her husband successfully complete the Midnighters!

Behind the Scenes of Tierra Whack’s Spotify Rap Caviar Shoot

Post-Midnighters Rap Caviar video shoot with Tierra Whack

It’s been a busy Fall! The air’s been crisp and nippy and the stars, sparkling!

In September, world reknowned opera singer Sharleen Joynt and her husband Michael visit us while Sharleen was here for the month’s performance of Sky on Wings with Opera Philadelphia.

Apparently playing escape rooms are one of Sharleen and Michael’s favorite things to do while traveling for work. They enjoyed the Midnighters so much that they came back for A Quest for Freedom just a few days later. Sharleen even sent over some co-stars from the Opera to come enjoy our escape rooms too. With all the theatrics and drama in both escape rooms and operas, it shouldn’t be surprising that these worlds overlap so easily! With Sharleen and Michael being such enthusiasts, we had to extend an invitation to them to come beta test our next game we’re writing up, “2084.”

October was also just as eventful, as we were contacted by Spotify to be part of a video shoot by the awesome and quirky hip-hop artist Tierra Whack, who recently signed to the DreamChasers label, owned by platinum recording rap star (and Philadelphia-native) Meek Mill.

Tierra is known for her eye-catching 60-second song projects that are set to videos of zany alternate universes. Since Tierra also loves playing escape rooms, it was a perfect fit to shoot her special in a 60-minute adventure with Olde City Escape Games. Before we knew it, Spotify sent an entire production crew to Olde City Escape Games. Our lobby and the Midnighters game was quickly converted into a movie set.

Lights, camera, action! The Spotify crew captured the awesome 60-minute adventure Tierra and her friends had playing the Midnighters. You can catch the RapCaviar special showcasing Tierra at Olde City Escape Games on Spotify Premium or below:

Philadelphia Eagles Carson Wentz, Jordan Hicks and Chris Maragos with Eaglettes as The Midnighters!

As we started building our own escape rooms in Philadelphia, we always heard that Carson Wentz, quarterback of the Philadelphia Eagles national football team, was a huge escape room enthusiast. Rumor was that while injured and unable to play against the Vikings in the NFC Championship, Carson toured Minneapolis on an escape room marathon playing games all over the city. 

Philly loves an underdog, and at Olde City Escape Games, we happen to love an underdog even more when he also happens to share an enthusiasm for immersive productions.

While we always hoped Carson would swing by one of these days to play our games, we were absolutely stunned when we realized who came out of our elevator one quiet evening. We were even more star-struck after that when Eagles middle linebacker Jordan Hicks and safety Chris Maragos joined the group with their wives. It was a full-on Superbowl Champions date night at Olde City Escape Games, where Eagles became Midnighters.

Having the Eagles at Olde City Escape Games was a humbling experience. Carson, Jordan, and Chris were extremely nice guys. A funny moment was when we went through the pre-game rules and mentioned that this was a game of "brains not brawns." Everyone chuckled and teasingly gestured at Jordan because of his linebacker position. Inside the room, Carson took charge as the natural leader, delegating responsibilities and staying in character when he asked for clues over the walkie-talkie.  Everyone enjoyed the immersiveness of the game, and it was awesome watching the guys' dedication and competitive nature manifest in such a silly environment as they intensely focused on crushing the room.

While the Eagles and Eaglettes didn't take our all-time record, they found the moon rock and finished with ample time to spare. They warmly gave us high-fives and laughed over how much fun the experience was, even commenting on how this was one of the better games they had played over the years. As owners, we tried not to gush as we took their post-game photos.

Eagles center Jason Kelce #62 said (erm...screeched) in one of the most memorable sports speeches of all time during the Superbowl LII parade, "Hungry dogs run faster." As a bootstrapped new escape room business, we relate - we didn't set out with all the support and experience that comes with a franchise, and had more than a handful of setbacks along the way, but we definitely strive to produce what we imagined would be the best escape room experiences. If Superbowl champions are grinning and chuckling over what a great time they had, heck, maybe we might be doing alright.

It felt really special to be able contribute a great night to these guys who chose to spend a Friday evening off the field at our venue. Big thanks to the Carson Wentz, Jordan Hicks, Chris Maragos, and all of our amazing Midnighters and Rebels who've supported and enjoyed our games these first five months of opening. Hungry dogs do run faster, and we're on that runner's high being able to share these fun and memorable moments with you all at Olde City Escape Games. 

Old City Escape Games is proud to announce a new upcoming partnership with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America in Philadelphia! 

A few weeks ago, we had the pleasure of hosting one of the most dynamic duos to have played our escape rooms. Two friends mistakenly booked to play “The Midnighters” for Tuesday but arrived on Sunday, the actual day they intended to reserve. Although they came a few days earlier than expected, we were so charmed by the charismatic (and extremely apologetic) pair that we absolutely happy to arrange for an impromptu game. It was such a blast watching these guys embody the Midnighters' spirit of friendship to recover the moon rock. Though the two had an obvious bond, they didn't confirm they were a “Big Sib/Little Sib” pairing from the Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) organization until they return a few weeks later to try another experience. We were so thrilled to see them again!

Big and Little successfully completed both missions as Midnighters and Benjamin Franklin's assistants, completing both games in under 60 minutes. Seeing how much fun they had playing together in our escape rooms was so rewarding and inspiring that we really wanted to keep sharing our work with more BBBS matches. 

As a result, we contacted Big Brothers Big Sisters and we’re proud to announce that we’ll be launching a partnership with the program to offer more accessible and affordable opportunities to BBBS matches. Soon, Big Sibs and Little Sibs will be able to play our games at generous discounts.

At Olde City Escape Games, we love when team-building can morph into community building and hope to see more Big Sibs and Little Sibs bond under the spirit of fun and friendship. 

We’ve only been open a few months, so it was such a nice surprise to learn from two of our players attending the “Escape Gurus” marathon in Philly that Olde City Escape Games topped the list for Best Escape Rooms in Pennsylvania, as ranked by Best Things Pennsylvania. We hadn't heard the news and it was even better having learned it from the messengers who had come to experience our games for themselves. We're so honored and proud to have made the list among some truly awesome escape room venues! Check out what they had to say about us and see the other amazing escape rooms that made the top 10 Best Escape Rooms in Pennsylvania on Best Things Pennsylvania's post here

Olde City Escape Games has just been featured by PhillyVoice in an article showcasing what makes Olde City Escape Games so amazing and unique! 

Highlights from PhillyVoice writer Virginia Streva:

“Olde City Escape Games is Philadelphia’s first escape room to feature Philadelphia history and design. Started by two artists, Brooks Bell and Vi Vu, in April of 2018, this isn’t an escape room like the others. This is an artfully designed space with intricate and original stories that you can’t find anywhere else in the city.”

As escape room owners who chose to develop our own games with a special team of collaborators and friends, the positive feedback we've received from our players and the press here solidifies why it was so important to build our games and business from scratch. We never could have felt as proud as we do had we purchased a franchise, and while we had plenty of set-backs along the journey as new business owners, we are so happy to call Olde City Escape Games our very own. It's really something wonderful to be able to bring all these cool parts of Philadelphia into an hour of fun entertainment for our guests. 

Read the full article here.