Viva Brighton Issue #84 February 2020

FEATURE
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Pavilion Perplex by Pier Pressure
Escape Rooms
The game is to get out
Like a hybrid of 90s video adventure games and
TV shows such as The Crystal Maze, escape room
games typically involve a small team of people
faced with a series of puzzles and challenges, all
wrapped up in a kitschy narrative, often with
costumed actors egging them on. The phenomenon
has gone global since it began in Japan in
2007, and there are now a dozen such games in
Brighton, all run by small start-up companies.
Bewilder Box, who have two sci-fi themed rooms
(above the Hobgoblin and the Brunswick), started
with a crowdfunder by two friends. “We played a
couple of escape rooms in Budapest on my stag
do,” recalls director David Middleton. “And I
thought, this is great – but I can do it better.”
“A really good game should have lots of different
types of puzzles that will appeal to different
people. We had a 70th birthday the other day and
it was them, their kids and their grandkids. It’s an
activity they can all do together and contribute to
– this person spotted the puzzle piece, someone
else figured out the pattern. What you want is for
everyone to have their little victory.”
Their games hark back to the retro origins of the
craze with video cameos from Norman Lovett
who played Holly in Red Dwarf and Hugo Myatt
from Knightmare. “Our goal was to take the
concept and combine it with immersive theatre,
so we added theatrics and characters and a lot
of humour. Our game hosts are all comedians
or performers and the stuff they come up with
is mad and wonderful, and that just elevates the
whole experience.”
Pier Pressure arrived later in 2018 with four
permanent games in their premises on Upper
North Street, and they’re also doing a pop-up
game at Preston Manor this month. Intriguingly,
they’ve built a small section of the Lanes for a
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