As I lack experience with both escape rooms and improv theater, I decided I was the perfect person to review the theater/escape room pop-up in Fremont, “About Last Night.” The description said no experience was necessary, so I definitely put this to the test.
The “About Last Night” website describes the game as a “mashup of immersive theater performance, escape room puzzle solving and social strategy game mechanics.” The story takes the form of a murder mystery: After throwing a rave, tech billionaire Marcus Blackwood is found murdered, and party guests wake up with their memories stolen by his new sketchy device.
Players are assigned characters and tasked with finding clues to recovering their memories scattered around the event space. Then they have the choice to publicize or bury what they uncover. At the end they choose a story to present to the police.
Currently, “About Last Night” is being hosted at Off the Couch Games in Fremont through April 5.
The game was created by Shuai Chen, Bora “Max” Koknar and Casey Selden, who bring a range of theater and game design experience. When Off the Couch owner Nick Shilbe learned they were looking for a space for “About Last Night,” he was happy to offer a section that wasn’t being used yet for his own 12-part escape room series.
I never even knew Fremont had its own escape room, and the venue on Mowry Avenue has plenty of parking, a check-in area, a waiting room with board games, lockers and drinks for purchase.
Our group comprised seven players total, but the game can accommodate up to 20. We were told that we didn’t have to solve every puzzle to finish the game, which turned out to be good advice because when we got to the escape room, the sheer amount of information around the walls and on objects and furniture was initially overwhelming.
But when I drilled down and focused I was able to see several puzzles through to completion. I also found it was easy to collaborate with total strangers whom I only knew by their character name.
The group I played with was definitely more focused on the puzzle-solving side than the acting side. We received character sheets before entering the escape room, and everyone stayed in character, just with a very no-frills attitude. Koknar briefed us on gameplay and stayed with us as our guide, collecting the clues we found and nudging us if we got too stuck.
Koknar also took photos of us during the game that were part of an “article” based on our investigations that was emailed out after. It was a fun touch to get to see ourselves in action, and he also had many nice things to say about my character, a plucky reporter determined to find the truth about the murder victim.
A lot of love went into the design of the room. The walls are covered with graffiti—some of which are clues and some are just for fun. There were couches, rugs, photo frames, a bar and more objects that gave us ample space to explore. A screen projected the clues we had already found, which helped me keep track of the evidence we uncovered.
While the other escape rooms at Off the Couch can run over $10,000 to design, “About Last Night” is more DIY. The team tested out the puzzles first remotely. Then Koknar and Chen spent about a week painting and installing set pieces.
“When the opportunity to use the current warehouse space arose,” says Koknar, “we approached the project as a site-responsive design challenge with a story and gameplay designed to fit into the existing environment instead of trying to transform the space into something else. Centering the story around a Silicon Valley warehouse rave turned out to be the perfect choice.”
I think the game is ideal for bigger parties; there will definitely be something for everyone to do. Off the Couch games are up to six players, and other local escape rooms top off at eight or 10. The two-hour runtime flew by because we were so amped.
However, it’s harder to “win” when the stakes are less binary than “door opens / does not open.” With our smaller group, we didn’t get the full picture on the murder. Scalability is something to refine for later iterations of the game. For example, it would add tension if at the end you have to accuse one of your fellow players.
Overall, “About Last Night” is a fun evening out for fans of escape rooms and murder mystery parties. A way to not only recover memories, but to create some.
About Last Night
Until Apr. 5
Fri / Sat: 8pm
Thu / Sun: 7pm
Off the Couch Games
555 Mowry Ave., Fremont
aboutlastnightgame.com
Tickets: $75
