Description: You used the latest virtual reality remote to transport yourself into an old black and white television show. But you lost the remote and are now trapped in a world of black and white! The only way to get out is to rewire the virtual exit portal before the one hour show ends, or you will never see color again!
Number of Players: 10
Time: 60min
Success Rate: 53%
Record Time: 23:01
Price: $30 per person
Area 51
Description: The year is 1947. The government is secretly experimenting with the creation of a new life form: a hybrid of humans and aliens! But they can’t finish this experiment until they retrieve more human body parts! You have one hour to escape Area 51 before they come back and make you and your group part of their experiment! Hopefully, you still have your brain…you’re going to need it!
Number of Players: 10
Time: 60min
Success Rate: 48%
Record Time: 33:30
Price: $30 per person
Catacombs
Description: Your team of archaeologists was on a secret dig when the earth below you crumbled! You find yourself in ancient catacombs where the Romans buried their dead. No one knows you are here. You only have 60 minutes of air. Can you escape the narrow passages before air runs out? Or will you remain behind forever, your bones resting alongside those who came before you?!
Number of Players: 8
Time: 60min
Success Rate: 52%
Record Time: 27:15
Price: $30 per person
CSI:ATL
Description: The Department of Homeland Security has discovered that a major terrorist cell has been found in the Atlanta area. The evidence suggests that they are hiding in a nearby suburb to the north, called Norcross, and they are planning something big! You need to figure out where this terrorist event will take place before it is too late. They will carry out their mission in 60 minutes, unless you can stop them.
Codex Silenda: The Book of Puzzles is a book with a series of puzzles that must be completed to move to the next section. This article will go into detail about what Codex Silenda is, its history, people’s personal experiences with the book of puzzles, and how to get one.
What is Codex Silenda?
Codex Silenda is a puzzle book designed and created by Brady Whitney. It is made out of multiple types of wood, shaped by laser, and assembled into different types of puzzles. Codex Silenda consists of five puzzle pages, each of which must be solved before proceeding to the next.
Every page has a story to tell, which will only be revealed at the back of each page if you manage to solve the puzzle. As an introduction, the Codex Silenda tells the story of an apprentice who came across a similar puzzle in Da Vinci’s workshop, where Da Vinci has set the codex as a trap for spy apprentices that try to steal his work. However, as the demand for this amazing puzzle book has grown, Whitney has produced several more versions of the book, including Egyptian, Mayan, Necronomicon, and Norse version, which still share the same puzzles but have their own unique designs and stories to follow.
Here is an overview of the five unusual puzzle pages from Codex Silenda:
Page 1: Mechanical Iris
The first page of the book is called the mechanical iris, which is where you find yourself in a trap. On this page, you must activate the right combination of locks in order to open the mechanical iris that will allow you to unlock the next page.
Page 2: Rotating Maze
The second page is called the rotating maze. On this page, you must solve a maze, which is covered by a cylinder wood block. The cover makes the maze more difficult to navigate and solve. Once you manage to complete the maze, the book will allow you to unlock the next page.
Page 3: Geneva Gears
The third page is called Geneva Gears. The name and concept of this page are based on the Geneva drive mechanism. On this page, you must position all of the gears in their appropriate places to be able to unlock the next page.
Page 4: Paradox Sliders
The fourth page is called the Paradox Sliders. This page requires fourteen sliders to be positioned appropriately across the page in order to unhook the locks and bolts and access the next and final page.
Page 5: Cryptex Lock
The fifth page, known as the Cryptex Lock, introduces the final puzzle; this is the apprentice’s final challenge in the story in order for him to escape the trap. To be able to solve the final puzzle on this page, you must first understand the rune codes written on this page.
History of Codex Silenda
The Codex Silenda was a thesis project of Brady Whitney at Iowa State University in 2016. After the success of his project, Whitney shared the photos of the Codex Silenda online, where it went viral in one day. Since then, many people inquired about the availability of Codex Silenda on the market.
In August 2016, two months after codex silenda went viral online, a kickstarter campaign was launched by Whitney and his team. His goal was to raise $30,000 USD but in just three days, the campaign raised $100,000 USD and grew up to more than $200,000 USD in just one week. After several years, the demand for the Codex Silenda in the market continuously increases until it reaches the point where the Codex Silenda production couldn’t cover the demand anymore. Because of this, Whitney decided to launch another kickstarter campaign in March 2020 called Codex Silenda Remastered. This has successfully raised more than $700,000 USD, and become fully funded in just 15 hours. The goal is to hire additional employees to increase the production of Codex Silenda, and to obtain new facilities with better equipment to speed up the manufacturing capacity. More themes and puzzle innovations were also introduced in Codex Silenda Remastered, making it more interesting and challenging for the users.
Different Codex Silenda themes: Da Vinci | Mayan | Norse | Egyptian | Necronomicon
Today, Whitney and his team continue manufacturing Codex Silenda and are considering inventing another version.
The Codex Silenda Experience
As the availability of Codex Silenda in the market grows, many people have taken up the challenge and shared their personal experiences and reviews. Unexpectedly, Codex Silenda was even featured in an American action crime drama.
During the Codex Silenda kickstart campaign in 2020, American actor Neil Patrick Harris posted a quick review video. He also promotes the campaign’s objective of producing more Codex Silenda for people to enjoy.
Chris Ramsay, a Canadian magician, and YouTuber shared his firsthand experience with Codex Silenda through a walkthrough video in 2020, which he finds really challenging and rated as a level 10 difficulty puzzle.
The uniqueness of Codex Silenda comes with how surprisingly it is built. For those who are curious, here is a quick video shared by Arcane Concept Inc. in 2017 that shows how this fantastic book of puzzles is made.
The NCIS: New Orleans episode “Treasure Hunt” features the Codex Silenda. In the episode, the NCIS team seeks to investigate the mysterious murder case of a naval captain on a treasure hunt. While trying to solve the case, the team comes across the Codex Silenda, which they have to solve as part of their investigation.
Source: NCIS: New Orleans
How To Play Codex Silenda
Purchasing Ready to Play Codex Silenda
If you love puzzles, a twisting story, and are up for a mind-bending challenge, this puzzle book might be perfect for you. The Codex Silenda is already distributed and available on different market platforms online. Here are several online stores where you can order your own Codex Silenda:
Purchasing DIY Codex SilendaAlthough the book of puzzles seems to be really complex to build, the Codex Silenda, in collaboration with SCS Direct made a Codex Silenda DIY edition which is available on Amazon. This will give you an extra challenge by assembling before solving your own Codex Silenda.
The Codex Silenda is indeed a brilliant invention that has thankfully been made available in the market for the entertainment of puzzle enthusiasts. Do you think you’re ready for this kind of challenge? The only way to find out is to try.
Have you ever felt pessimistic about your life situation, then had something happen to you that changes the way you feel about it? A common perspective shift happens for people around money. They may feel poor, until they travel to a much poorer region of the world, then all of a sudden they feel rich.
This is the power of perspective. You can have your entire outlook on life flipped upside down in a matter of minutes.
To be mindful of perspective is to harness the power of your mind. Simply understanding how you’re interpreting your world; how you are assigning values to emotions and events… is the entryway to being able to influence them.
Most happy and successful people have cultivated the ability to be self aware and to manage their emotions by paying attention to their own perspective and what influences it.
Having an accurate perspective of a room and the people in it will help you succeed in an escape room. More importantly it can help you in many other situations in life. You might find that some of the skills gaming helps to strengthen are transferable to other parts of your life. Perspective!
Is it a good idea to bring someone you just met to an escape room for a first date? The short answer is: probably no. However, it might be a good decision in some circumstances and it most likely is a very good 2nd or 3rd date… Here’s why:
You just met them and don’t know if you can stand to be around them for more than a few minutes…
If you just met this person, remember that you know close to nothing about them. Most likely the only thing you know about them is that you’re physically attracted to them.
Typically on a first date you want to give yourself a comfortable space to get to know your date a little bit better AND have an easy escape in case things aren’t going well. Good first date locations are low pressure, amenable to conversation, and give both parties an opening to either end it early or extend it.
An escape room is fun, but you’re trapped in a room with someone you just met for 60 minutes, which means it could end up being great or being a disaster.
The 2nd and 3rd date are much different…
Initial test passed…
After the first date one of the most difficult parts of dating is over. You should have a much better idea of who your date is and what they like to do. At this point you can make a much better judgement call about what a good 2nd date might be. If they love games… then an escape room might be a great next date. If they hate clowns, then maybe that circus escape room you were thinking about taking them to isn’t such a good idea.
But, even if the first date was a success you’re still not in the clear (far from it).
Building upon the success of your first date
If you’re hoping to progress to a third date, then your second date should be significantly better than the first. While you don’t want to push too hard, moving too fast to get to know your date and ruining the process, you also don’t want to risk just repeating the first date. The small to medium talk has been covered. Second date territory is where you can open up with each other a bit more and explore your compatibilities (without getting ahead of yourself).
How does an escape room fit into this Goldilocks date space?
A little bit of pressure and some fun
Here are a few reasons why an escape room can make for a great 2nd or 3rd + date:
Team Work – you can see how well you work together to solve puzzles. Life is really just a series of problems that need to be solved. A game where you’re on the same team is nice test to see how well you work together.
Pressure – you can see how the other person reacts under pressure.
Personality Traits – you might get to see another side of your date. Perhaps they are goofy and make the game fun, or very competitive and you can see they have a lot of ambition.
Bridge – an escape game can leave room for extending the date. If you plan it properly you can still go out for a bite or a drink afterward and continue the fun if you’re hitting it off.
Remember to think before you date… but not too much!
Coffee is a known stimulant that can help you finish your tasks with zeal. But did you know that beer can also play a role in helping you get things done?
Beer (modest amounts) can help you come up with a new idea. When alcohol hits your cerebral cortex it helps free up your mind of distractions which allows your brain to make deeper connections and come up with better ideas.
Coffee is good for when you already have the idea and just need to get to work. Caffeine binds with your adenosine receptors and gives you focus. Caffeine can kick in as quick as 5 minutes.
Remember that excess consumption of any of these drinks will negate the positive effects. Make sure you don’t over do it!
Maybe a coffee stout before your next escape room can help you solve it faster?
