Shopping Guide
In 2014, “Attack on Titan x Real Escape Game Collaboration – Escape from the Walled City” was held in large venues nationwide in Japan, and since the game has achieved huge popularity, it will now head to the United States. New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco will be the three cities to represent the United States. “Escape from the Walled City US Tour” will be held from this upcoming February to April in order from San Francisco, Los Angeles, and then New York.
Already, the venue locations and times for the first two cities have been announced. In San Francisco, the game will be held on Feb. 1 at AT&T Park, while the Los Angeles event will be at Weingart Stadium on March 21. Just like in Japan, the “Escape from the Walled City US Tour” will use large, outdoor-type venues. As for New York, details will be released at a later date and so far, it is only known that the game will take place sometime in April 2015.
Scrap, an event, advertising, and music planning and production company, as well as a free paper magazine publisher, developed the Real Escape Game. Since its start in 2007, the thriller-type game has boasted high popularity. Several participants are trapped in a room, and the concept of the live game is to attempt to find a way out of the mysterious room together by solving riddles. In the game, difficult puzzles are set up, which is one of the secrets to the success and popularity of the show.
Also, the game is actively collaborating with popular movies and anime. To date, there have been collaborations with Case Closed and Resident Evil, to name a few. The philosophy and perspective of each film or series is then incorporated into the game.
Among them all, “Attack on Titan x Real Escape Game Collaboration” was an especially large-scale event, where many participants gathered in the center of a big stadium. And now, this event will be exported to the United States. Scrap’s American subsidiary company, Scrap Entertainment Inc., will be onsite to administer the games.
This actually will not be the first time for America to hold the Real Escape Game. In 2012, Scrap carried out their first event in San Francisco, and after receiving a favorable reception there, they began making many plans. There was a Neon Genesis Evangelion event at the J-Pop Summit in San Francisco, and a hybrid game called “Under the Dog,” where crowds could yell out assistance to participants, at the 2014 Otakon Kickstarter in Baltimore.
Like its original counterpart in Japan, the “Attack on Titan x Real Escape Game Collaboration” requires an especially large amount of planning. Attack on Titan has from 2013, gave rise to a huge boom with American anime and manga fans. It is thought that a popular series such as Attack on Titan will help attract many participants. Since participants are encouraged to cosplay, large numbers of anime fans are likely to participate on the day of the event. On the other hand, a wide range of game- and fun-loving fans––even those unfamiliar with Attack on Titan––are invited to participate.
At around $30 to $35 dollars per person, the US participation fee is about the same amount as the Japanese fee. The difficulties of the puzzles are also considered to be the same level as those in Japan, and it is likely that many people, one after another, will be unable to escape the room. Apparently, interest has begun to gather over how the United States will receive “Attack on Titan x Real Escape Game Collaboration – Escape from the Walled City.”
Attack on Titan x Real Escape Game Collaboration – Escape from the Walled City
© Hajime Isayama, Kodansha Ltd. / Attack on Titan Production Committee
^*^ This image is from a Japanese event.
Source: animeanime