'Actors' jump at the chance to flee reality

Escape room games rise in popularity as young players relish their roles

Just before New Year's Eve, Zhao Mudi, a 21-year-old college student, and five classmates experienced "time travel" in the renovated basement of a Beijing furniture retailer.

They found themselves playing passengers in period costumes on a train traveling in the United States in 1865 just after the Civil War.

There was an explosion, the train went out of control, and the shocked passengers extricated themselves from the wreckage to find they were in a small town in the middle of nowhere.

Zhao and his classmates were taking part in Wild Story of a Wilder Town, one of the most popular escape room games in the Chinese capital.

They had 145 minutes to escape from the room－and the clock had already started ticking. The passengers, who included "Monica", a young woman working on farmland, "Peter", a bounty hunter, and "Emily", a spy in search of gold, were assigned different secret missions. Their roles were decided by drawing lots.

They also needed to deal with those living and working in the town, including cowboys and bartenders, while keeping their own identities secret.

In China, escape rooms first became popular more than 10 years ago and initially centered on horror themes. In less than a decade, they evolved from players solving a series of puzzles in a predetermined time to escape from a locked room, and now feature puzzles, action-driven storylines and complex characters.

Zhao, who has visited escape rooms since high school, said: "It's the third time I've been to this one to play this game. I know the story, I'd played two different roles before, but I wanted to experience a new one this time.

"I promised my classmates I would not reveal any secrets, as it was the first time they had played the game. I told them it was captivating, but difficult."

As Zhao and his classmates set about their tasks as though they were acting in a cowboy movie, they worked as a team and also as individuals to solve problems and make decisions, which brought them different endings to the story.

In addition to the set designs and costumes, Zhao was attracted to Wild Story of a Wilder Town by the non-playable characters, or NPCs－escape room staff members who often advance the plot by voicing scripted lines or assisting the main participants.

Wild Story of a Wilder Town, which is produced by Storm Island, a company based in Beijing offering immersive escape room experiences, has become a hit since it was launched at the end of 2020.

Both thriller and comedy, the game plays out against the backdrop of the US Civil War, with the NPCs leading the main participants in experiencing fun and excitement, including a gun duel, target shooting and using a lasso.

Zhao said: "NPCs are crucial for escape room games, especially those involving storylines and numerous characters. They lead the main participants－such as ourselves－into the game and act their own roles, helping us get into our parts. Their acting skills bring us a sense of reality, allowing us to better experience the game."

Fierce competition

A search for "escape rooms" on the Baidu Map app produces more than 100 results.

This relatively new form of entertainment is becoming more mainstream and a key leisure activity among young people. As one of the fastest growing forms of entertainment, escape rooms also offer job opportunities for professional actors, musicians and scriptwriters.

About two years ago, while many of his classmates were waiting for opportunities with Hengdian Group, which owns a major film and television production base in Zhejiang province, Zhang Penghui, 23, decided to apply for a NPC job.

In 2016, Zhang studied at the Beijing Film Academy. Like many actors, he wants to play roles in films and TV dramas.

"The movie and TV industry is a gold mine for talent. The competition is fierce and it is difficult to prove yourself and climb higher on the ladder to success," Zhang said.

Before working as an escape room NPC, Zhang had never played such games. He trained for his job for several months, learning from senior NPCs before starting to act in a game.

As a NPC, he has acted in Wild Story of a Wilder Town and other games designed by Island Storm, such as the horror-themed Mist Theater and Origin, which centers on solving puzzles.

"I now realize that the work of a NPC is even harder than acting in movies, TV dramas and the theater. In addition to solid acting skills, NPCs need to know how to improvise, as the main players in a game are not professional actors and actresses. I need to engage in conversation with these total strangers and help them with their roles," Zhang said.

"Some of my classmates and teachers didn't understand why I wanted to work as a NPC. They thought it just meant playing ghosts and scaring people, which is not the case. I was really intrigued after acting a few times as a NPC. I want to take this job seriously, not just as a means to pay the rent."

Zhang is now general manager of an escape room branch for Island Storm, which has venues in seven cities nationwide, including Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.

Wang Weizheng, 27, a professional musician, started work as a NPC in March. Trained as a child to become a classical pianist, he had also never played escape room games before.

As a newcomer to such activities, he had no idea where to begin, so he followed senior NPCs and received initial training in reading storylines.

"I'd never really been keen on games, puzzles or even locked rooms, but I always love trying new things," said Wang, whose first role as a NPC was playing a priest.

"Some players return to the same escape room as many as 20 times. They immerse themselves in the stories and their roles. They take their acting very seriously and experience different lives before returning to reality. For me, that's the most rewarding part of being a NPC," he said.

Wang added that as he is also a musician and publishes his work on social media platforms, he plans to compose for escape room games.

More than 100 NPCs work in Island Storm escape rooms－50 percent of them professionally trained actors.

Besides horror, a variety of genres have taken escape room games to the next level with immersive theater and role play. Themes range from historical to modern stories－some of them based on movies and TV series, such as Harry Potter and Sherlock Holmes.

Popular movies, such as Escape Room, directed by Adam Robitel in 2019, and reality shows, including Great Escape by Chinese videosharing platform Mango TV, have made the trend even more popular. Great Escape boasts a team of celebrities, such as actress Yang Mi and actor Deng Lun.

The recent comedy reality show Super Sketch Show, broadcast by the iQiyi streaming platform, brought NPCs into the spotlight, with actor Jiang Long, 25, making his breakthrough and gaining a large fan base with his comedy play The Last Class.

In the show, Jiang plays a jobless actor who works at an escape room to make a living. While playing the role of a zombie in the escape room, he meets his reallife acting teacher, who is keen to give him additional training.

"It's a true story. I went to an escape room, where I met a friend, who is an actor. He is a good performer and relishes his role of scaring people. He chose not to give up acting, although he had to figure out a way to make a regular income," Jiang said. "For many young actors, it is difficult to find jobs after graduation. I am experiencing this situation and am still waiting for opportunities."

The Last Class received high scores from the celebrity judges and the audience.

One fan of the reality show said, "I've had great experiences in escape rooms thanks to the professional NPCs, whose acting skills are very convincing." After seeing the play, another fan posted, "They (NPCs) take these rooms as their own stages."

First experience

In 2016, He Hanxia had her first experience of an escape room, along with a group of friends. In a darkened venue with narrow hallways, she solved clues, found hidden objects, completed puzzles and unlocked the room, which left her excited and fulfilled.

"It was an unforgettable experience. I thought I could create my own adventure－a story－and then invite people to be part of it," she said.

Once she had this idea, the 34-year-old, who majored in and graduated from university with a degree in English, paused her career of providing an overseas training service－jointly founding Island Storm in 2017 with her friend Zhao Pengchong.

Their first store opened in 2017 near the National Stadium in Beijing, and the business proved a success in just one month. Their second store opened in 2018, also in the capital. Now, Island Storm is one of the largest franchises of its kind in the country, operating 11 escape rooms nationwide.

Some 50 percent of the players are 18 to 35 years old, according to He.

"Younger consumers are looking for something new, rather than merely being scared in these games. They like to challenge themselves by playing games and solving puzzles," she said.

"More important, they want to have fun with friends. Ultimately, they gain the most satisfaction from doing these things with a group of their pals. It's not about competition, but collaboration."

She said the increased popularity of escape rooms has opened the door for set designers, NPC coaches and storyline writers.

"It usually takes six to eight months to produce a new escape room game. We have to make the puzzles fit the story, make the puzzles more fun, relevant and challenging, and find ways to immerse the players in the narrative," He added.

"It's all about the seamless integration of characters, story and puzzles as well as the lighting, sounds and multimedia technology."

chennan@chinadaily.com.cn