Sept. 23, 2020

Players won’t have to just solve puzzles and use props — they will have to get past people.

That’s the newest slant to the escape-room experience being pioneered in the Sioux Falls-area market by Conquer Escape Rooms.

The business, which is inside Air Madness in Harrisburg, is updating its Recon-themed room to a zombie theme with live actors.

“It’s happened in other towns, but we’ve never done it in Sioux Falls,” owner Jonathon Rolph said. “This is a live action where the zombies are going to be actually in the game, and there’s strategy involved. So you get to contain them so you can continue the mission.”

It’s also the first escape room in the state where a challenge has to be solved before players can even enter the room, he said.

“We typically try to shy away from the guts and gore in our escape rooms, but over the past two years, we have had so many request for a scary or horror-themed escape room that we just had to do it. So we decided to completely overhaul our previous Recon escape room for Halloween season.”

He compares it to a cross between a haunted experience and a dinner theater. The adventure can be booked for 60 or 80 minutes and is intense enough that he recommends players be 16 or older, or come with parents at their discretion. There are strobe lights and flashing lights as well as jump scares from the live actors, though they don’t touch anyone.

“The most challenging part of this project was creating a story line and a new environment where actors can interact with our customers in a way that they get a good scare but are able to still enjoy the escape room,” Rolph said. “That is very important when you are creating a live-action experience like this one.”

The room will accommodate four to 12 players and is a private experience for each group, so it’s one booking per session.

“We’re repurposing some puzzles and adding some brand-new ones with new elements,” Rolph said. “If someone has done it before, it will have a different feel with different experiences.”

Conquer is taking bookings for the zombie room starting Oct. 1.

“The terror will be real for an hour,” Rolph said. “You don’t have the luxury of being able to run to the next room. You have to contend with what’s in front of you. It’s going to be fun. We’re super excited, and we know it’s going to be a hit.”

Conquer also is putting a haunted twist on its other two adventures, Prison Escape and Diamond Quest Escape, where players will have the option to go dark and experience the rooms in a scarier setting using flashlights or lanterns.