Many people have reached peak cabin fever and, despite Florida's continually climbing coronavirus case loads, are desperately seeing diversions outside their own overly familiar four walls. Are you eager for cutting-edge interactive amusement, but the idea of attending a theme park (even with all their safety precautions) is still too overwhelming? It may seem counterintuitive to leave your house only to get locked in again, but an escape room like the Bureau, which debuted earlier this year, might be just the sanitary entertainment you're seeking.
Opening an intimate, hands-on indoor attraction in the middle of a global pandemic is about as far from ideal circumstances as one can imagine. But what the Bureau lacks in lucky timing, they're trying to compensate for with creativity and ambition, as I learned from co-founder and CEO Alexis Santos last Friday.
"It's hard," acknowledged Santos, who attended New College of Florida and covered technology for Creative Loafing and Engadget along his "long, winding road" to consulting on interactive experiences, including Orlando's "Beast of Blackwood" outdoor haunt in 2017. "We wound up getting just enough funding to put this place together. We got the building last June, and we essentially got our permits greenlighted in mid-November. We opened with our first game in mid to late February, [then] we closed, so we were open for like three, four weeks."
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