Dearborn-based Ford Motor Co. has partnered with Escape the Room, a New York-based live game and entertainment company, to create the first-ever drivable escape game, which requires participants to use technology features in the 2017 Ford Escape to solve clues and puzzles to escape a series of rooms.
Escape the Room NYC will be held at the 35,000-square-foot Moynihan Station in midtown Manhattan from Thursday to Sunday. Pre-registration for Escape the Room NYC, which is 50 times larger than the typical game experience, sold out in less than 24 hours, with more than 1,000 players signing up for the immersive group gaming experience.
“Younger, urban consumers today want to live through experiences and engage with brands that represent their lifestyle,” says Ginger Kasanic, experiential marketing manager at Ford. “They are voracious consumers of life — they’re not spectators, they’re participants. Escape the Room NYC can be summed up as the experience economy trend putting a unique spin on the traditional test drive.”
The game will feature five rooms that prompt participants to find clues to guide them through a journey of making it big in the film industry as they attempt to escape the game. Participants will use various technological tools available in the new Ford Escape to help them win.
Some of the in-vehicle technologies integrated into the game include: digital music and streaming radio, voice-to-text capabilities, remote start and remote lock capabilities, enhanced active park assist, adaptive cruise control, rearview camera, and more.
“The SUV is packed with tons of advanced technology, and it was an entertaining exercise to integrate things like ultrasonic parking sensors into the puzzles and clues that are iconic to the game,” says Victor Blake, owner and game designer at Escape the Room NYC.
