1930s VIDEO GAMES

ESCAPE! Alaska’s next escape room experience, NOIR, is set in 1935, so we’ve immersed ourselves in the era’s technology, fashion, architecture, and travel. It was an amazing time for inventions in American history, as the 1930s gave us the first canned beer and the first jet engine (in that order, so that when testing the jet engine, the pilot could say “hold my beer!). The decade also brought us pantyhose, frozen food, and the first Monopoly board game.

There were no video games in the 1930s, but there were some pretty great emerging technologies, some of which were the precursor to today’s video games. Coin operated pinball machines were introduced in 1930, and, while they became wildly popular across the nation, the addition of “payouts” later that same decade led the U.S. government to classify them as “gambling,” and the machines were subsequently banned. Games aside, most of the other technology on your smart phone already existed, as you could make a phone call, listen to the radio, and go to the movies. Texting, however, was just writing a letter.

The very first television program was transmitted (in Germany), but the device wouldn’t become commonplace in American homes until the 1950s.

In NOIR, due out this Fall, you’ll play the part of detective, helping a colleague solve a particularly tricky murder. You’ll need to uncover not only “who done it,” but why, as the motive now directly involves you. Sign up for our email to be alerted as soon as this beautiful new escape room experience is available for booking.