metro »

The Barbara and Douglas Bloom
Matzah Factory presents

Micha –MOCHA!

APRIL 10, 2016 1-3 pm

Meet Pharoah and Moses, cross the Red Sea,
make matzah, and explore Shalom Street!

APRIL 17, 2016 1-4 pm

“Making Matzah is
Making Memories!”

Barbara Bloom

Jewish Community Center
D. Dan and Betty Kahn Building
Eugene and Marcia Applebaum
Jewish Community Campus
6600 W. Maple Road
West Bloomﬁeld, MI 48322

Victor Blake created
the Escape the Room
puzzle games.

Micha-MOCHA!

A Chocolate Lover’s Dream!
Celebrate our freedom from slavery!

Escape The Room

UÊ Ê Ý«iÀiViÊÌ iÊ«>}ÕiÃ]ÊiÃV>«iÊvÀÊ }Þ«ÌÊ
and cross through the Red Sea

UÊ >iÊ>`ÊÌ>ÃÌiÊV V>ÌiÊVÛiÀi`Ê>Ìâ>

UÊ -«ÊÊV >ÃÊ

Jewish entrepreneur Victor Blake dares
you to try his puzzle room in Detroit.

UÊ Ý«ÀiÊÌ iÊ-i`iÀÊÊiÜ]ÊÃÜiiÌÊÜ>ÞÃ

Register by April 1 at jewishdetroit.org/matzah

This event is generously funded by the
Barbara and Douglas Bloom Matzah Factory fund.

Martin Michalek | Special to the Jewish News

I

For questions or more information contact:
Gail Greenberg at greenberg@jfmd.org
or 248.205.2536

2078210

GET READY FOR SPRING!

For The Best Service Go To…

MUFFLERS and MORE is now Kenny’s Lakes Area Auto Experts!

We’ve evolved: more training, more services, everything you need!
We’re changing our name to refl ect the direction we’ve been moving in for years.
The name is changing, but our hearts and commitment are the same.

Kenny “the Car Guy” Walters, owns
the award-winning auto shop
and is a member of Temple Israel

Lakes Area Auto Experts

at 490 N. Pontiac Trail
in Walled Lake

248.668.1200

SEEN MONTHLY ON
FOX 2 NEWS DETROIT

For years, Lakes Area
Auto Experts has
provided neighbors with
HONEST, DEPENDABLE,
QUALITY information,
repair and service! They
live here and it shows!

22 March 24 • 2016

Email Kenny the Car Guy at
kenny@lakesareaauto.com

SERVICE DISCOUNT

(labor only)

$10 OFF $50
$20 OFF $100
$30 OFF $250 or more

2082660

www.lakesareaauto.com

magine yourself in a room with dim
lights, surrounded by stone walls
with glowing glyphs carved into
them. Unexpectedly, the room feels like
it’s spinning as symbols light up in purple,
green and red. The sound of thunder
rumbles and the clock is ticking: You have
five minutes left to solve a puzzle, beat the
game and escape the room.
That’s the premise behind Detroit’s
newest entertainment spot, Escape the
Room, a live-action game that demon-
strates how easy it is to have a good time
— even in this age of ubiquitous light-up
screens. Escape the Room puts you in
control of your own adventure. And it’s
open now at 1030 Randolph St. in the
Brush Street Garage, which is owned and
operated by Bedrock Real Estate Services.
Escape the Room’s puzzles are dif-
ficult, but its premise is simple. Ten play-
ers enter a room and have one hour to
find clues and solve riddles, all of which
become increasingly difficult as the game
progresses. There is a learning curve,
though, and the mind gets more agile as
the game unfolds. So though the puzzles
get harder, solutions come more quickly.
Perhaps a certain stone must be touched?
Perhaps the colors in this room are a
clue? These are the things the mind pon-
ders during Escape the Room, founded in
New York City by Victor Blake.
“I’m creative at optimizing within con-
straints,” says Blake, whose family attends
Temple Israel in Long Beach, Calif. “So if
you give me a puzzle room and give me
four walls, then I work well within those
constraints.”
Blake attended Fordham University
in NYC, where he graduated with hon-
ors and achieved degrees in math and
economics. Upon graduation, he lived
in Ukraine as a Fulbright Scholar. It’s an
interesting background for a puzzle mas-
ter, but it makes sense if one considers
the essence of mathematics: encountering
problems and solving them.
“After traveling, I worked in finance
like a nice Jewish boy,” he said. “My

mother thought I was crazy when I told
her I was leaving to go make these games,
but it was challenging and that’s what
I like. In the real world, you’re doing
applied math. You don’t get to sit around
and play with these puzzle-like equations.
I told her, ‘I love these games and people
seem to like them.’ And here I am.”
Here Blake is, indeed. He began Escape
the Room in 2013 and now the business
has 11 locations in 10 cities. The Detroit
location has three rooms. In one, players
discover ruins and dig sites that look like
sets from an Indiana Jones film. Another
puts a unique twist on the 1969 moon
landing. And a third room leads players
through a Prohibition-era speakeasy as
they solve puzzles to escape. When time
runs out, players have the opportunity to
take photographs holding signs contain-
ing different messages depending if teams
won or lost the game.
“It’s a different experience,” Blake says.
“If you’re looking for the usual, then you
go get dinner and a movie. If you want
to try something that’s challenging and
interactive, though, then there’s nothing
better than this.”
Escape the Room is an excellent
activity for families, particularly those
celebrating birthdays and bar or bat
mitzvahs. Everyone from couples to com-
panies doing team-building exercises find
reasons to keep coming back to Escape
the Room. While most puzzle rooms
typically require patrons to rent an entire
room, Escape the Room lets people buy
individual tickets ($28). However, during
parties, people can rent out entire rooms
and Blake accommodates celebrations
that have caterers.
“Sometimes we host bachelor or bach-
elorette parties and I’ll do something fun
like hide a bottle of champagne in one of
the rooms. It’s all about giving people a
unique experience that they wouldn’t get
if they went to dinner and a movie.”

*

For more information, call (313) 343-1574 or email
detroit@escapetheroom.com.

