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Google Built an Escape Room, Making People Use Its Apps To Get Out (adweek.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the classic-flash-games dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Google France has built an escape room created by We Are Social, called "Premiere Piece," that will open in the heart of Paris. Adweek writes: "The campaign builds on the escape room trend, in which you and a bunch of friends pay to get locked in a room for an hour or two, left to solve puzzles and work in collaboration to find a way out. In 40 minutes, you must solve puzzles with help from apps like Search, Maps, Translate, Photos, Art and Culture and Cardboard, all of which are integrated into the gameplay. In Premiere Piece, visitors must help save a crew of digital artists locked in a workshop, so they can present their painstaking work at an art center in Paris. By working together, participants must unlock an object that completes their masterpiece." Google France was in the news recently for being raided by investigators for unpaid taxes.

50 comments

  1. Halp, I can't get out! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For I have no smartphone, n'mind an android phone and so, no apps.

    1. Re:Halp, I can't get out! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hmmm ... maybe investing in one might HELP your spelling?

    2. Re:Halp, I can't get out! by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1, Funny

      For I have no smartphone, n'mind an android phone and so, no apps.

      "I just came into this thread to get directions on how to get away from it."

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    3. Re:Halp, I can't get out! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You don't get the joke do you?

  2. CESM by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    If that's what they do with their spare time, maybe it's time to increase the working week to above thirty hours.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    1. Re:CESM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yeah god forbid anyone have fun. Work is the reason we exist.

    2. Re:CESM by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      There are plenty of European countries which have nice long work hours which still enjoy parts of life. God forbid someone actually goes out and does something with other people instead of watching that thing you Americans claim qualifies at television.

      Escape room puzzles are actually a huge amount of fun.

    3. Re:CESM by Lumpy · · Score: 1

      We have to have our regular dose of stupid.

      Plus look at our sports, the big pussies wearing all the padding and gear to play rugby but we call it football the average european rugby player would demolish any american "football" player.

      Then we have baseball, where we have 6 hours of standing around grabbing crotches and sweeping a base, once in a while someone hits the ball and runs.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    4. Re:CESM by jewens · · Score: 1

      Not a football guy by any means, but an average European rugby player would have a hard time making the cut at a D-1 college let alone in the NFL. Considering how obscene the money is in American pro sports (only F-1 and the top tier international football teams pay more) there don't appear to be too many people making the transition from European sports to the NFL. We do however readily accept the cream of the world's crop into the NBA, MLB and NHL on a fairly regular basis.

      --
      That group of bovine standing over there appears quite portentous. That's right it's an ominous cow herd.
  3. Guys? by pushing-robot · · Score: 1

    Uh, guys? Is this really how user testing works?

    --
    How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
  4. Who cares... by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 5, Funny

    After it becomes popular, they will just discontinue it...

    --
    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
    1. Re:Who cares... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is no way this becomes popular!

    2. Re:Who cares... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      After it becomes popular, they will just discontinue it...

      Hopefully, no one will still be inside when they do.

  5. Maybe... by tnk1 · · Score: 1

    Maybe they're collecting information on escaping from their jail cells for unpaid taxes.

    I wonder if France will accept payment of taxes in wine and cheese.

  6. Sign me up. by BarbaraHudson · · Score: 1

    Help digital artists escape so that they can display their sh*t? Put me first in line, I'll leave them inside to starve to death and save google inflicting yet another mindless stupidity on the world. Don't worry about the bodies - google will dispose of them when they cancel the project, same as every other cancelled project.

    --
    "Transparent" is a shit show that trades on every stereotype going. A man in drag is NOT a transsexual.
  7. Nouveau marketing by suupaabaka · · Score: 3, Funny

    Now they're trying Stockholm Syndrome?

    1. Re:Nouveau marketing by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      As in Stockholm, Finland.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    2. Re:Nouveau marketing by DidgetMaster · · Score: 1

      Were you a new anchor in LA in the 80s?

    3. Re: Nouveau marketing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Eat a dick.

  8. Raids by darkain · · Score: 1

    Maybe *THIS* is why Google France got raided!? Someone got pissed off for being locked up in a room!

    1. Re:Raids by Talderas · · Score: 1

      Maybe it's a response to being raided. They're attempting to create an inescapable cell and then tell to investigators that what they're looking for is available in the room.

      --
      "Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
  9. Sounds like my D&D group by Rastl · · Score: 1

    Except for having to pay for the privilege it sounds a lot like my weekly gaming groups. We get together in a room, we solve puzzles together, we have fun, then we leave.

    1. Re:Sounds like my D&D group by Lumpy · · Score: 1

      You solve puzzles?

      We just burn down most of the realm... Hell we currently have half of Ravenloft on fire and are considering joining Strahd's forces as they pay really well.

      --
      Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
  10. I've seen this movie... by Smidge204 · · Score: 1

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt01...

    It's all the same machine, right? The Pentagon, Google, the police. If you do one little job, you make an free App for Android, and the next thing you know, it's two miles under the desert, the essential component of a death machine.
    =Smidge=

  11. Kidnapping? by The+New+Guy+2.0 · · Score: 1

    Seems like GOOGL needs an exemption from kidnapping law to make this work. If I'm ever there, short the stock...

  12. Documentary on this by whoever57 · · Score: 1

    I saw a documentary about this idea some years ago.

    --
    The real "Libtards" are the Libertarians!
    1. Re:Documentary on this by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      I preferred the movie.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  13. Unrelated by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    The first people into the room were all French tax officials, invited by Google as a gesture of goodwill.

    At press time, none yet had managed to find the way out of the room after several days.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  14. The best use for this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Staving off Alzheimer's

    Otherwise what a waste of time and money.

  15. How long does this investment take to pay off? by CRCulver · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Escape room games are opening all over Europe. Stay in a hotel or backpacker's that attracts foreigners, and among the brochures of local attractions you're like to find a leaflet advertising "[City X]'s best escape game!". But I can't help but suspect this is a fad that's not going to remain popular more than another year or two. Converting a space to an elaborate escape room must require significant investment. Are these places even going to stay open long enough to pay it back?

    1. Re:How long does this investment take to pay off? by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      Escape room games are opening all over Europe. Stay in a hotel or backpacker's that attracts foreigners, and among the brochures of local attractions you're like to find a leaflet advertising "[City X]'s best escape game!". But I can't help but suspect this is a fad that's not going to remain popular more than another year or two. Converting a space to an elaborate escape room must require significant investment. Are these places even going to stay open long enough to pay it back?

      Corporate team building games. They'll do fine.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    2. Re:How long does this investment take to pay off? by hankwang · · Score: 1

      Escape rooms typically don't publish pictures, so I only have one data point from personal experience. The capital investment is negligible; most of the costs were likely for staffing and rent. The room was filled with stuff from thrift stores and walls were made of plasternoard. The only new stuff was the security camera, a tv screen, a keypad lock and an emergency button.

      --
      Avantslash: low-bandwidth mobile slashdot.
    3. Re:How long does this investment take to pay off? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      If you've never been to one you may have the idea that this is like a "prison break" kind of deal and they're letting you use any means you can come up with to get out. That's not how it works.

      Typically they'll tell you that your escape doesn't require any brute force, any climbing on things, or that sort of thing. Most of the artefacts are junk, maybe spray-painted, and most of the "mechanics" is human workers behind the scenes. So e.g. maybe there's a tube that leads to a "machine" and when you figure out the correct settings, a key will drop out the tube. Nobody built a complicated mechanism, there's just a person watching on CCTV, when you set things correctly they drop a key down the tube to you.

      It's basically a thought puzzle, but in real life. Lots of "Aha, it's a substitution cipher, look at the coloured blocks in the photograph" and "Check underneath all the drawers!" very little "Hit it again" or "I'll use my pen knife".

      They're often in a pop-up space, they may have six months, twelve months rent at a low price, then a "real" buyer comes in and tears everything out to build a shop or something. Their finances are built around spending hardly anything on the setup, and ensuring they charge more to play than they're spending on staffing the thing. It's rarely very profitable, but if you like that sort of thing it's better than a "real" job.

  16. Well played Google by wjcofkc · · Score: 1

    I would bet a case of beer that this is simply AI research. That said, I don't have a problem with it.

    --
    Brought to you by Carl's Junior.
    1. Re:Well played Google by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ok Google, open the pod bay doors!

  17. Didn't they make a bunch of SAW movies about this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Nobody wanted to play.

  18. Remember, only APPS can app apps! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Google should jail LUDDITES in this room and force them to become appy app appers!

    Apps!

  19. "New" (Non-Computer) Gaming Trend by pipingguy · · Score: 1

    From 2014: http://www.cnbc.com/2014/06/21...

    "In a genre of play called "Real Escape Room," two or more people get locked in a decorated room and must solve puzzles to escape—before time runs out."

    "Few are smart enough, and the success rate averages less than 20 percent, the business owners said."

    "But the fun lies in the joint puzzle-solving, which spurs tourists and companies alike to pay just under $30 a person to play."

    "The venues are relatively easy to set up: Create about six themed puzzles, find a room or two to rent and decorate, and advertise on social media."

  20. Google stole idea from Russians again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They stole idea from Russians again

  21. What? by denzacar · · Score: 1

    You don't like team building?

    Sounds like someone needs to achieve some positive engagement benefits!

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  22. how much dynamite by boskone · · Score: 1

    I wonder how much dynamite you could use in a closed room without killing yourself trying to escape.

    it would beat being forced to use these apps in collaboration with 40 strangers.

    I guess the game just isn't for me

  23. Microsoft version by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    When you go in the room and the lock is turned, Cortana changes her voice to creepy and suggests that only way out is playing her game.

  24. So you pay google to let you give them data on you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    WTF?
    Are people that stupid?
    Why would you give them all this lovely detailed data on you and how you behave in stressful situations?

    I have to tip my hat to Google though. They are continually coming up with ruses to get data on everyone on the planet.

  25. Of course they're experts ! by BESTouff · · Score: 1

    Of course, Google know how to escape the tax system in Paris !

  26. LOL! by jeffb+(2.718) · · Score: 1

    Google wants us to believe that we can escape. That's adorable.

  27. Apple by fluffernutter · · Score: 1

    Upon exiting the room, Google has a sign that reads "Now you know how Apple users feel".

    --
    Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
  28. the joke's on them. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I used Amazon to break out, not Google.

    Alexa, please rush delivery of a large battering ram to my device's GPS coordinates.

    Certainly.
    Obtaining coordinates...
    Confirming with triangulated signal...
    Comparing to A9's multi-petabyte index of everything and everywhere.
    Confirmed.
    Obtaining delivery address from coordinates.
    Done.
    Now processing order. ASN658842321RAM.

    You sound a little stressed and this is a large, heavy package. Would you like inside delivery and setup for an extra $150.00?

    Of course, Alexa, same-day, within the hour, if possible, inside delivery of the order, please; and Alexa?

    Yes?

    Don't bother with the gift wrap. Frustration-free packaging will be more than sufficient. And please tell the delivery guys to just go-ahead and let themselves in.

    Certainly. Your order is on the way! Thank you for choosing Amazon for your battering ram needs.

  29. Kobayashi Maru by The-Ixian · · Score: 1

    Just reprogram the Google apps and solve the problem without doing all that working-with-other-humans stuff.

    --
    My eyes reflect the stars and a smile lights up my face.
  30. Gahh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Sounds like my own personal hell.

  31. They sure fucking did by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't know if anyone's already made this comment, I sincerely hope to God someone has or at least noticed this shit...

    Isn't this almost exactly what they're doing to us IRL? (Apart from the Apple crowd, you guys are of course swimming in teh freedoms)

    If you're not following, I'm fucking pissed about them trying to shove their DNS servers down everyone's throat like we're begging to deepthroat their MITM attacks, beautifully curated "internet" landscape, sagely technical advise ("sorry but you need to buy a new router, that one's broken because it expects DHCP clients, especially the genius "smartphones" to adhere to the fucking protocol that's been working perfectly well for what, iunno, 30 years?")

    I only confirmed this morning this is why my Samsung S4 hasn't been able to wi-fi at home, since the day it up-raped me Android 5.someshit while I was texting on the shitter.... ironically it decided to do that preciselly because it detected that it *was* connected over wi-fi. I mean, not being a fucking idiot, or a "techxpert" blogger offering benevolent tech advise (ie "everything else you own must be broken, but to fix it, put 8.8.8.8 in as your home network fucking DNS) like a good little government shill, I did already kinda know this is what the fuckin' problem is, but I was already too busy spending way too much of my life going around in meticulously crafted circles of tech-hell, every time I wanted to oh I dunno, for example, MAKE A FUCKIN PHONE CALL ON MY FUCKIN PHONE

    Of course that's all just in the la-la-land of mobile "phones". But lest we forget, that fuckin' shit that's rotting over there under a rug, that shit not all that long ago, where they slipped 8.8.8.8 in as the default fallback into resolv.conf in Debian... and then mocked and jeered and alienated anyone who had the brains, the balls and the conviction to point out how fuckin fucked up that was.

    If you, of all places, can't feel where I'm coming from Slashdot (or I just get modded as troll - pot, google, black, anyone? :D), I don't know if I can maintain my faith in our beautiful simulation much longer ;)

    But then again, fuck it anyway, I'll just go work with plants, or plant-based aliens (??), or dogs, or dog shit, or nitro-glycerine, or maybe I'll finally do that stand-up comedy tour I've always dreamt of

    Thanks slashdot.

    Yours sincerely, long time reader, first time AC ranter.