“The Russian soul requires a full immersion into the fictional world. So does that mean that Russians just want more from their entertainment? “Those tiny doses of others’ lives, the micro-injections, are not enough for us,” Shchukin says. In a real-life escape game, you use your entire body. With cinema and literature, you’re stuck in the role of the observer. “You can only enjoy peace and quiet sitting by the fireplace when there’s a snowstorm outside,” he says. As a video game developer, I can appreciate some of the work that goes into creating life-like digital equines. As a long-time equestrian and gamer, I like to analyze horses in video games for their realism, their looks, and their mechanical features. In this context perhaps a room escape is more of a reality escape: you simply don’t have enough time to worry about your terrifying to-do list when you’re saving the world from a deadly zombie virus outbreak.īut Denis Shchukin, a lecturer at St Petersburg State University specialising in social philosophy and ethics, believes it’s a feeling of stability that drives players to seek thrills in locked rooms in basements. The Mane Quest is a website dedicated to horses in video games and video games about horses. Why do people want to spend so much money on an activity that isn’t exactly relaxing?Ī feature in the South China Morning Post analysed the popularity of real-life quests in Hong Kong, noting that they are especially popular with students. Group games in St Petersburg cost up to 7,000 roubles (£80) for evenings and weekend slots. Of course being locked in a confined space might not be everybody’s idea of fun, especially when you have to pay a hefty sum for the privilege. Our soul requires a full immersion into the fictional world! Denis Shchukin, St Petersburg academic Photograph: /Calvert Journal Those tiny doses of other’s lives are not enough for us.

Then report back to Watcher Lin in Edengrove. The House of Ghosts, a haunting scenario popular with St Petersburg gamers. Watcher Lin has asked you to find a key to enter Zygoramets Grove and destroy the dangerous creature inside.

Life quest games