Fun and Games in Vancouver

In my previous posts on Vancouver and wider British Columbia I talked about the best touristy things to see & do, hiking in Joffre Lakes Provincial Park, and even a shopping haul at Metrotown. While all of these were great fun to experience, the majority probably pop up in any good guide to BC. That's why in today's blog is all about lesser known activities that can be enjoyed in the city, or are just a short drive away, with a themed mystery game on the street of Vancouver, an Indiana Jones inspired escape room, and a corn maze.

Vancouver Mysteries

Do you want to solve a murder or save the city while you're in Vancouver? You can! Vancouver Mysteries is a super fun interactive game that let's you explore and discover Vancouver by foot, and you'll be guaranteed to spot things you've never seen before – even if you're a local. There are several different themes to pick from, and each comes with its own kit of tools that will help you solve the mystery. You can play as an individual group, as several teams competing against each other, or even as one team competing against teams of strangers.

We picked the latter option for the Heroes & Villains game. The goal was to save the planet from being taken over by the Muck Monster, and with our guide in hand (drawn in comic book style, of course) we set off across downtown, solving one clue at a time. I won't say anything more about this particular game to not spoil it for anyone who hasn't yet done it, but I will say that this is the most fun I've ever had running around. The game requires real team work and ingenuity and when you solve a clue it's so satisfying! And when the game has finished, each answer to a clue, as well as the time frame within which you solve the mystery, provides points which ranks all the teams taking part, with prizes for the winning team. The night we played there were two other teams but we won. Go team Butternut Squad!

Massive thanks to Alina for taking such good care of us during the game (and all the delicious candy beforehand and after), we had an absolute blast! You can play Vancouver Mysteries with a small team, a big team, just adults, or with kids, the possibilities are pretty much endless. For pricing, times and to find out more about the other available themes, check out the Vancouver Mysteries website.

Locked Escape Room

Escape rooms are all the rage right now, here in London we have them a plenty as well but despite their popularity I hadn't had a chance to check them out yet so wasn't quite sure what to expect. And the building housing Locked is completely inconspicuous, very much befitting what lies within.

Not a fan of anything too scary we ended up trying the Ruins themed room, which had a very Indiana Jones feel to it. Armed only with the tools provided within the first room we had to figure out clues on the walls and floor that would open a box with a key to unlock the door to the next room. We had less than an hour and a help line for a clue. Out of three rooms we only made it into the second one where we got completely lost translating ancient ruins (or gibberish...) and yet we had a blast!

After we left the escape room I went back over the steps we'd taken in my head to figure out how we could've done things differently to save time (I even dreamed about it that night, I'm not kidding). We planned to go back to give it another whirl but unfortunately ran out of time. It is very addictive though and would definitely go again if the opportunity arises.

There are many escape rooms to pick from in Vancouver but I loved Locked and do recommend you check it out. For themes, prices and opening hours visit the Locked website.

Hopcott's Meadow Maze

While the Hopcott's Meadow Maze has now closed (forever...), I couldn't not include it in this post as it definitely fits the games theme and was so much fun to do. For those of you in North America a corn maze might not be super exciting, but coming from Europe and only knowing about them from American movies, I was beyond excited to finally check one out!

We ended up going late in the evening, because why make it easy for ourselves and go when there is still light, right? Thankfully we didn't go to the horror version (which has people with chainsaws in it apparently *shudders*) but instead we went to the family friendly one, much more appropriate for me, hehe. However, just because there were kids too that doesn't mean that it was easy. It was pitch black (we had two torches in our group and the rest of us wore fairylights) and muddy (I slipped several times, but didn't fall flat out once – thankfully) and we wanted to hit all the check points on the route.

I have absolutely no idea how long it took us in the end to do the whole route, an hour maybe? But tired, muddy and satisfied we took a seat at one of the big camp fires burning outside of the maze to warm up with a cup of tea.

While the corn maze has closed, there is plenty of other stuff to do at Hopcott's throughout the year so do visit their website for more info.