Advanced sign up
is recommended

Just in time for the movie release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the Princeton Public Library is revisiting the wizarding world with a one-night only escape room experience on Tuesday, November 15.

Escape rooms (or break-out rooms) are a recent innovation in interactive entertainment. With the challenge and social experience of tabletop games, escape rooms expand on a story idea to make the real world a part of the game. Players are “locked” (either literally, or in Princeton Public Library’s case, figuratively) in a room and must work together to solve puzzles and find objects that will allow them to “escape” within a certain time frame. Team success depends upon group cooperation, communication skills, and the ability to work under pressure.

For Princeton Public Library’s escape rooms, some familiarity of the Harry Potter universe will help as well. The library’s three study rooms will be converted into two creature-filled, magical offices and a herbology laboratory, and players will need to decipher codes and puzzles, locate magical beasts, and identify potion ingredients in order to complete the rooms’ challenges.

The puzzles have been designed for junior-high through adult with a time limit of 45 minutes. Each team should have no more than 4 participants. There will ten starting time slots beginning at 4:00 within 15 or 20 minutes of each other, with three teams playing each hour. The last puzzle will start at 8:15.

Advanced sign up is required. Stop by the Youth Services desk at the library or call 815-875-1331, extension 220. Board games will be available to play before or after the escape rooms for those who want to plan an evening of gaming fun.