Written by: Hareesh Mothi, CEO, Breakout
Virtual experiences are at much disadvantage compared to face-to-face interactions when it comes to the levels of engagement. So, it is obvious that you need to go a few extra steps to ensure that same level of investment. There are a few key aspects to this-
- One, the experience should create plenty of scopes for individual participation. If people know they can be put on the spot randomly, they will pay attention to what’s happening in the virtual session more closely.
- The second thing that decides the level of engagement in a virtual experience is its novelty. If you can offer something unique and fun, participants will interact with the experience out of sheer curiosity and wonder.
- The third key element is a competitive framework. It is basic human nature to be invested more into something when it has immediate consequences. So, when you divide the participants into sub-teams and create a tournament-style experience, it excites them more, with the winning title being at stake.
- The last parameter is the expertise of the host. A good host should know how to ensure that everyone present in the session feels equally included into the experience. When energy levels go down, it the host who needs to bring it back up and help the participants break out of their shells.
Breakout Escape Room offers the only Movie-styled virtual experiences in India. The USP of the brand’s virtual experience is the high levels of immersion that has attracted clients from all over the globe in the past two years. The concept is this: your team connects through Zoom to solve a live mystery. There is a live actor inside the actual escape room, sending you real-time feed from the “crime scene”. Your mission is to help them escape, while also solving the mystery case at hand.
Take this storyline for example: 4 cops have died under mysterious circumstances. An investigative journalist is trying to figure out what happened. This journalist is tipped to come to an abandoned military war room. She looks up all the military assets in India and sees that the place is struck off from a list. Out of curiosity, she goes to check out the place, but someone pushed her inside and locks her in. She realizes she has 50 minutes before the oxygen runs out. Now the only chance of surviving is for super smart journalists (participants) to step in and help her.
The key aspect here is the way the illusion of danger is created very realistically. The live actors stay in character throughout and if participants are unable to finish the mission, the video feed cuts off abruptly.
These virtual Breakout experiences have been rated 4.9 by over 4,000 reviewers. Participants can choose from 4 different themes, and the brand can accommodate team sizes of up to 200 people for a single session.