Puzzalarium was the first operational Escape Room in San Diego and somewhere between the 8th and 26th Escape Room to open in the United States, with a soft opening October 1st 2014, and a formal opening Halloween 2014. We hosted The Study, The Parlour, The Floor is Lava, and [REDACTED] between two facilities, Alpha and Prime. Puzzalarium Alpha hosted The Study, while Prime hosted The Floor is Lava, [REDACTED], and The Parlour. After three years of hosting thousands of guests, Prime closed on Halloween of 2019.
You can still visit the old site if you like.
Prime was set to reopen after a short search for a new facility. Then COVID arrived, making sure that that this reopening did not happen, ending Prime and our old business model permanantly.
During the time of 2020 to early 2022, Puzzalarium has still remained in business, even if it is just with one full-time employee and some help from good friends. We made a game to play with a streamer which helped us to fund a purchase of a laser cutter, got a workshop working again, ran a megagame, published a boardgame, and are still open for being commissioned for events. (Email us if interested. We still do weddings, team building, work with schools and so forth.)
But all the while the new and final iteration of Puzzalarium has been cooking.
It’s just a pop-up arcade, but secretly it’s a whole MMO in an afternoon.
It’s just a simple board game, but secretly it slowly reveals endless complexity.
It’s just a friendly local game store, but secretly it’s an in-game economy where the currency is fun.
It’s just a thing to do, but secretly it’s a MegaGame playing out every day it’s open.
It’s just a clothing store, but secretly it’s a cosplay store.
It’s just a fun place to have to yourself, but secretly the strangers make the experience even better.
It’s just an excuse to hang out with friends, but secretly it’s a place you can go alone to make new friends.
It's just a game.
This sentence will be removed when the date is knowable.
The Analog Alpha V0.0.1
A One-Weekend Event, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. 2PM to 10PM, Tenth Avenue Arts Center.
Weekend to be announced. Follow my newsletter to figure out when.
Something even bigger is instead.
A debut event coming later in the 2022 season. And the only reliable way to find out about it is to be on this email list.