Video games lends themselves well to a variety of real-life manifestations, be it cosplay at cons and events to actually simulating what it might be like to experience a game’s events. One popular trend is the escape-the-room format, something that’s been applied recently to everything from literal escape games (see Real Zero Escape) to The Legend of Zelda.
Given its mega-popularity it was likely only a matter of time, then, before Pokémon joined the club. Currently Pokémon x Real Escape Game is only announced for Japan, but if something as obscure as Zero Escape‘s Trust on Trial made it to the US, then it seems likely that Pokémon‘s rendition will eventually follow suit. The official website for the game is only partially-translatable, but the general synopsis is that participants will “become a new trainer, get Pokémon and aim for Pokémon Master.” Sounds good to me.
The game’s timing matches up with a milestone Pokémon movie release, the 20th Pokémon feature film entitled Pokémon The Movie 20: I Choose You! Like the movie, the escape room centers around the mysterious legendary Pokémon Ho-Oh, who first appeared in Pokémon Gold and Silver on Game Boy Color back in 2000. A rerelease of those titles was recently confirmed for the Nintendo 3DS eShop, completing the circle of a clear nostalgia-play strategy.
Pokémon x Real Escape Game is coming to stores across Japan soon, with an estimated play time of up to three hours. You can explore the official site here for more information, or just go with my strategy of crossing fingers until a North American version is confirmed sometime down the road. With all the talk of Nintendo theme parks of late, the time seems right for Pokémon to make big moves as well. Let’s just hope deflating Pikachus are avoided.
