5 Wits facts for kids

5 Wits is a company that creates exciting, interactive adventure experiences. They have seven locations across the United States. These adventures are a bit like escape rooms, but they are designed so you can play them many times. You don't have to solve puzzles under a strict time limit or worry about them being too hard. 5 Wits was one of the first places to offer this kind of fun, opening in October 2004.

What Are 5 Wits Adventures Like?

Each 5 Wits location has different adventures with cool themes. You might explore the world of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, go on a high-tech spy mission, travel to outer space, discover ancient Egypt, or step into a medieval fantasy.

In each adventure, a group of 2 to 12 people works together. You'll face puzzles and challenges as a team. You move through different rooms to complete your mission. The adventures use special computer-controlled lights and sounds. They also have amazing optical illusions and many physical and mental puzzles.

The best part is that your choices matter! You can succeed or fail, and each adventure has different endings. These endings change based on how your group plays and the decisions you make.

5 Wits adventures are fully controlled by computers. There are no human operators inside the games. Each attraction resets itself automatically after a group finishes. This means it's always ready for the next team!

Popular Adventures to Explore

• Deep Space (Syracuse, West Nyack, Albany, Buffalo): Get teleported to an abandoned spaceship! You and your team must figure out what happened to the crew. But be careful, things are not always what they seem.
• Drago's Castle (Syracuse, West Nyack, Albany, Buffalo, Erie, Arlington): Step into a medieval fantasy world. Help a magical princess catch a fire-breathing dragon. You must stop it before it destroys her world and yours!
• Espionage (Syracuse, Erie, Arlington): Become a secret agent in this spy adventure. Your mission is to sneak into an enemy base. You need to stop a dangerous plan before it starts.
• Tomb (Syracuse, West Nyack, Albany, Buffalo, Erie, Arlington): This adventure is like something out of Indiana Jones! You must answer the riddles of a pharaoh who lived long ago. If you don't, you might be trapped in the tomb forever!

Why Is It Called 5 Wits?

The name "5 Wits" comes from old writings by famous authors like William Shakespeare and Stephen Hawes. They wrote about the "five inward wits." These were common sense, imagination, estimation (judging things), fantasy, and memory.

While these are different from our five senses (sight, smell, touch, taste, hearing), 5 Wits adventures use both! Each adventure is designed to make you use your "inward wits." They also fully immerse you in an experience that uses all your five senses.

The Story of 5 Wits

5 Wits was started in 2003 by its founder, Matthew DuPlessie. The very first 5 Wits location opened in October 2004 in Boston, Massachusetts. This location featured "TOMB," which was 5 Wits' first adventure.

In 2006, 5 Wits started another company called Box Fort. This company helps design and build the walk-through adventures for 5 Wits. They also create experiences for other places like museums and theme parks. For example, in 2007, 5 Wits helped create "Operation Spy." This was an hour-long adventure inside the International Spy Museum.

Since its beginning, 5 Wits has grown a lot. Many new locations have opened, especially in New York state. 5 Wits continues to expand, with plans for even more exciting adventures in the future!

Where Can You Find 5 Wits?

You can find 5 Wits adventures at these six locations:

• Syracuse, New York, inside Destiny USA mall.
• West Nyack, New York, at Palisades Center. This location opened in 2016.
• Albany, New York, at Crossgates Mall. This location is very similar to the West Nyack one.
• Buffalo, New York, at Walden Galleria mall.
• Erie, Pennsylvania, at Millcreek Mall.
• Arlington, Virginia, a new location that opened in February 2019 at Ballston Quarter.