5 Wits facts for kids
| Established | 2004 |
|---|---|
| Collection size | Interactive immersive adventures |
5 Wits is a chain entertainment venue that builds interactive adventure experiences with seven locations in the United States. 5 Wits adventures are compared to and have some similarities with Escape Room Games, but are placed in a separate category and not considered escape games. It has been called the first of this type of attraction, having first opened to the public in October 2004.
Description
Each location features interactive adventures with themes such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, a high tech spy mission, outer space, ancient Egypt, and medieval fantasy. In each adventure, a group of 2-12 guests are faced with puzzles and challenges they must overcome as a team as they work to progress through a series of rooms and complete their mission. There are computer controlled lighting and sound effects, optical illusions, and a wide variety of physical and mental puzzles and electromechanical effects. Guests can succeed or fail, and each adventure has multiple endings that will change based on how the group performs and what decisions the group makes.
The Foxboro, MA location at Patriot Place is unique in that it is the only location where a staff member, called 'adventure guide' goes with the group to help set the tone and if the group gets stuck, can provide clues. The adventures in Foxboro last approximately 50 minutes based on the group's ability to solve the challenges.
The other 5 Wits locations all provide automated adventures, where the guides do not accompany guests through. The adventures in these locations last approximately 30 minutes based on the group's ability to solve the challenges.
Adventures
- Deep Space (Syracuse, West Nyack, Albany, Buffalo) - A futuristic adventure where adventure goers get teleported to an abandoned starship and they must work together to figure out what happened to the crew, but not everything is what it seems.
- Drago's Castle (Syracuse, West Nyack, Albany, Buffalo, Erie, Arlington) - A medieval fantasy where adventure goers help a magical princess catch a fire-breathing dragon before it can destroy her world and theirs.
- Espionage (Foxboro, Syracuse, Erie, Arlington) - A spy adventure where adventure goers become secret agents and must infiltrate the bad guy's base and foil his plans. The Espionage adventures are very different with Foxboro's involving a bomb, while Syracuse, Arlington, and Plymouth Meeting have missiles that must be disarmed.
- Tomb (Syracuse, West Nyack, Albany, Buffalo, Erie, Arlington) - An Indiana Jones style adventure where adventure goers must answer the riddles of a long dead pharaoh or else be trapped forever.
- 20,000 Leagues (Foxboro) - Based on the book by Jules Verne, the group must repair a broken down submarine and battle a sea monster to reach the surface.
Origin of the Name
5 Wits is named after the five inward wits from the writings of William Shakespeare and Stephen Hawes. These five wits were common sense, imagination, estimation, fantasy, and memory, though there are also clear associations to the five senses. Each 5 Wits adventure requires the use of the five inward wits and is designed to immerse guests fully in a "5 senses themed" experience.
History
5 Wits was incorporated in 2003 by founder and president Matthew DuPlessie. The original business plan for 5 Wits, first called the Puzzle Room, was written and entered into the business plan competition at Harvard Business School in early 2003. 5 Wits' first location opened in October 2004 at 186 Brookline Avenue, Boston MA, hosting TOMB, 5 Wits first adventure. In 2006, 5 Wits spun off a sister company, Box Fort [1], (originally called 5 Wits Productions) to design and build walk-through adventures for its growing business and provide services for third-party clients like museums, theaters, and theme parks. In 2007, 5 Wits opened Operation Spy, an hour long walk-through adventure inside the International Spy Museum. In 2010, 5 Wits moved the original TOMB [2] adventure to Pigeon Forge, TN, selling it to a third party. The original TOMB continues to operate but is no longer owned or operated by 5 Wits. Meanwhile, a new 5 Wits location opened in August of that same year in Foxboro MA at Patriot Place hosting Espionage and 20,000 Leagues. Since then, multiple new locations have opened, primarily in New York state. 5 Wits continues to expand, with new stores currently planned.
Locations
The company's seven venues are located in:
- Foxboro, Massachusetts, at Patriot Place, just across from Gillette Stadium, home of the NFL's New England Patriots.
- Syracuse, New York, at Destiny USA.
- West Nyack, New York, at Palisades Center. This location opened in 2016 in a space that was an IMAX theater in the mall.
- Albany, New York, at Crossgates Mall. This location is nearly identical to the West Nyack location.
- Buffalo, New York, at Walden Galleria.
- Erie, Pennsylvania, at Millcreek Mall
- Arlington, Virginia, a new location at Ballston Quarter opened February 2019.
