Western Development Museum launches virtual escape room

Event staged out of North Battleford location, Moose Jaw planning similar project for near future

The North Battleford Western Development Museum will be hosting a virtual escape room involving the buildings on it’s frontier townsite. WDM photo

The various Western Development Museum locations in the province have faced a bit of a dilemma throughout the ongoing pandemic. They are located in Moose Jaw, Saskatoon, North Battleford and Yorkton. How do you remain in the public eye and offer a look at history when few, if any, visitors are allowed through your doors? The answer? Simple. You bring the museum to them, and in a unique format at that. The North Battleford branch of the WDM is currently running a virtual escape room featuring their on-site Heritage Farm and Village, offering a look at their different exhibits while bringing a bit of a challenge to the process. Entitled ‘The Last Key’, participants will virtually enter the various buildings found in the village and farm, looking to solve puzzles and find six keys that will allow them to ‘escape’ the facility. This is the very first WDM Virtual escape room for everyone to be able to explore the Heritage Farm and Village, especially those who don’t live in North Battleford. The escape room is loads of fun and you will be able to visit some of the exhibits in the Heritage Farm and Village, virtually of course. Moose Jaw’s WDM counterpart, Karla Rasmussen, is all for the project given how it expands the WDM’s various local offerings province-wide. Sentiments are that it’s a nice way to give folks that maybe haven’t been to a different location a snapshot of what each has to offer, because all the WDMs in the province are all so very different. Each one has their own theme, but each one of those is different as well. There’s some overlap in some areas, but each have their own really unique exhibits that everyone should have a chance to see. The escape room is a pilot project, with the other three WDM location aiming to follow suit in their own way. A mystery theme of sorts is being considered but whatever direction it will take, it will surely be a fun way view to the museum gallery through the eyes of a story. The North Battleford escape room runs until Aug. 31. The cost for WDM members and volunteers is $22.50, non-members $25. You can learn more about ‘The Last Key’ and embark on your quest by visiting www.wdm. ca/escaperoom.