All of the event cancellations due to the pandemic have left the summer calendar looking empty, but one local entertainment business may be perfectly primed to help people explore Moose Jaw without any personal interaction.
Moose Jaw Mysteries is a fairly new addition to the tourism and entertainment scene in the Notorious City, having launched in 2018 with its app-based outdoor “escape rooms” that take players all over the downtown core of the city like a scavenger hunt.
The instructions are simple: select one of the offered games from the Moose Jaw Mysteries website, purchase a session, and download the app to start playing.
“The closest kind of comparison has been to an escape room, the kind of style where you use logic to try and solve clues and make your way through,” said owner Joel Gritzfeld. “People that enjoy those styles of games have said they really enjoyed our tours.”
The entire transaction is digital, no human interaction required, and the games themselves are self-guided — which is why Moose Jaw Mysteries could be a great way to fill this summer of social distancing.
Gritzfeld describes the games as an “escape-room style scavenger hunt,” where players are given a background story before being given a series of riddles and clues to solve using their phone as they trek around the city.
There’s no time limit on any of the adventures, which means that each game also doubles as a walking tour of Moose Jaw’s downtown sights and businesses.
Players are encouraged to explore the murals, the local businesses, and the tourist spots in Moose Jaw as they work their way through the scavenger hunt.
“The idea is that you don't have to do this as quickly as possible,” said Gritzfeld. “So, if you think, ‘oh, that looks like a cool place,’ you can go in and shop or have a drink and have lunch, and then continue on.”
It’s a perfect way to highlight local business, said Gritzfeld, which was largely why he and his wife decided to create the outdoor tours.
“It just started out as something fun and we realized that we had a good idea,” said Gritzfeld. “And we wanted to capitalize on Moose Jaw being a tourist town. It’s set up perfectly for what we wanted to do, [with] all the things people notice the city for.”
Moose Jaw Mysteries originally launched with two different games available to play. Capone’s Interview is the most like an outdoor escape room — players are put in the shoes of a new recruit fresh off the bus from Chicago, running around town to complete a list of errands for Al Capone in order to impress him and save themselves from his temper.
Scavenger Hunt at Crescent Park is simpler, asking players to explore the famous park at the centre of the city on the hunt for certain items to check off their list.
And now, Moose Jaw Mysteries has just released a new adventure, one designed to fit perfectly with the current social distancing recommendations.
Whereas the other two tours are focused largely in the downtown core, the new Moose Jaw Trivia Tour is designed as a driving tour, taking players all over the city to learn about the history of Moose Jaw and take in the local sights.
“This one gets you to go to different locations around the city, so that you’re not just located in one area,” said Gritzfeld. “You kind of get that full breadth [of the city] this way.”
The team has been working all winter to design the new adventure, and felt like now would be a great time to launch a driving tour that will get families out of the house for an afternoon while still staying safe.
In fact, all three of the Moose Jaw Mysteries adventures are social-distance friendly, said Gritzfeld, if players choose to play them that way.
They’re also designed to be entertaining for both out-of-town tourists and local residents of the city, so he hopes to see more people give the tours a try this summer.
For more information about Moose Jaw Mysteries, check their website for details about tours or follow them on Facebook for updates.
