by Spencer Bollettieri, freelance writer for Theme Park Magazine
The Caped Crusader has come to New York, and this time he can’t save it alone in Batman x SPYSCAPE. Blending SPYSCAPE’s interactive technology and DC Comics’ legendary storytelling, guests explore the world of Batman in a unique experience. Full of iconic heroes, vile supervillains, and a conspiracy targeting them all, Batman x SPYSCAPE challenges visitors to channel their inner detectives to see if they have what it takes to join the Bat Family.
SPYSCAPE: The Edutainment Brand
Part of a wide-reaching edutainment brand featuring noted names like OSCAR® nominee Vanessa Kirby of Mission: Impossible fame, MCU star Hayley Atwell, and Austin Power’s Elizabeth Hurley, SPYSCAPE’s dedicates itself to educating people about real-world spies and the legends they inspired. At their 60,000 sq. ft midtown Manhattan location, SPYSCAPE offers interactive exhibits and intuitive technology, where guests learn about the art of espionage while testing their skills in various exercises. In a partnership with Warner Bros. Themed Entertainment, SPYSCAPE brings the museum to a new level with a narrative-driven attraction that immerses guests in a comic book world and a story they become part of.
The Batman x SPYSCAPE App: Preparing for the Adventure
The experience begins before guests enter SPYSCAPE, and the first part is available to everyone regardless if they plan on visiting. When downloading the app from the Batman x SPYSCAPE website, aspiring vigilantes are suddenly in contact with the DC character Oracle who sets up the scenario. After a scientist disappears from a symposium on extraterrestrial geology, Oracle needs inconspicuous field agents to help her solve the mystery. Through AR puzzles, data collection, and choose-your-own-adventure-style prompts, players learn that the villainous Levithan Organization set up headquarters in NYC, which Oracle asks them to infiltrate. The first experience is 30 minutes, free, and available everywhere as a prologue for the exhibit.
Entering Levithan’s Headquarters: Using Your Sleuth Skills
For the price of a ticket and those visiting NYC’s SPYSCAPE, the adventure continues as guests enter Levithan’s headquarters, a series of rooms with puzzles and displays for recruited sleuths to interact with. Highly atmospheric, the narratively focused experience packs plenty of cameos, easter eggs, and interactions from famous DC characters. Cyber detectives will match wits with the Riddler, hack terminals, leave bugs, and scan samples with their phones to save Robin, along with other notable DC figures targeted by Levithan. However, even after escaping Levithan’s headquarters, the story continues as guests become members of the Bat Family and continue working with them from home through the app. Although the experience itself takes a little more than an hour, the at-home portion provides days worth of puzzles, missions, and stories to keep players occupied.
Skill Appraisal and Exclusive Batman x SPYSCAPE Comic
Throughout Batman x SPYSCAPE, the app appraises visitors’ skills as a vigilante, considering the moral choices made, the data collected, and the deductive abilities of the players. It’s a unique way to explore a Batman story and make those involved feel part of it. It’s a level of interactivity that goes beyond a typical escape room. Additionally, it feels like a part of the DC universe exclusive to SPYSCAPE, complete with its own exclusive comic available in the gift shop.
Conclusion: A Unique Experience with the DC Universe
Whether it’s the impressive set pieces, attention to detail, or the ambitious technology that turns phones into a mini Bat-computer, Batman x SPYSCAPE prides itself on being a unique experience that allows people to interact with the DC universe in a new way. Although it could be considered a heavily-themed escape room, there’s so much more to Batman x SPYSCAPE. While some games challenge players to “Be the Batman,” Batman x SPYSCAPE brings players into his world to find the heroes inside of themselves.
SPYSCAPE offers tickets, further information, and the Batman x SPYSCAPE app on their website.
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- Website: SPYSCAPE
Feature photo by ©SPYSCAPE
About Spencer Bollettieri: As a biologist, journalist, and writer, Spencer Bollettieri has written for sites such as Screen Rant. Although mostly based out of New York, he’s traveled the world in pursuit of new stories.
