{"id":1041,"date":"2017-08-31T12:00:21","date_gmt":"2017-08-31T16:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=1041"},"modified":"2017-08-31T10:28:08","modified_gmt":"2017-08-31T14:28:08","slug":"museum-of-intrigue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=1041","title":{"rendered":"Museum of Intrigue"},"content":{"rendered":"

A New Kind of Story<\/em><\/h1>\n

By Lorna Oppedisano | Photography by Alexis Emm<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve done a lot of strange things with my life,\u201d Jono Naito, Museum of Intrigue developer\/lead designer said. \u201cI\u2019ve studied chemistry. I\u2019ve worked in the [American] Museum of Natural History in New York City. I was in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I was in a circus. I\u2019ve breathed fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

Come early September, Jono can add \u201cmuseum creator\u201d to that list. Well, sort of.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, the team behind Escape the Estate, LLC \u2014 creators of the Escape the Estate presents The Hotel Whitmore escape room in ShoppingTown Mall and Escape the Estate at Frightmare Farms, the nationally-renowned haunted house in Palermo \u2014 was looking for their next venture. Jono, who\u2019d started working for Escape the Estate after moving to Syracuse for graduate school, had an idea: what if they were to present their customers an interactive story experience?<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen he first came up with the concept, I had goosebumps going over it with him,\u201d Escape the Estate, LLC, co-owner\/Museum of Intrigue set designer Andrew DeRuiter said.<\/p>\n

The basic concept of the game is elegantly simple. When a player or group of players enters the attraction, they approach the front desk, and see a row of books in front of them.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re asked, \u201cDo you want to play a story today?\u201d<\/p>\n

Depending on how many people are playing and what sort of game they\u2019re interested in \u2014 some focus more on puzzles, while others emphasize plot and characters \u2014 they\u2019re given a scenario and the first clue. And then, the game is in their hands.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo you get to enjoy the museum for as long as you want,\u201d Jono explained. \u201cOnce you get past the front desk, the whole museum is an immersive environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

As guests work their way through the story and museum, they encounter a number of characters, actors hired by the team to help people along on their visits. One time, the \u201cDorian Grayesque, never-aging\u201d researcher might lend a hand, Jono explained. On your next visit, you might get a clue from the \u201cquirky\u201d security guard.<\/p>\n

While most games allude to a collective plot, they\u2019re designed so the different storylines don\u2019t overlap.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of the puzzles and games are designed very specifically so that almost nothing is given away,\u201d Jono said. \u201cI can see you being excited about something, but I won\u2019t know its context or what you\u00a0did. All I\u2019ll know is I saw something very strange happen over by the Viking exhibit, and that maybe I\u2019ll want to come play that next time.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team expects to present six to eight separate games for Museum of Intrigue\u2019s September opening, and plan to add more as time progresses.<\/p>\n

After finding an ideal location at Destiny USA, the team dove into work, creating the set and games for the museum. Being a local business, they have the advantage of control over every aspect of their creation. Most things the visitors will touch or even walk on have been built from scratch by Andrew, based on Jono\u2019s ideas. They\u2019re even repurposing some of the leftover materials from the space\u2019s last tenant, OptiGolf.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not getting something shipped to us that we\u2019re putting up,\u201d Jono said, \u201cwhich means every single prop, every puzzle, has been designed here [and] built here. And it lends a level of authenticity that is very noticeable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The practice of developing everything themselves isn\u2019t new to the group. It\u2019s part of what sets them ahead in the industry. And it\u2019s paid off; in terms of their new venture, the team is certain no one in the entertainment industry has created an experience like this before.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is this gut and this fire that comes with the thrill of these ideas,\u201d Nicole Ginsburg, creator and co-owner of Escape the Estate, LLC, explained.<\/p>\n

They\u2019re testing the waters for the new idea at Destiny USA, she said. The fanbase from their other ventures is excited to see what unfolds with Museum of Intrigue. But in terms of Nicole\u2019s role in the company, she\u2019s always keeping an eye open for the next opportunity to provide new spaces and opportunities for artists and actors.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy ultimate goal is to end in entertainment, in the capacity of basically what we\u2019re doing with Escape and with Frightmare: that ability to give brilliant minds tools, space and the funds to create things that they\u2019re passionate about,\u201d Nicole said. \u201cIt\u2019s really amazing.\u201d SWM <\/em><\/p>\n

Museum of Intrigue is slated to open in early September at Destiny USA, located by 9090 Destiny USA Drive in Syracuse. Stay tuned online for more specific details. Visit museumofintrigue.com<\/a> or facebook.com\/MuseumOfIntrigue<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A New Kind of Story By Lorna Oppedisano | Photography by Alexis Emm \u201cI\u2019ve done a lot of strange things with my life,\u201d Jono Naito, Museum of Intrigue developer\/lead designer said. \u201cI\u2019ve studied chemistry. I\u2019ve worked in the [American] Museum of Natural History in New York City. I was in The Rocky Horror Picture Show.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[156,341,340,337,339,133,336,335,338,322],"class_list":["post-1041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","tag-alexis-emm","tag-andrew-deruiter","tag-ben-sobine","tag-escape-the-estate","tag-jono-naito","tag-lorna-oppedisano","tag-museum-of-intrigue","tag-new-in-the-cuse","tag-nicole-ginsburg","tag-september-2017"],"gutentor_comment":0,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/SWM-Alexis-Emm-Photograffi-1.jpg?fit=2480%2C1650&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3668,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=3668","url_meta":{"origin":1041,"position":0},"title":"Out & About: Museum of Intrigue provides unique family fun","author":"Alyssa Dearborn","date":"June 5, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"By Lorna Oppedisano When Museum of Intrigue was founded in 2017, the team knew they wanted to have a family-oriented feel to the establishment, but had no idea it would become such a destination spot for families in the Central New York area. \u201cAs we\u2019ve grown, we\u2019ve discovered that our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Out & About"","block_context":{"text":"Out & About","link":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?cat=1311"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DSC01012-1-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C754&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DSC01012-1-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C754&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DSC01012-1-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C754&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DSC01012-1-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C754&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/DSC01012-1-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C754&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":962,"url":"https:\/\/www.syracusewomanmag.com\/?p=962","url_meta":{"origin":1041,"position":1},"title":"Purpose Farm","author":"Staff","date":"July 28, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Living with a Purpose By Lorna Oppedisano | Photography by Alexis Emm \u201cMy earliest memory in life is riding a rocking horse nonstop. 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