Activities & Campus Events (ACE) held its second “Escape Room” event on Oct. 29. The idea behind the event involved a group of participants who had to solve a number of riddles or problems in order to escape the room they were in and move onto the next.

There were six rooms in total, each with its own theme and backstory. There was a zombie apocalypse room, a nuclear bunker, a candy room, a mad scientist laboratory room, a pumpkin patch room, and a superhero room.

Sara Palombo ’17, head of the planning committee, said that the turnout was so large that she had to turn some people away.

“I was excited and sad about that. Excited because we had such a great turnout, and sad because I wish everyone had the chance to participate,” Palombo said. Last year, only four rooms were set up and they were booked the entire night, so Palombo decided to increase the number of rooms to accommodate the high demand.

The event required meticulous planning from the ACE staff for several months; Palombo explained how the event is stressful to execute due to the amount of small details involved and the potential for things to go wrong.

“I had to make sure to have backups of everything in the room, just in case something broke or got taken,” Palombo said.

The event was attended by a diverse group of students, including those who do not typically attend ACE events.

“It was incredibly well organized and we wished we could have spent more time in the other rooms,” Anushikha Sharma ’18 said.

“The puzzles were really complex but that’s why it was really cool,” Mattis Pacaud, a French exchange student, said.

“To pull this off, you have to be creative, extremely organized, and willing to put in a lot of hours. I started working on this event over the summer, and dedicated a lot of time to it when I got back to school. Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself, but make sure you are willing to commit the time because brainstorming takes a while. Making your ideas come to life takes even longer,” Palombo said, concerning the advice she’d give to future planners of the event.

Palombo hopes that members of ACE will continue this tradition, as it has consistently been met with great enthusiasm.