“Quirkiness is a core value.”

In Season 7, Episode 1, we chat with Adam Moody, Jonathan Berk, and Benjamin Berk, the creators of The Ministry of Peculiarities in Azusa, California. Their first full-length game, Hope End, established their quirky brand of escape room, elegantly mixing story, puzzles, and adventure into one of Southern California’s preeminent experiences. 

One of the reasons this company is so beloved is their commitment to immersion. In the podcast, they talk about how the storytelling begins the moment a guest clicks onto their website, and continues once they step foot into the lobby. There’s a lot of off-beat humor woven into their experience. They’ve even got a few lobby “gags” and pranks, one of which David calls “obnoxiously compelling.”

Hope End is the rare escape room that does a little bit of everything, and does it all extremely well. Whether it’s the high production value found in their set design, props or video work, the intimate moments that stem from a great actor, or puzzles with a wow factor, The Ministry of Peculiarities has set an amazingly high bar for the escape room scene in Los Angeles. We loved getting a peek into the minds behind this unique blend of escape room and immersive theater.

Thank You to Our Sponsors

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: Morty App, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Topics Discussed in this Episode

• 00:00 Introduction to the Reality Escape Pod
• 00:14 Sponsor Break: Cogs by Clockwork Dog, Interactive Show Controls
• 01:45 Spotlight on Southern California and RECON: The Reality Escape Convention
• 02:02 Getting to Know the Creators: Backgrounds and Influences
• 06:25 The Birth of The Ministry of Peculiarities: Influences and Challenges
• 09:28 The Art of Immersion
• 14:40 The Pros and Cons of a Strongly Branded Identity
• 18:30 Sponsor Break: Morty App, Discover and Track Escape Rooms
• 19:50 The Role of Actors in The Ministry of Peculiarities
• 22:35 The Value of Play
• 25:50 Sponsor Break: Buzzshot, Escape Room Marketing Software
• 27:05 The Quirkiness of The Ministry of Peculiarities
• 31:00 Deep Dive into Hope End: From Concept to Reality
• 35:10 Recalcitrant Research, Fan Favorite Prize at the Immersive Invitational Experience
• 36:12 Lingering Echoes: An Immersive Game at the Overlook Film Festival
• 41:25 Discussion About Longer Experiences
• 44:57 Upcoming Projects and Experiences
• 51:07 Bonus Story: Mistakes Were Made

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Got a question or thought for the podcast? You can submit a voice recording by calling the Room Escape Artist not-so-hotline that always goes straight to voicemail (551-227-7273).

Resources Mentioned in this Episode

• Ministry of Peculiarities Website
• REA Review of Hope End
• Los Angeles Immersive Invitational
• 2023 Overlook Film Festival

About The Guests

Instagram: @theministryofpeculiarities

Who are we? We’re still trying to piece that together ourselves. We’ve been moderately successful in convincing the general public that we are operating a definitely safe and non-exploitative escape room that is marginally more successful than our billiards operation whose sign still adorns our tower. Maybe it’s because of all those awards we claim to have won?

If that’s fooled you thus far, we may as well tell you that The Ministry of Peculiarities is an attempt to blend the concepts of escape rooms and immersive theatre in a way that is accessible to enthusiasts and newcomers to either or both genres. Story is the fundamental basis of our experiences, followed closely by the ever more nebulously defined “immersion” and interaction. Obsolete and unexpected tech is one of our fortes, as well as location-specific scenarios.

If you want to see what Room Escape Artist really thinks about Hope End, click here. You can read about The Ministry in the LA Times and see much higher quality pictures than our paygrade will allow. If you want a review with industry cred, read our review on No Proscenium. In the Summer of 2022, we tested our theatrical mettle and took home Fan Favorite at the Los Angeles 48 hour Immersive Invitational. At the 2023 Overlook Film Festival, we opened a field office and recruited festivalgoers to investigate strange happenings in New Orleans. The Ministry’s flagship escape room, Hope End, has won a Golden Lock Award, has ranked #51 on TERPECA (2023), won Best Live Escape Game 2023 from Escape Roomers and boasts “Overwhelmingly Positive” reviews on Morty.

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