Dark Arcade Theater - Savage Hall - Immersive Theater - Remote Experience - Murder Mystery

Dark Arcade Theater’s Savage Hall is an Virtual Twist on the Classic Murder Mystery

London, 1940. Seven people gather for a toast before dinner. In every pause, the distant sounds of whistling bombs and bullet reports fill the void; a sobering reminder of the bleak outside world. But the war waging outside is of no further concern to the Lord of the house, as he knows his fate is not tied to the Blitz – his life will be ending by the hands of one of the souls seated around his table tonight, and it will be the duty of the others to bring the killer to justice. Dark Arcade Theater’s Savage Hall sucks us into a murder mystery through Zoom.

Dark Arcade Theater - Savage Hall - Immersive Theater - Remote Experience - Murder Mystery

 

 

After over three years of development, Dark Arcade Theater has released Savage Hall, a virtual murder mystery within the halls of the British aristocracy during World War II. The game requires four to six players, and primarily utilizes Zoom as an interface. The objective for the group is simple: correctly identify the murderer at the dinner party before the German bombing raid decimates the house and its inhabitants.

Savage Hall, as a concept, would have been an impossible feat just a few short years ago. Where as a traditional murder mystery may assign cards to each participant to give their character’s full backstory and motivations, Savage Hall is unique due to an integration with the Zoom platform that allows each participant to hear the thoughts of their character in real time. Creative use of the audio permissions and breakout rooms causes participants to “encounter” each other as actions are taking place, while all parties are receiving different aural information. What seems complicated from a design standpoint quickly begins to feel natural as a player, with other participant’s faces appearing the exact moment their character is mentioned in the narrative. Each of the five acts of the play follows a regular cadence, with the voiceover exposition advancing the narrative and moving players into different areas of the house, then a pause to allow the participants – in character – to interview the others in their room.

 

Dark Arcade Theater - Savage Hall - Immersive Theater - Remote Experience - Murder Mystery

 

While the audio narrative is largely set and uninfluenced by the player’s choices, there is an extraordinary amount of autonomy in how any participant can play their character. Yes, the obvious component is how one chooses to interact with the other characters during the deliberation phases in each act. But one of the best attributes of Savage Hall is their ethos that “winning” the game does not equate to simply identifying the killer. Playing purely to the motivations of one’s character and achieving individual goals rather than group goals is seen as being equally successful, if not more so, than completing the singular team goal.

For example, in our playthrough, one character had a hunch about the identity of the killer, and waited for a moment when they ended up in a room together alone to accuse them. After actually coaxing a confession from the other character, rather than attempting to explain their findings to the group as a whole, they bartered to run a disinformation campaign in return for an item of interest to their character. This type of immersion into a character as a participant is a rare goal for any production, but Dark Arcade Theater is successful by cultivating the right balance of structured exposition with open-ended exploration.

 

Dark Arcade Theater - Savage Hall - Immersive Theater - Remote Experience - Murder Mystery

 

With this degree of independence and individualism built into the experience, Savage Hall really amounts to what the participants put into it. There are no actors on screen that interact or guide the group, no videos or visualizations. Outside of the narration, all of the content is dependent on the participants embracing their roles and putting on a bit of a show for one another. Having partners that are willing to act and show a certain degree of passion raises the stakes of each dramatic circumstance – just as disinterested players could also spoil the mood. The pre-show documents include optional resources that players can use, such as backgrounds, cocktail suggestions, and even era-appropriate fashion lessons for choosing an outfit, and are all recommended for the most optimal experience.

Dark Arcade Theater’s Savage Hall is an ambitious twist on the classic murder mystery; complex in both narrative and technological programming. In spite of being experimental in format, the core of the experience remembers the human on the other side of the screen and is heavily dependent on the interpersonal actions between participants, serving as a platform for all to bring life to a character from a bygone era.

 

Dark Arcade Theater - Savage Hall - Immersive Theater - Remote Experience - Murder Mystery

 

For more information about Dark Arcade Theater and Savage Hall, checkout their website, Facebook and Instagram pages. For information about similar events, check out our Event Calendar.[/vc_column_text]

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Dark Arcade Theater’s Savage Hall is a remote murder mystery.

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