HBO Brings Game of Thrones Escape Room to SXSW

sxsw game of thrones

As previously announced, Game of Thrones will be well-represented at this month’s SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, with showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss and stars Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner heading up a panel at the event. Today HBO announced an exciting addition to the festivities, confirming that once again an interactive fan experience is coming to SXSW.

This year, HBO presents fans with a unique experience: HBO: The Escape, challenging attendees to escape from three rooms themed to HBO shows including Silicon Valley, Veep and Game of Thrones.

How does it work? As HBO explains, participants in the Escape Room challenge must “solve a series of clues in each room to unlock the door to the following room and complete all three. In each room, teams will have the opportunity to complete a challenge, locate the door and escape to the next room. Once they’ve made their way through all three rooms, each team will have a chance to take their photo on the Iron Throne, to purchase merchandise from their favorite HBO shows from the online HBO Shop, and to be among the first to sample the brand new Game of Thrones wines, created in partnership between Vintage Wine Estates and HBO Global Licensing.”

If you’re in the Austin area, you’ll find HBO: The Escape located at 800 Congress Ave., in Downtown Austin. The Escape will be open daily from Saturday, March 11th through Monday, March 13th from 10:00am CT to 8:00pm CT, except for Saturday, March 11th, when it will close early to the public at 5:15pm CT.

SXSW attendees can reserve a slot by visiting HBOTheEscape.com! Apparently a limited number of slots are available each day, and will be confirmed on a first-come, first-served basis, so hurry on over and reserve your spot.

HBO has also confirmed that the Iron Throne room section of HBO: The Escape will be open to the general public during operating hours for fan photos.

The Game of Thrones wine tasting, which includes an exclusive sampling of the Game of Thrones Red Blend and Game of Thrones Chardonnay, will only be available to those who make it through HBO: The Escape. The two wines, along with the Game of Thrones Cabernet, will be available sometime this spring.

And then of course, there’s the panel on Sunday, March 12th with the Game of Thrones showrunners, scheduled for 3:30-4:30pm local time. If you’re attending SXSW, head to the Austin Convention Center’s Ballroom D to see Benioff and Weiss chat with Turner and Williams about Game of Thrones.

Sue the Fury
Susan Miller, Editor in Chief of WatchersOnTheWall.com

8 Comments

  1. I like how it empties to a gift shop. Very Simpsons!

    Now if one of the prizes was to see an exclusive trailer of season 7. I’d drive from my home in Dallas to Austin for that!

    Edit: Hodor!

  2. I’d rather proper promo materials over a release date. Release (general assumption) will be June – August (hopefully and sooner the better as long as the product is finished).

  3. The puzzles can’t be very challenging if you have to solve all three in order to obtain the privilege of spending your money on ther merch!

    Still, a good idea to have more interactive attractions. I’ve been thinking for years now that the generations who grew up on RPGs are not going to be satisfied with passively sitting on rides in theme parks; they’re going to want to solve a puzzle to move on to the next chamber of the dungeon. My state is full of decommissioned armories for sale that resemble castles; my ‘if I won the Powerball lottery’ fantasy is to turn one into a LARPing attraction like that.

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