Inside Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building Escape Game

Who’s ready to test their detective skills?

The fourth season of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building premiered last month, and to promote the series, the streamer debuted new escape room experiences in New York City and Los Angeles that will be open for the next year.

This isn’t the first time Hulu launched an immersive experience to promote the Emmy Award-winning comedy series starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez. Last year, the streaming service opened a similar escape game experience with a different setup in honor of the third season, and before that, it rolled out a Third Arm Gallery pop-up activation ahead of the finale of the second season.

Now, after two activations, we finally tested the experience ourselves to see if it was worth it. I went to the location in New York City on 295 Madison Ave. with my colleague Colin Daniels (who provided commentary for the experience). Tickets cost around $50 per person.

Only escapes in the building

Once you arrive, the Escape Game team leads your group of about eight people to one of the spaces downstairs. To set up the scene, there were three rooms total that we had to go through, and you have a full hour to get through the entire game. The objective of this game was to help the trio of Charles (Martin), Oliver (Short), and Mabel (Gomez) find a missing film reel before time ran out.

@colmeetsworld This was so fun! I need to catch up on @Only Murders In the Building asap too! @hulu #onlymurdersninthebuilding #hulutvshow #hulutvseries #hulu #disneyplus ♬ original sound – Colin Daniels

Throughout the experience, there are Easter eggs and puzzles that call back to the series. For instance, the books on the shelves are the titles of episodes from the series, while an actual script from the show is also featured.

In a second room, which was modeled after Charles’ apartment, we saw the Brazzos poster for the fictional show that character used to star in. Additionally, don’t be surprised to see other familiar props from the show, including Malbec wine and, of course, Gut Milk.

Those Easter eggs and Only Murders puzzles are all brought to life through the work of Ben Enos, senior director of production design, The Escape Game, and his team.

Enos, who has worked with Disney before on experiences for shows like The Mysterious Benedict Society and teamed up with other companies such as Amazon and Paramount, said the creative first came from a discovery process with Hulu.

In these meetings, the teams figured out what they wanted to update to coincide with the new season, whether that is the addition of new characters, Easter eggs, or even storylines. Once the discovery process concluded, the game design portion began, which took several months and included sending designs on a weekly basis while working closely with Hulu.

Once those designs are given the green light, the Escape Game team goes into production mode and builds everything in a warehouse in Nashville, Tenn., before shipping it to New York. That process can take about 12 weeks.

“This is the same process as the rest of our experiences so that we keep it the same quality as our other experiences,” Enos said. “We want to make sure we maintain the highest quality games out there. So, it goes through production, and we ship it to the site. It was a very fast installation. It took us about two and a half days to do the installation, and then we went through a calibration process where we’ll test the game.”

To test the game, Enos said the team brings in friends, family, and various demo groups to experience the game and fine-tune the puzzles to ensure they’re perfect for paying guests.

“It’s the perfect world to play in for an escape room,” Enos said. “You’re essentially doing what they’re doing in the show. You’re in the shoes of Charles, Oliver, and Mabel, so you’re solving crimes to get to the end of the solution of the game.”

The great escape

In the end, our team escaped with just under five minutes to spare. We imagined Martin, Short, and Gomez would be proud.

Our collective knowledge of Only Murders in the Building made the experience all the more enjoyable as we completed themed puzzles and spotted Easter eggs, some of which only hardcore fans may catch.

However, when it comes to the Only Murders Escape Game, Enos noted it’s not only for fans.

“The game is designed for everyone,” Enos said. “Fans will love it because of the Easter eggs. Non-fans might be encouraged to watch the show after.”