Blurred vision is a lesser-known symptom of Parkinson’s, caused by a loss of retinal cells in the eye, changes to the eyelids, or because people with Parkinson’s blink less frequently and their eyes become dry. This challenge simulates the symptom by asking players to identify a series of numbers in magic eye images, corresponding to a padlock combination.

When players rang the buzzer for help (common in Escape Rooms), the live voice on the other end of the line responded with ‘Can you speak up, I can’t hear you.’ This feature illustrates that people with Parkinson’s experience changes in their voice as time goes on, meaning they struggle to communicate.

The shoelace challenge simulates difficulty with everyday tasks. Parkinson’s causes stiffness and incoordination so simple tasks become near impossible - from tying shoes or fastening buttons, to using keys, pouring a drink or even using a phone. The shoelaces are fitted with stiff wires to make them very difficult to untie in order to retrieve the key.

People with Parkinson’s commonly have an uncontrollable tremor or stiffness in one or both hands. This can be sometimes controlled with medication, but even that has its own complications. In this case players had to pour water from a kettle to a teacup and into a long pipe, in order to retrieve a key. Each element was rigged with high-tension elastic to illustrate the difficulty of completing such a ‘simple’ task with a physical tremor.

When players finally completed the five challenges and retrieved the lock combinations to open the exit door, they were in fact met with a solid wall, revealing the meaning behind the experience. The TV automatically switched on and played a video featuring Gavin, who lives with Parkinson’s every day.