Breakout Philippines has always had the freshest and coolest ideas for a good time with friends and family. From the awesome zombie runs, to the “fun”-tastic slidefest, Breakout Ph has got it covered! Last week, the Breakout team did it again with the huge suggest of WhoDunnIt in Commerce Center Alabang. For those who missed this, WhoDunnIt is an interactive game where participants need to interview victims/ actors and find clues to figure out WHODUNNIT.

Upon arriving at Commerce Center, we immediately noticed a part of the mall the was blocked for an event. On the stage, a tarpaulin saying “Commerce Center Appreciation Night” was placed. Around it, standees with a brief history of Commerce Center and its founders. I noticed this area but just ignored it as I was looking for the meeting place for WhoDunnIt, had my friend not called my attention, I wouldn’t have realized that I was already there.

Upon registration, we were led to a vacant table where we waited for our dinner to be serve. The mechanics of the game state for us to be extra vigilant of what’s going on around us. I thought we were… but apparently  we weren’t. The mechanics mentioned that actors would have BIT (Breakout Interactive Theater) pins, hence we ignored mostly everyone since they didn’t have a pin yet. Kudos to the actors though for making sure each group noticed them nonetheless. At dinner time, we got to interact with about 5 actors without us even realizing it. These short interactions became very useful toward the end.

Our team analyzing the clues and mechanics

What I particularly appreciated about this event was that everything was scripted to perfection. Instead of making it obvious that we were playing a game and shouting “GO!”, the Breakout team organized an “Appreciation Night” and staging a murder during dinner team. I can just imagine how confused or scared mall-goers were when they heard a gunshot or saw some of the actors fighting on stage.

Moreover, dinner was served an hour later than the announced time. However, they seemed to have included this in the story line as well. The actors who played detectives, security staff, waiters etc shared how they needed to help out because they were undermanned. This honestly leaves me confused as to whether or not dinner was really late or if it was all part of the plot! Hmm…. (scratches head)

At around 8pm, the event officially started with its host on stage, talking about the “owner” of Commerce Center, Nicolas Magnus. Of course, everyone knew these were all just part of the game, but I couldn’t help but wonder once again what the regular mall-goers were thinking. So anyway, the event goes on and a gunshot is suddenly heard. Afterward, the host FINALLY talks about the game. This was the only mention of the game throughout the first half of the event, they really stuck to their story! Good job!

Participants raced to the evidence table to search for clues, others headed straight to the possible suspects and witnesses to find out what they knew. The actors played their roles very well, not once breaking character. They did their jobs so well that they actually had us believing it was real. We felt like there were some questions we couldn’t ask because they’d get mad or something like that.

Taking photos of the evidence

Interviewing Ria, the operations manager

Interviewing Butch, who manned the parking area (kudos to him for staying down there for more than 2 hours! That must’ve been SO HOT!)

The entire first hour and a half were just so confusing to me! I had no idea what we were doing and where we were going. As in any real criminal case, the criminals won’t really tell the truth… the same play was used here. And we had no idea what to do next! It wasn’t until the last few minutes that we noticed an open fire exit door on the 2nd floor and finally pieced the story together…

What do we have here? The weapon and blood-stained clothes

“This is ALL YOUR FAULT!” shouts Mano

Our team figured out WHODUNNIT only in the last few minutes of the game. We definitely did not expect to win but were super ecstatic on having had solved it anyway! Turns out there were 2 criminals, one guy planted the bomb, while the other killed the victim.

Suspect #1 – Butch!

Congratulations to the winners!

We had so much fun running around the mall! The organizers gave ample clues and toward the end also posted additional clues on their instagram page for those who were in a rut. We just had 2 comments which we felt needed to be address…

• There needs to be a code if the actor needs to use the restroom or something. Haha Several times the actors told us NOT to follow them, a lot of us felt VERY confused and didn’t know if it was part of the script or if they just really needed to take care of something important. In fact, one actor suggested that Magnus often hangs out in the restroom! Throughout the game, I actually saw him enter the restroom TWICE. Of course we never followed him but WHAT IF someone did! Haha That’d be funny!
• Off-Limit Signs are important. I saw the fire exit several times but figured it was off limits. Many other participants even tried getting into the security office. I felt some clues were ignored because most thought the area was off limits.

a BIG CONGRATULATIONS to the actors!!! You guys were AWESOME!! (our team with some of the actors)

On the other hand… here are some of the things I REALLY liked.

• The actors never dropped their character until the VERY END. They would scream at you if they had to as this was part of their character’s role! It was fun and somewhat scary but definitely well appreciated.
• The entire mall was used! They had us running from one end to the other in search for clues! Tiring, but fun!
• Everything felt real. From the moment we arrived, we were already being welcomed NOT to WHODUNNIT but to the Commerce Center Appreciation Night. It was more than just a simple game, an actual story was unfolding before us.
• Storyline was nicely written. It wasn’t too easy nor was it too hard.

So if you guys missed out on this, make sure you follow them on Facebook or Instagram and stay tuned on Breakout Ph’s future events!

For more information, visit:

http://www.breakout.com.ph/whodunnit

https://www.facebook.com/breakoutphilippines?fref=ts

https://www.facebook.com/outbreakmanila?fref=ts

Instagram: @breakoutph

For updates on other runs or to just keep in touch

visit http://www.facebook.com/littlerunningteacherpage

twitter.com/cherylgolangco

IG: @cherylgolangco