Daz Games: PANIC

This AI-inspired experience represented a new type of scare attraction for the Resort. Located primarily inside the Hospitality Suite marquee, next to Spinball Whizzer, the exterior queue line area had an industrial look, with theming in the form of mannequins and graffitied graphics. Guests were batched into the experience in groups of up to 40, with the first step being to collect a wristband containing a scannable chip and to enter a name. Everyone was then assigned a unique combination of two symbols, some of these being the logos of the Resort’s roller coasters.

Daz Games: PANIC (2023)

The attraction started with a pre-show where Daz explains how he had asked his AI technology to create a game, however it became apparent that the AI has been corrupted, setting the scene for the challenge that awaited. With only seven minutes to find their symbols and escape, guests were then released into the labyrinth. Some of the symbols were easier to locate than others, although some also need to be activated by completing a task before they could be scanned. Of course guests weren’t alone inside of the game, with a variety of characters also stalking guests and adding to the difficulty of completing the task in hand. These took two different forms: NPCs (which had interchangeable accessories to reflect different ‘modes’ over the seven minutes) and the Unrendered. Physical contact from the inhabitants formed a key part of the experience, with this in some cases meaning that guests were physically prevented from being able to reach their symbols.

Daz Games: Panic Reloaded (2024)

A new iteration of the attraction featured in the Scarefest 2024 line-up, although the core objective remained unchanged. It was in the pre-show where the changes to the storyline became evident, with Daz acknowledging that things didn’t exactly go to plan during Scarefest 2023 and so he’d therefore given it another go. Unfortunately a virus had found its way into the maze and so guests’ help was required to purge this from the system. To assist, Daz installed “Anti Vi”, an anti virus programme which took the physical form of an elderly woman within the maze. As a result, the experience had a slightly calmer start, with guests directed into the centre of the labyrinth by the Unrendered before the virus, appearing as neon-green zombie-like creatures, took hold and chaos ensued. There were some new symbols and tasks, along with the time available to escape being reduced from seven to six minutes.

Whilst the attraction lacked the immersive and detailed theming of other Scarefest attractions, it did feature an intense soundtrack and disorientating lighting which built as the timer counted down. Upon exiting the attraction, there were screens displaying leaderboards of the times that guests managed to successfully escape in, both from the last game and over the duration of that year’s Scarefest.