Mind’s Eye Whisks Participants Away to Scotland in ‘The Highland Adventure’ (Review)

After almost six months of being fully quarantined inside my home, the thing I have been missing the most is the opportunity to go places. Not just in the traditional sense of traveling or even simply leaving my home and changing up the scenery, but more broadly. Of course, I miss running around Brooklyn, and traveling across the world. But what I really miss is the type of entirely distracting, forget-the-outside-world journey that comes from an engrossing theatrical experience. Sure, I do miss the ordinary world that I know and love, but I miss more the ability to be transported into worlds unlike my own. Virtual experiences are taking their best stabs at this, but it’s hard to curate a live environment over a screen. Something always seems to be missing. That is, until I recently found myself transported to Scotland, cozy plaid and misty hills included, while attending Mind’s Eye’s newest Adventure Party, The Highland Adventure.

The Highland Adventure is an interactive, roleplaying game-like experience adapted for a virtual audience. Borrowing classic elements from games like Dungeons & Dragons, this experience uses a combination of adaptive storytelling and the roll of the dice to put the audience participants in charge of how the plot progresses. Taking place in The Highlands of Scotland, participants are asked to dress in plaid and are provided a themed Zoom background to use if they wish. Much to my delight, the participants who joined me on this particular adventure also adopted Scottish accents and names, creating an even richer environment for the event.

While an Adventure Party is usually booked for a private group, this particular evening was a press night, so the participants didn’t necessarily know each other. Although being in a room with a group of strangers is intimidating, regardless whether Zoom or in real life, Malcolm MacGill, our cheery Scottish guide played by Shelby Bond, made sure to help us feel right at home and to even get to know each other a bit before beginning the adventure. After a short icebreaker and being quizzed on our general knowledge of Scotland, Malcolm advised us to prepare to move about as we would need to collect some things before we go. Participants were given twenty seconds each to obtain objects from their homes such as a crust of bread, a clock with hands, and a fresh herb, which could all come in handy where we were going.

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After our scavenger hunt, we set off on the adventure. Set in modern day Scotland, our group suddenly found ourselves transported to the ancient past and in quite a predicament. As Malcolm narrated the action, participants acted accordingly and were called upon to make decisions and suggestions, particularly in the area of what supplies we had on hand (in other words, the scavenger hunt items) and how we could put them to good use in our situation. As we got into more trouble and took some risks, we were able to test fate and roll the dice to see whether the outcome would be favorable or not. One moment included choosing whether to reach out and befriend — and in my case, romance — a group of brutish Scots, which later worked in our favor as they played a crucial role in our ability to return to the present. Certain moments also integrated the Zoom interface to aid the interactiveness of the adventure. For example, at one point I was sent an “ancient scroll” over the Zoom chat to read aloud as one was dropped into my character’s hands in the story.

The elements of interactivity in The Highland Adventure were key to my successful engagement with it. I found it easy to suspend my disbelief and buy into the world because audience participants were centered from the very start. This also made it feel effortless to feel involved with the piece and prevented me from tuning out at any point. I also found the initial icebreakers to be important to the success of the experience. Personally, sometimes it’s hard to get in the right frame of mind for a Zoom performance, but The Highland Adventure was structured in a way that participants had a chance to leave their judgment and outside circumstances at the door. I think the surprise of having to suddenly get up and run around to source items in the scavenger hunt was very effective in doing this for me. I’m incredibly competitive and task driven, so a game that I could win, combined with a checklist I could complete, was a compelling way to break me from my day-to-day mindset and get me ready to immerse myself entirely into the experience.

The other area of excellence for this experience was the guide himself, played by Adventure Parties creator Shelby Bond. Anyone who has ever played Dungeons & Dragons, Dread, or any game of similar ilk, can attest that being in charge of the story isn’t easy. It requires a variety of skills like improvisational acting, narration, plot and character development, and participant facilitation. Bond’s performance as an actor was already outstanding, but his work as the guide of the story was masterful. Towards the end of the adventure, we were still one item short of what was required by our quest to get back to present day. Bond was able to remedy this problem using character development and relationships he’d already set up earlier in the story: the Scot I flirted with offered up his ring as a testament to our love, allowing us to fulfill the quest and return home. Even at difficult points, like a file taking longer than expected to download, Bond was able to navigate the experience with ease, vamping and improvising as necessary, while still driving the action forward.

I had a blast at The Highland Adventure. Usually an Adventure Party is booked for a private group, but I had just as much fun going in not knowing anyone at this press event, so I could definitely see Mind’s Eye Adventure Parties being a great tool to connect groups of friends, families, or even co-workers in this time of separation. The experience is appropriately guided and feels very adaptable, so I think even immersive performance and game newbies would do well. So, although I left my rugged Scottish suitor in the past, this experience will stay with me for some time.

The Highland Adventure is available for private booking by groups of up to 10 adults. Tickets are $100 per group.

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