A hooded figure strides down 1885 Street at Fort Edmonton Park, horns and branches protruding from his mask, while his hooded minions vanish into a nearby building, ready to emerge and terrify players at the new outdoor escape room, When Shadows Lie.
Sequel to a Fan Favorite
When Shadows Lie is the follow-up to the immensely popular Where Dark Things Dwell, which ran for three years starting in 2023. The new game launched earlier in June 2026 and continues the same story but moves it ahead 200 years. According to Kevin Parnell, head of Creative Production for Secret City, the Ontario-based company that created the game, the sequel was driven by player demand. “The impetus for doing this sequel came from the players, from the fans. We got a lot of feedback from players wanting to play it again, but it’s not possible,” Parnell said.
Gameplay and Storyline
Teams of four players tackle a series of puzzles while trying to avoid the horrors of the night, armed only with a lantern and their wits. The game runs two sessions per night through Sept. 12. When Shadows Lie features Riley Wilde and Cameron Doyle, descendants of protagonists from the original game. Players must solve puzzles, uncover hidden relics, decipher occult writings, and work to lift a curse once more.
Kaitlin Way, Creative Producer and Game Designer with Secret City, noted the eerie atmosphere of the historic park. “If you go into those spaces at night it’s inherently scary. Some of the buildings tend to be haunted as well,” Way said. “When you get to add in actors who are great at scaring people, it gets you thinking creatively.”
New Features and Replayability
The popularity of the original game led Secret City to design a new type of experience, with teams divided between the two protagonists at the opening. This provides two different paths to explore, offering replayability for fans. The ending remains the same, but a second playthrough reveals the other half of the story along with new puzzles.
Sophie Ogaranko, a history major at the University of Alberta, played the character Riley on a recent June evening. She is in her third year of working with the escape room games at the park, guiding players through the story and helping them when they hit a wall.
Integration with Historic Setting
The Secret City team has incorporated the buildings at Fort Edmonton Park, theming puzzles for their location and using dark, eerie corners to hide surprises. The new game fits perfectly with the old, creaky, and dark buildings that line 1885 Street. “Cursed villagers roam the outdoor escape game When Shadows Lie, among the historic 1885 buildings of Fort Edmonton Park,” as described in promotional materials.
Secret City runs escape room games at historic parks throughout Canada, mostly in Ontario but with an increasing reach to other provinces. When Shadows Lie marks a new chapter in horror outdoor escape rooms at Fort Edmonton Park, building on the success of its predecessor.
