Minotaur maze Exhibits: Maze Detail

Survivor: Jamestown is an immersive educational experience set in 1607 Virginia that puts visitors into the shoes of the original Jamestown colonists.

This realistic role-play adventure presents one great challenge: To survive for one year. Sound easy? Think again…only 38 of the original 104 colonists were able to survive one year. But don't worry – you’re not tied to their destiny. You can beat the odds and determine your fate – it all depends on the choices you make and a bit of luck.

» Click for Video Footage

Goals:

Experience Living History through role-play
Tackle real life decisions and discover their impacts
Reveal the connection between the natural world and survival

Overview:

Melding historical accuracy, free will and the complexities of real life and death decisions, Survivor: Jamestown delivers a truly unique and effective learning experience.

Visitors become a Jamestown colonist by choosing a Life Chart with a character description and the attributes of an actual colonist. Each chart features an easy-to-use abacus with beads representing ‘life points’. These beads track the impact of choices made in four crucial categories: health, wealth, morale and food. The key is to maintain ‘life points’ in all four categories in order to stay alive.

Exploring four content-rich Season Galleries, visitors face challenges, engage in hands-on activities and make choices relevant to each season: choose to plant tobacco instead of corn during summer and food may be scarce during winter. Ultimately, survival is based not only on visitor knowledge and ingenuity, but on the endowments and priorities of their chosen character. The Survivor: Jamestown experience quickly reveals how every day decisions and interactions with the environment can be a matter of life and death.

Interactives:

Life Chart Program – Your journey begins with ‘life points’ reflecting your characters’ unique skills, social position and personal history. Points can be earned/lost in four key areas: health, wealth, food, and morale. One decision might promote wealth, but drain health; raise morale, but sacrifice food. Visitors move their abacus beads with every decision, a simple way to translate and track complex decisions.

Rocky Fall Line – Can you cross the rocky falls of the James River in search of gold? Climb on the 12ft horizontal climbing wall and simulate the challenges of searching for gold in the New World.

Choose a Water Source – Water, water everywhere! Water is essential for drinking and growing crops. River, ocean or well - which would you choose? Which one will increase your chances of survival? How will your choice impact your life points?

River Species Puzzle –You’ve landed in a new world filled with plants and animals you’ve never seen before. Can you identify them? Place each one into its correct habitat location. Don’t forget to move your beads!

Wheel of Misfortune – A spin of the wheel can bring more life points or certain death. Fall through the ice? Get bitten by a venomous snake? Receive food from the natives? This is where a little bit of luck goes a long way. Are you still alive?

Fools for Gold – Looking for gold instead of food? Most colonists’ found fools gold. But go ahead…you may strike the mother lode. Experience the many trials of searching for gold by using a magnetic wand to drag a mystery mineral through a maze of obstacles. Gain or lose points depending on what you dig up. Check your life points!

Ship to Shore Zip Line – Grab a hold of a zip line, fly 12 ft. over the largest sturgeon you’ve ever seen and secure dinner plus a few more life points.

Lasso a Sturgeon – Them’s good eatin’! In 1607 sturgeon were so plentiful, colonist were able to catch the fish by looping a rope over their tails. Give it a try and gain food points.

Wilderness Survival Challenge – What’s cookin’? Deep in the forest you are faced with native plants and animals you’ve never seen before. Test your knowledge – identify them and decide whether or not they are viable food sources.

Turtle Soup –Turtles are tasty and they come in their own dish! Simulate the food gathering process involved with this mainstay of the colonial diet, by scraping a turtle shell.

Bald Cypress Crawl Through – Jamestown trees were tremendous! John Smith saw cypress trees 6 feet across. Canoes that held 40 men could be made from a single tree! Crawl through a fallen Cypress log, and see for yourself how big old growth trees were. Earn points while learning the many uses of timber.

Resource Grab Bag – Trial and error can be dangerous, but you have to learn what you can eat and when you can eat it! The colonists’ lived in a strange land filled with strange plants and animals. Reach into a barrel and grab a hold of a potential resource to see how you’d fare in the search for food and resources!

Mystery Match – Virginia was a great source of raw materials. The colonists made these materials into items that would bring a nice profit back in England. Can you match the finished products with their raw materials?

Colonial Dress-Up – Transform your look to match your character.

Trading Post – I’ll trade you… Can you improve your chances of survival? Are you low on food but high on wealth? Trade with other colonists to increase your chances of getting through the winter.

The Nose Knows – See if you can sniff out these new world products for old world markets. Bravely go where no nose has gone before!

Dress for Success – Pop yourself into this winter settlement scene and walk away with a photo keepsake.

Wildlife Wheel – Spin the giant wheel and venture back into the maze in search of wildlife in each of the four seasons.

Colonial Construction – Build your own fort and everything on the inside. Enlist helpers so you can complete the challenge.