Museums criticise new Anne Frank 'escape room' themed game in the Netherlands

The Anne Frank Foundation has criticised an "escape room" game, based on the apartment in Amsterdam in which the Jewish teenager hid from the Nazis during WWII. The Escape Bunker in the southern Dutch town of Valkenswaard offers you the chance to "be in the shoes of Anne Frank" during the style of game in which players have to solve puzzles and work in a team to get out of a room before the time runs out.

The description of the game on the company's site reads: "You are effectively being Anne Frank. You decide to seek shelter/hide out of fear that you, too, will be sent away to the camps. You will face several different challenges. With the constant threat of Germans that can storm in at any given moment, you will have to overcome these challenges."

The Foundation, which looks after the teenager's house and hidden room in Amsterdam, which has since become a popular tourist destination, said the game shows very little empathy for the survivors of the Holocaust. A spokesperson added the bunker "creates the impression that hiding [from the Nazis] is an exciting game and if those hiding are smart enough they won't be caught."

Thijs Verberne, operator of the bunker, defended the game as an educational experience. He told Dutch newspaper AD: "Opinions differ, but we do not want to offend anyone. I see it as more of an educational thing, rather than a game. We want to teach young people about the story of Anne Frank, so history can be fun for children."

The members of Frank's family were eventually betrayed and sent to concentration camps in 1944. The diary in which the teenager kept while being holed up in the hidden apartment went on to become one of the most-read books in the world.