Escape room

This article is about the physical puzzle games. For the videogame genre, see Escape the room.
Players manipulating puzzle items in an escape room

An escape room is a physical adventure game in which players are locked in a room and have to use elements of the room to solve a series of puzzles and escape within a set time limit. The games are physical versions of "escape the room" video games. Games are set in a variety of fictional locations, such as prison cells, dungeons and space stations, and are popular as team building exercises.

The earliest room was created in 2006, and escape rooms became popular in the United States, Japan, Taiwan, Canada and mainland China in the 2010s. Permanent escape rooms in fixed locations were first opened in Asia[1] and followed later in North America, Europe, Australia, and South America.[2] Notable organisers include AdventureRooms, ClueQuest, The Escape Hunt Experience, ClueJob, and Puzzle Break.

History

The earliest escape room, "Origin", was created in Silicon Valley by a group of system programmers in 2006.[3] The mysteries and challenges in the game were inspired by the works of Agatha Christie and became a popular tourist attraction.[4]

Real Escape Game (REG) in Japan was developed by 35-year-old Takao Kato,[5] of the Kyoto publishing company, SCRAP Co., in 2008. It is based in Kyoto, Japan and produces a free magazine by the same name. Beyond Japan, escape games appeared in Singapore from 2011.[6] Escape games in Singapore expanded quickly with over 50 games by 2015.[7]

In 2015, there were over 2,800 escape room venues worldwide. These are particularly lucrative for the operators, as the upfront investment can be as low as $7000 USD, while a party of 4-8 customers pay around $25-30 USD per person for one hour to solve a room puzzle, being able to generate annual revenue in the range of several hundred thousands.[8]

A 2015 American Science Channel television game show Race to Escape is based on this theme.

Reception

A puzzle being solved in an escape room

The South China Morning Post described escape rooms as a hit among "[h]ighly stressed students and overworked young professionals." Sometimes the excitement becomes a bit much, though, and players get so invested that they tear down equipment or decorations inside their "fake" prisons, as Zhu Yumeng, chief operating officer of Beijing room escape game site Taoquan told China Daily.

Hong Kong room escapes have been reviewed by local journalists as an attempt to escape the living conditions of the city.[9]

Escape rooms have been used by corporate organizations as team building exercises.

References

  1. ↑ "The unbelievably lucrative business of escape rooms". MarketWatch. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  2. ↑ "Escape Room Directory". Escape Room Directory. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  3. ↑ "真人密室逃脫 ｜ accessdate = 2013-04-03". Baidu. 17 February 2013.
  4. ↑ "Real escape game popular young people entertainment new favourites". Newzstreet. 2012-02-12. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
  5. ↑ Corkill, Edan (2009-12-20). "Real Escape Game brings its creator’s wonderment to life". Japan Times. Retrieved 2013-03-31.
  6. ↑ Marinho, Natalie (2012-01-31). "The Real Escape Game in Singapore". recognitionpattern. Retrieved 2013-03-31.
  7. ↑ "Peeking Behind the Locked Door: A Survey of Escape Room Facilities" (PDF). White Paper. Retrieved 2015-05-24.
  8. ↑ http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-weird-new-world-of-escape-room-businesses-2015-07-20
  9. ↑ "Real-life escape games offer respite from daily stresses｜ accessdate = 2013-04-10". South China Morning Post. 2013-02-13.

External links

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