Escape room
An escape room is a physical adventure game in which players solve a series of puzzles using clues, hints and strategy to complete the objectives at hand. Players are given a set time limit to unveil the secret plot which is hidden within the rooms. Escape rooms are inspired by "escape-the-room"–style 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.
Escape rooms became popular in the United States, Japan, Taiwan, Canada, Israel, UK and mainland China in the 2010s. Based on some estimations there are several tens of thousand of escape rooms around the world. In Israel there are about 400 active rooms[1] and in the UK there are about 700 active rooms[2]. More than here are Permanent escape rooms in fixed locations were first opened in Asia[3] and followed later in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and South America.[4][5]
Escape rooms have amassed a small following of people commonly known as Escape Room Enthusiasts.
History
Real Escape Game (REG) in Japan was developed by 35-year-old Takao Kato,[6] of the Kyoto publishing company, SCRAP Co., in 2007. It is based in Kyoto, Japan and produces a free magazine by the same name. Beyond Japan, escape games appeared in Singapore from 2011[7], growing to over 50 games by 2015.[8] Kazuya Iwata, a friend of Kato, brought Real Escape Game to San Francisco in 2012.[9] The following year, Seattle-based Puzzle Break, co-founded by Nate Martin, became the first American-based escape room company.[10]
Parapark, a Hungarian franchise that later operated in 20 locations in Europe and Australia, was founded in 2011 in Budapest.[11] The founder, Attila Gyurkovics claims he had no information about the Japanese escape games and based the game on his job experience as personality trainer. Supposedly another escape room, "Origin", was created in Silicon Valley by a group of system programmers in 2013, but no concrete evidence for this game has been found.[citation needed] The mysteries and challenges in the game were inspired by the works of Agatha Christie and became a popular tourist attraction.
In 2015, the first escape games opened in South America in Porto Alegre and São Paulo. As of July 2015, there were over 2,800 escape room venues worldwide.[12] These can be particularly lucrative for the operators, as the upfront investment has been as low as US $7,000, while a party of 4-8 customers pay around US $25–30 per person for one hour[13] to play, potentially generating annual revenue upwards of several hundred thousand dollars.[12]
Reception
The South China Morning Post described escape rooms as a hit among "[h]ighly stressed students and overworked young professionals."[14] 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.[15]
Hong Kong room escapes have been reviewed by local journalists as an attempt to escape the living conditions of the city.[16]
On December 24, 2016, US President Barack Obama and his family visited Breakout Waikiki in Honolulu, Hawaii after being challenged on Twitter by the escape room, and successfully completed the Mission Manoa room with 12 seconds remaining.[17][18][19][20][21]
A 2015 American Science Channel television game show Race to Escape is based on this theme, followed in 2016 by Escape! with Janet Varney.
Stories
Some common themes and story lines that are often found in escape rooms include zombies, prisons, pirates, hostage, and kidnappings.
References
- ^ "All Rooms | Book Escape Room". Book Escape Room (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2017-08-01.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ "Book Escape Room UK - All Rooms List". BookEscapeRoom UK. Retrieved 2017-08-01.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ "The unbelievably lucrative business of escape rooms". MarketWatch. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
- ^ "Escape Room Directory". Escape Room Directory. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
- ^ Raspopina, Sasha (2015-07-23). "Great escapes: the strange rise of live-action quest games in Russia". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-01-16.
- ^ Corkill, Edan (2009-12-20). "Real Escape Game brings its creator's wonderment to life". Japan Times. Retrieved 2013-03-31.
- ^ Marinho, Natalie (2012-01-31). "The Real Escape Game in Singapore". recognitionpattern. Retrieved 2013-03-31.
- ^ "Peeking Behind the Locked Door: A Survey of Escape Room Facilities" (PDF). White Paper. Retrieved 2015-05-24.
- ^ Cheng, Evelyn (21 June 2014). "Real-life 'escape rooms' are new US gaming trend". CNBC. Retrieved 12 July 2016.
- ^ Galbraith, Susan. "What in the world is an Escape Room, and how do you survive it??". KOMO. Retrieved 2017-04-19.
- ^ Bence, Gyulai. "ParaPark: tökéletes élmény egy romkocsma pincéjében". Retrieved 2016-07-17.
- ^ a b French, Sally; Shaw, Jessica Marmor (July 20, 2015). "The unbelievably lucrative business of escape rooms". MarketWatch. Retrieved June 19, 2016.
- ^ "For $28, this Alpharetta business will lock you inside a room". myajc. Retrieved 2017-01-16.
- ^ "Real-life escape games offer respite from daily stresses". South China Morning Post. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
- ^ "Rooms with a different kind of view|People|chinadaily.com.cn". usa.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
- ^ "Real-life escape games offer respite from daily stresses｜". South China Morning Post. 2013-02-13. Retrieved 2013-04-10.
- ^ Press, Associated (December 24, 2016). "The Latest: President Obama Wishes Crowd Merry Christmas". NewYorkTimes. Retrieved December 26, 2016.
- ^ Reporter, Mike Hayes BuzzFeed News. "The Obamas Successfully Beat A Live Action Escape Game On Vacation". BuzzFeed. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
- ^ "Obama visit to escape room surprises Breakout KC's Waikiki location | The Kansas City Star". www.kansascity.com. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
- ^ Staff, AOL. "Obama spent Christmas Eve doing a live-action "escape room" game with his daughters". AOL.com. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
- ^ "Breakout Waikiki on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 2017-04-18.
External links
- Escape Room Directory
- Escape rooms in Uk - full list
- Escape rooms in Israel - full list