r/escaperooms

Hey y'all! I've been looking into opening an escape room, but just don't have the capital needed to get going right now. While I'm saving up for that though, I've had the thought of creating a small, portable experience that could be set up at a Farmer's Market, or something of the sort. Not a trailer, but something that would actually be set up within a 10x10 ft tent. Probably just a 20 minute experience for 4 people at a time max.

Napkin Math:

5 hr market * 2 slots per hour = 10 time slots available

$40 per slot * 10 slots = maximum of $400 + tips

20 markets per year * $8,000

In my area, there are markets nearly year-round, any most of them are a lot longer 4 hrs, but I'm just throwing out rough numbers. Obviously this is ignoring taxes, expenses, and so much more, but the purpose is moreso to get involved in the Escape Room Space and better understand what works/what doesn't, rather than make a bunch of money.

I'm curious to know if anyone has experience doing something like this? Also, if you saw something like this at a Market would you be interested at all, or just go on by?

Sometimes phone calls can put people off if they have any questions (Gen Z mostly) and emails can sometimes feel too formal / take too long to get a response. Does anyone have an option for customers to text for enquires / ask availability for bookings? I want to try and integrate this if appropriate. How do you go about this? Have you found it worthwhile to have as another option?

(To note I am also Gen Z and used to avoid making phone calls until it became part of my job and now it doesn’t bother me ofc. But in my personal life, if I can text instead, I’m not making a phone call 🤣)

Hi, I've been offered a job at an escape room in a large city in northern Italy, so there's a ton of places to play. The problem is I know someone who works there, and literally everything is held together by a thread. The rooms are poorly maintained and the technology hasn't been working for 5 or 6 years, the GMs have to manage multiple rooms at once, and the hours are endless, which is the biggest problem because they told me they only get paid for the actual hours played, but obviously you have to arrive early to set everything up and leave later because the groups have to sort out the hours and days ahead. I'm currently studying at university, so I have some free time, and a little money wouldn't be a problem, but all the problems listed lead to a lack of work, so I wouldn't play more than 10 or 12 games a month (which is a good thing because I have to study, but I'd earn around €120-150). What do you think?

We played several escape rooms there a few years ago and will be coming back to Charlotte for work. I wanted to see if there are any newer rooms, hidden gems, or must-play experiences that opened since then.

Hello guys, I'm here for advice, we are designg escape room, based on Wizard Office (something you would find in Harry Potter world) but it's only for children summer camp, so I will by used only couple of times. We want interactive live paintings using PAJ7620 gesture recognition and we are looking for video player that can be triggered by Arduino or ESP32. I know about Sprite, but at a little too expensive for what we need it for... Is there a cheaper alternative on AliExpress/Temu (preferably with links)?

Thank you very much for you help!

I have a work trip coming up and am looking for recommendations for an escape room for 5-7 players. Everyone has done them before. I was thinking the Ladder at Hatch Escapes, 60out’s Jumanji, or Lab Rat at Hatch Escapes.

Any other suggestions for a good group room?

Thanks!

Quick insurance question for the owners here. We've got multiple rooms, low-light props, guests crawling and climbing through the puzzles. I'm not convinced a single GL policy holds up for that. Was told accident with participation coverage is not the piece worth having. What do you all actually run?

Question for owners/those who work in escape rooms:

A friend owns an escape room business. There's a franchise about to open within a 15 minute walk of him in a touristy city. How concerned should he be? He's losing his 💩 right now

Hello! I am a US native and escape room employee. My partner and I have played over 30 rooms across our state and some neighboring ones. We're certainly not the most experienced ever, but we know our way around. I am currently on a plane to the UK, and have every intention of completing an escape room while I'm staying in the area of Kings Cross Station in London this Sunday. However, my friends will not be accompanying me on this day. I'm wondering if there's any chance of any escape room I could pull off on my lonesome? I know it's a stretch but always worth an ask!
The entire group has also shown interest in doing one on another day, and this would be a group of 4.
I love very immersive rooms, especially if they're a little extra nerdy (dnd, sciency, niche theming, etc.) and I'm
not a big fan of scares. I am a lover of clues, but can limit myself to 3 if I lock in enough.
Thank you so much for any input!
TLDR: Looking for immersive, non scary escape rooms in London for 1 or 4 people.

Hi everyone!

I’m a teacher, and this summer I’m planning to build a series of digital escape rooms for my students (Middle school/high school). World wars, cold war, revolutions, religions etc.

I already have the main stories for the different rooms planned out, and I want to support them with short AI-generated videos that help drive the narrative alongside the puzzles. At the same time, it also means I can easily end up in my own feedback loop, where something makes sense to me because I designed it, but might not be clear or engaging for actual players.

What elements do you find most engaging in a digital escape room?

Looking for an escape room for a colleagues leaving do. I have found 2 with capacity for 8 people: IAMAI and Battle for Britain. Are either recommended for such a big group, or would we be better of separating into two groups of 4 doing different rooms?

So the company that I built escape rooms for went out of business. I am sitting on a bunch of controllers and equipment from Fright Props. Anyone here know where I can get trios of this stuff? eBay doesn’t seem to be the place and locally is a bust. TIA.

Hi y’all!

I have an idea for a theme that I’ve pitched to my friends and they all think it’s great and has a lot of potential. The issue is, I don’t have the skills or experience to design and build it alone. I’m hoping someone of you have ideas for me.

Originally, I wanted to partner with an acquaintance, but they aren’t available.

Thanks in advance

I am going to be traveling to Orlando later this year and want to experience some of Orlando’s best/immersive escape rooms. Drop your recommendations!

Please use this thread to promote or recommend Escape Rooms/Games (whether IRL or online). As usual, please don't just put a link as your entire post. Make sure to elaborate with your thoughts or design philosophies. Writing the names of the room/game in **bold** is nice, to make it easier for people skimming the thread to pick out the names.

Please also make sure to use spoiler tags if you're posting anything about a room or game that might significantly hurt the experience of others that haven't played the game yet (no matter how old or new the game is).

Does anyone know of any escape rooms in OC/Riverside (or anywhere nearby) for large groups that is similar to The Hex Room?>!Specifically, I like how everyone has their own puzzles to work on in the beginning. !<Maybe for like 8 people or so.

We’ve been taking our kids to a lot of escape rooms lately and have had a blast… I’ve seen some discussion about kids on here a few times, we always pay to make sure we’re doing a private room. So they can enjoy, and their enjoyment doesn’t impede others.

That being said, his birthday and Father’s Day are coming up and I’d love to surprise him with a date night room for just us! Any suggestions for adults?? We’ve also had to avoid anything too “scary” or adult because of the cherubs so - I just want the best and most fun for us!

I’ve done a lot of research and reading - I’m wondering if the physical challenge ones or there’s like a “if I could only do one room ever this is the one I’d do” suggestion. Because date nights are super hard to come by and we may realistically only get to do one on our own for a long time!

Hello! I've only ever done escape rooms with my husband (and occasionally with our kids as well), but I am going to be in Orlando for a week for a conference and was curious if anyone had recommendations for a room that I could tackle solo. When we are working together, we are fairly advanced and I know that I perform well on my own also, but I honestly don't even know if "solo escape rooms" are a thing to begin with.

So... does anyone have a recommendation in Orlando? Is this even a thing? And, for the sake of discussion, does anyone have any solo experience (outside of Orlando) that you could share?

Thanks!