When escape rooms first started back in 2007 in Japan, it was a pretty basic set up with some locked boxes and some furniture with some paper clues in the room where you truly had to find the key to escape the locked room. Fast forward to 2019, with more than 2400 escape room companies in just the US alone, and it’s a whole new game (literally!). You might still be “locked” in the room but there are fail safes for safety, where if the power goes out, the doors automatically open, or perhaps the door that you enter is the door that remains unlocked the entire time but the “escape” door is actually locked in some fashion and to successfully escape the room, you have to find the key or code to get out before the time runs out.
More and more, at paradigmQ included, we are seeing more quest based or objective based games, where you have to accomplish something like diffusing a bomb in time before it goes off, or digging up the buried treasure before the pirates come back to take it from you. There is certainly an element of fun and suspense when you are locked in the room and NEED to solve that last puzzle to make it out but, I would argue, you can create an amazing room that creates those same feelings and leaves your heart pounding and your palms sweating as the clock ticks down…all without actually trapping you in the room and jeopardizing your safety. Plus, it opens the game up to more people who never liked the idea of being stuck in a room with no way out and the more players there are the more the industry can grow and evolve and we can continue to provide surprise and delight to our player base. Its really a win-win for all.
I heard it put perfectly a year or so ago, escape rooms in the US are like movies, they started out as silent films that still delighted and entertained people but oh, boy, did things get a million times better when we added in sound! Today’s escape rooms are like the black and white talkies of the 1920’s, it’s a fulfilling and fun experience and has grown from 20 locked boxes in a room to designed themes, engaging storylines, to added tech that creates surprise and delight. For our design team at paradigmQ, we want to find that balance of bringing a great set, with a compelling story and even characters for you to engage with, and continue to challenge your mind with unique and varied puzzles that leave you saying “Aha!”, while you high five your friends upon solving said puzzle. Not an easy task at all but one we whole heartedly enjoy-even if it keeps us up at night!
So while the escape industry of today is continuing to evolve and it still leaves the player loving everything they see and do, just imagine what the escape games of the future will hold when we make them like the technicolor, surround sound, 3-D experiences of today’s cinematic landscape.
