Unless you have been living under a rock for the last five years or so, you have probably noticed the emergence of the escape room. Escape rooms were originally conceived in Japan in 2007 by a company called SCRAP. The rooms were inspired by a video game entitled Crimson Room, in which the object was to get out of a room by asking questions of the game’s characters and solving various puzzles. Today the rooms are a popular place for corporate outings, birthday parties, and family gatherings. The rooms are great for building teamwork, establishing trust, and having fun. Although they have been getting a lot of press lately, there are still a few things you probably didn’t know about escape rooms.
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American’s Love to Escape
Although escape rooms were popular in Japan and Europe before they ever came to the United States, we have welcomed them into our country with open arms. The U.S. has more of these kinds of businesses than any other country in the world. Canada has the second most, and the United Kingdom comes in at number three. As of 2019, there were some 2350 rooms in the United States, with Colorado leading the country in numbers.
Source: Thrillist
Escape Rooms are a Labor of Love
As popular as they might be, escape rooms are not big moneymakers. Most of the rooms are family run and only make about $125,000 a year. It is not uncommon for these businesses to open only on weekends or by appointment. Getting a bank loan to start such a business can be quite a challenge, as loan officers are not certain into what category of business these rooms fall.
Players Often Identify with Anti Heroes
Most escape rooms will offer you the opportunity to escape from jail, abscond with jewelry, or even get away with murder. Although many of the games offer the scenario of escaping from wrongful incarceration, the games encourage players to use their cunning rather than the law to get out of their respective prisons.
Source: The Krakow Post
It is a New Way to Promote Films and Television
Cable television giant HBO has used escape rooms to promote upcoming shows, and Ford, too, to promote its 2017 Escape SUV. Columbia Pictures even set a recent horror film in one of the rooms. This is a unique experience that will live in people’s memory for a long time, making it the perfect way for them to remember a product and sing its praises.
Escape rooms make for a fun day out. As the number of these businesses grows in the country, the variety of themes will continue to increase. There are themes from the perilous to the comedic. There are rooms that are best enjoyed by adults and those that can be enjoyed by the whole family. They are safe, reasonably priced, and they generally only take about an hour to an hour and a half to complete. Amazeroomescapes.com offers three fun rooms to choose from and is a great place to spend some time if you are in the Durham, NC area.
