So, haunt season is over and now all you can do is sit around and twiddle your fingers while you contemplate getting into character and running around your hometown, terrorizing the public with your spooky display to scratch that haunt itch until the next year. If you're an owner, your haunt is just sitting there, not making any money and as vacant as a waterpark in December. If only there was something you could do during the off season, right? Well, there is! As promised in multiple posts, we are finally delving into the fun and interesting world of Escape Rooms!
In the past few years, Escape Games have been popping up all over the place. They first became popular online (who else remembers playing them on addictinggames.com during computer lab?) and they were soon turned into a reality. No longer were people limited by stupid coding and poor quality graphics. Instead of randomly clicking around the screen in frustration, you could now explore and tamper with real props and puzzle pieces in hopes of escaping.
Let's start with the basics, since I know for some of you this is your first rodeo.
What is an escape game? An escape game is a group activity where a team of usually four or more people are locked into a room where they must use teamwork to solve various puzzles to escape. (Some rooms can be won with less than four people, but good luck with that.) Most escape games last an hour (unless it's a five minute escape game, which will be touched on later) and if the timer runs out, you lose. Some Escape Rooms may have a 'leader board' to record the best scores, adding a fun flare of competition, but this is never a guarentee. I personally like the 'leader board' concept since I'm super competitive.
Your escape game will most likely be run by a Game Master. The Game Master is the person who will be supervising and helping run your game. Game Masters are also your saving grace in a game, so please be nice to them. Your Game Master will usually get you signed in, go over the rules, give you any tools you may need (like a notepad, flashlight, etc.), and, if you're lucky, they may give you a tip or two to get you started. Once they lock you in, they will rush to the control room and begin the game.
Before we continue, I would like to point out that there are (in my experience) two different types of escape games that you can play: Linear and Non-Linear. These two types are ideal for different types of groups. Smaller groups or first time players will most likely enjoy the linear games while larger groups or seasoned players will excel in the non-linear games.
The easiest games to play will be linear games. This means that the puzzles are most likely going to be straight forward. To progress in a linear game, one must finish one puzzle to get to the next. There will rarely be more than one puzzle in play at a time, so you can focus your full attention on it. This will also mean that your Game Master will have an easier time keeping an eye on everything and may be able to help you more if you have any questions. For example: You may start with a simple math problem to get the combination to a door. The door leads you to a room where you have to solve a crossword puzzle. The crossword puzzle opens a secret panel with a riddle. So on and so forth. You would never have to split the group up and solve all three of those puzzles in one room at the same time to advance. A good example of a linear game for you to try is the Hijacked game (a non-horor based game) at RISE Escape Rooms.
Non-Linear games are becoming more popular these days. They are sometimes harder than the linear games, but they give the group more to do if they get easily bored while one person works on the main puzzle. The 13th Gate Escape Rooms have many of these type of games. My personal favorite is The Collector (a horror based game). Non-Linear games have multiple puzzles at once which may make things confusing. You never know which puzzles will help you gain piece and information about other puzzles in the room. These games are best played with the max number of players. Trust me. I learned the hard way. Because there are many things going on at once, it may take some time for your Game Master to provide hints or clues for your group, but do not let that discourage you. You may want a clue for one puzzle, but get a clue for another puzzle in the room. Trust that your Game Master knows which order things need to be acomplished in to help you escape. (A good Game Master ALWAYS wants their groups to escape.)
Now, you may be wondering, "Hints? Clues? How many do I get? How do I recieve these things? I'll just get every clue and have a garunteed win." Haha, it's not that simple, silly reader. Most Escape Rooms have their own system for giving hints and clues, but the basic rule of thumb is that you have a limited amount of clues which all give you a time penalty if you choose to use them. Sometimes you can only use a clue every five minutes. Sometimes you can use them all at once and hinder yourself for the rest of the game. Pay attention to your Game Master when he/she gives you the rules regarding clues. If you're lucky, you may run across fun opportunities to win free clues with little to no penalties. This will usualy be at the disgression of your Game Master, so stay on their good side.
Depending on the type of Escape Room you are visiting, your games may involve simple, lock and key, combination lock, magnet based puzzles. These are the easiest for a Game Maker to make. This route involves very little coding, special effects, and is easy for players to understand. (If you are unsure how a lock and key works, bless your heart.) Lately, games have become more high tech, involving voice recognition, pressure plates, motion activated props, and probably some black magic thrown in as well. This gives the room a more intense and cinematic feel while adding a challenge for the players since the solutions to puzzles will not always be in plain sight. Of course, this will add more work onto the Game Maker and Game Master (a lot of tech means a lot of chances for a malfunction), but I believe this route is the way of the future.
These are all great ways to make a revenue for your haunt during the off season as well as during the season. This type of attraction works all year and has a larger demographic. (Birthday parties, company retreats, tourist attraction, etc.) Plus, despite the basic upkeep of props, you don't have to change anything each year at the same rate as your haunt. But what about during haunt season? Will it still be a popular attraction? An hour long game will definately put a dent in the revenue of your haunt and ruin the hours of operation, right? WRONG! There is a simple solution to this issue that has just began to manifest in the last year or two: Five Minute Escape Games.
Imagine, my dear reader, that you are waiting in line to enter a haunted attraction. You've already gone through every app on your phone. There are no queue line entertainers. You are bored out of your mind. What is my poor reader to do? For an extra $10, you could play a Five Minute Escape Game where your place in line is held and you get something fun to do while you wait. Doesn't that sound like a fun offer? You would enter a single room which has one or two puzzles max that you must solve in order to escape in less than five minutes. It's all the fun of a regular escape room, but in a short amount of time and probably less than half the cost. Now, I've only done one (I highly recomend the Voodoo Five Minute Escape at The 13th Gate during haunt season), but I know that next year I will definately play every one I run into contact with. (I still think that if owners were smart, they would open Five Minute Escapes year round as well, but I'm one of those "I want it all!" kind of people.)
When you win an escape game, you don't win any tangible prize. You get the satisfaction that you outsmarted the game and possibly the satisfaction of having escaped faster than another group. Bragging rights are always welcomed and appriciated in my book. If you lose an escape game...I'm sorry, but you must live out the rest of your days in the room until you wither away from starvation. Just kidding. Usually, Game Masters will give you the option to see what else you needed to do to win the game OR they will just let out out the door you came in to hide the ending so you can come back and try again. Either way, Escape Rooms are a ton of fun. It's like being in a video game without the risk of death. You learn a lot about yourself and the people you play with, strengthening friendships and working relationships. There are typically never any actors inside, so you don't have to worry about getting too scared. Escape Rooms are NOT the same as a haunted house, but they are a great sidekick to your haunt business.
Hopefully I'll see some of you at some of the local escape rooms in the future. Until then, stay scary and happy hauntings!
-Jaz
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