![]() “As a rule, the owners know that if they do a good job on social media, they can drive the customers to their locations,” Davis said. “It’s profitable,” said Daryl Davis, secretary of the Association for Room Escapes of North America, a nascent industry trade group with 80 members representing more than 100 locations in the United States. For some, recouping that initial capital has happened as quickly as one month after opening. Startup costs include rent, props and interior renovation, industry experts and owners said. “People think it’s very easy and lucrative, and let me tell you it’s a lot more work than what we thought.”Īlyssa Sandez, 15, of Seaford looks for help from the other side of the jailed team in the Disorderly Conduct room at Epic Escape Rooms Long Island in West Hempstead on Sept. “This is the hardest we’ve ever worked,” Dunn said. Siblings Cat Dunn and Efren Santana, co-owners of Epic Escape Rooms Long Island, opened a horror-themed escape room - Killer Feature - on the second floor of a mixed-use office building in West Hempstead. Many owners decided to open their own business after visiting an escape room, Fischtein said. “By and large, this is an industry of independent small businesses, which is also why there isn’t an overarching organization,” said David Spira, who said he has played over 650 escape games.Įscape rooms are estimated to generate $1 billion in revenue in the United States, and owners - depending on the size and sophistication of their operation - can bring in $7,000 to $150,000 a month in revenue, Fischtein of Escape Games Canada said. Players celebrate after they solve puzzles to unlock The Grimm Escape room in less than an hour at Puzzle Break in Syosset on Sept. Room Escape Artist, run by enthusiasts David and Lisa Spira of Weehawken, New Jersey, is one of the few U.S.-based sources of industry figures. Precise data are hard to collect because the industry is fragmented among many small operations. In the United States there were estimated to be more than 2,300 escape room locations in the second quarter of 2018, up from an estimated two dozen in 2014, according to Room Escape Artist, an online resource and escape game review site. The cooperative nature of the games, he said, means that “everyone is able to be the hero at some moment.” “The reasons escape rooms are popular is that they are live-action gaming experiences, where people get to do something like what they’ve seen on the movies or on TV,” said Scott Nicholson, professor of game design at Wilfrid Laurier University in Brantford, Ontario. The only true stakes for players are the bragging rights that come with solving the mystery in the allotted time, even if a game’s premise may call for unsuccessful player groups to be hunted down by a serial killer, sealed away forever in a cursed Egyptian tomb, or locked up for life in a New York City jail. Under green lighting effects, Caroline Smith, Paige Smith, Kimberly Hodgson, Kaitlyn Ryan and Sean Smith examine clues in the Escape Wonderland room at Escape Zone Long Island in St. ![]() Players enter the decorated rooms and have 60 minutes to discover the clues, solve myriad puzzles and, if successful, “escape” before time runs out. Escape room employees, referred to as game masters, lay down the rules and present the premise or story behind a room’s challenge. Typically an operator will offer multiple themes at a location. In Toronto, he said, the industry grew from a couple locations in 2014 to around 70 the following year, then shrank to around 30 today.Įscape rooms, also called escape games, are, in effect, mystery games played face to face with others. “Likely you’re going to see more of these open in the next two years, and you’re going to see a bunch of them close,” said Shawn Fischtein, a former analyst with the Canadian Securities Institute and the lead game developer of Escape Games Canada, a consultancy and escape game operator. By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy.
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