What can you do in 60 minutes? Boil 20 eggs, get a full body massage or walk 3 to 4 miles or you can change the world!
Sounds a bit dramatic and perhaps a little over-optimistic, it’s not dramatic in the world of extreme escape rooms – didn’t know it was a thing? We didn’t either, but it is, and it’s real, and it’s coming your way, like it or not.
The Rise of The Escape Room
If you loved the board game dungeons and dragons in the 70s and 80s and the TV show The Crystal Maze in the 90s, escape rooms are for you.
The fledgeling concept that we know today was developed by Takao Kato in Toko in 2007 as a team building event to inspire his colleagues to join in and bond. A break from the normality of real-life, the idea took off in Japan in a big way.
In 2012 Attila Gyurkovics, a Hungarian personal trainer launched a franchise model of the game based on the psychological concept of flow, a highly focused mental state that promotes productivity.
The combination of fun and productivity became an immediate success with corporations looking to stimulate employees and create original team-building exercises. Ultimately ‘flow’ led to the phenomenon that is the Escape Room.
What Can You Expect?
One thing for sure, you can expect the unexpected. Each venue has a different theme, from the standard detective, police and crime-solving models to horror and serial killers who escape and must be found to just downright difficult coding and puzzle-solving games that require a degree in further maths to solve.
If you love a challenge, nothing gets more challenging than teamwork against the clock, and nothing is more rewarding than beating the establishment who go out of their way not to give you a comfortable ride, then you’re in the right place.
Not Just Team Building
Escape rooms are one of the few things that will get your teenager or pre-teen away from the laptop, that’s not to say there won’t be plenty of Snapchat talk and Tiktok documentaries about the event. What there will be is immersive fun, right here right now action that they won’t forget in a hurry.
That my friend is a win-win for any parent looking for a birthday party with a difference. Most teens know about this idea, it’s not new to them, but it has evolved into a cool and quirky event that won’t involve a hard sell.
Saying that escape rooms have something to interest all ages, it’s fun, and it’s sweeping the nation, after all, who doesn’t want to escape from reality especially the reality we have all lived through in the last six months.
Is It Safe?
In order open, escape rooms companies have had to adhere to strict guidelines, and this is a good thing. While closed many have undergone refurbishments and upgrades, now deep cleans are standard before and after each party.
The rooms are exclusive to you, no sharing with other groups, and this means escape rooms are safe, and standards are high. So what are you waiting for Sherlock, get off the sofa and join in the fun?