The past decade has seen an explosion in escape rooms around the world, going from a niche activity with a dedicated fan base to a popular attraction for families, friends, children and adults alike. Escape rooms are exciting, creative, and as great for newcomers as they are for experienced players.
Why Have Escape Rooms Become so Popular?
The massive growth experienced by the escape room industry can be tied to a few crucial factors. While the industry has only been running for a little over a decade, today the UK is home to over 1500 escape rooms, including our own 3 rooms in East London.
Originally inspired by video games and TV shows like âThe Crystal Mazeâ, escape rooms have grown from a grassroots following to a huge industry, with many escape rooms themed around popular franchises. We believe that there are a few reasons why escape rooms became popular:
- An Activity Everyone Can Enjoy: Escape rooms might be inspired by video games, but their design and variety of puzzles mean that they can be enjoyed by just about anyone, and while the puzzles can be fiendish, their central concepts are always easy to understand.
- The Thrill of Puzzle Solving: Few things beat the feeling of finally piecing a puzzle together, the moments of inspiration that escape rooms regularly bring out in teams of all experience levels.
- A Shared Offline Experience: Escape rooms bring people together in a detailed space, offering a brilliantly immersive experience that brings people together, requiring collaboration and great communication.
- Fantastic and Varied Spaces: Looking to break into a vault, enter a world of magic, or solve a sinister crime? Escape rooms offer all of these and much more, within dynamic, beautiful environments.
- No Two Rooms Are the Same: A key reason why escape rooms have become so popular is that each room is unique, meaning that fans can have a different experience in each room, allowing many different rooms to flourish across UK cities.
Which Groups Are Escape Rooms Popular With?
As owners of three varied escape rooms for teams of 3 to 5, our players are hugely varied, and thanks to the immersive designs and great puzzles everyone can have an exciting and rewarding time:
- Families: Escape rooms are a popular choice with families. The whole group will need to work together to find success, collaborating to solve riddles, match components together, and achieve their ultimate goal. For children of around 8 or 9 years of age, there will certainly be puzzles that they can contribute to.Â
- Friends: Many groups who play in our rooms are close friends, either looking for a fantastic birthday party or simply a great day out. Escape rooms are an active, involved, and collaborative group activity.
- Colleagues: Whether looking for a fun team-building activity or a great reward, we have worked with many corporate parties to offer an excellent time for groups of colleagues. The structure and focus of an escape room make for a great way to bond with new people, and to learn where each team member’s skills lie.
- Gamers: Escape rooms grew from popular adventure games and are still popular with that audience. Many of our most successful teams will be those who are looking to take their online experience into the real world.
What Are the Essentials of Every Escape Room?
While the rise in popularity of escape rooms within the UK means that some variation exists, there are certain fundamentals that can be expected from every room:
- A Single Ultimate Goal: In an escape room there will be an ultimate goal youâll need to accomplish to finish within the time limit. Traditionally this was escaping the room itself, but within modern rooms, it could be correctly finding a killer, stopping a missile launch, or cracking a vault.
- Interconnected Puzzles: Escape rooms are built around a variety of puzzles, and every element of the room could be a clue. You could face logic puzzles, memory tests, utilise items in a specific way and so much more across your session.
- A Time Limit: Typically 60 minutes, escape rooms are designed around a specific time limit, keeping the tension high and ensuring that everyone is engaged throughout.
- An Exciting Theme: Escape rooms can be built around a multitude of themes, with elaborate decorations and effects helping to immerse teams.
- A Human Gamemaster: Each room will be introduced and run by a real person, often playing a character within the world of the game. Each Gamemaster (or Questmaster as we like to call them) will help get everyone up to speed with escape rooms and can offer you assistance if you get stuck.
- Surprises: Escape rooms are rarely what they seem at first, with most hiding further rooms, shocking twists, and exciting effects. Prepare to be surprised!
Our Top Tips to Enjoy Escape Rooms
We think that escape rooms are so popular because they can truly be enjoyed by people from all walks of life. If youâre looking to try your first escape room, here are a few tips to have the best experience:
- Check the room carefully at the beginning of your game
- Wear comfy clothing
- Work together, splitting tasks across your team
- Donât be afraid to ask your gamemaster for help
- Most importantly, have fun!
Thrilling Escape Rooms in Shoreditch, London
Whether youâre looking to take part in your 1st or 51st escape room, we offer 3 fantastic experiences in the heart of East London. Located a short walk from tube and train stations, Enigma Quests have been delighting audiences for many years, founded and run by escape room enthusiasts.
Our rooms transport players to a school of magic, a dangerous undersea submarine, and the secretive vault of a criminal organisation. Designed for 3 to 5 players, each room can be booked through our website today, with evening and weekend games available.
Book your fantastic escape room experience today.
