Escape games: why the latest city-break craze is being locked in a room

Crystal Maze-style games in tourist destinations all over the world are now so popular they
need their own TripAdvisor category. There are worse things that can happen on a city
break than getting locked in a room, I tell myself as I frantically try to piece together a
grid of pattern-covered squares, hoping it will reveal the code to the last combination
lock. George (an esteemed colleague on the Guardian Data team, chosen for his
numerical nous) has just knocked one of the pieces off the table and Im beginning to
doubt his value as a team member, but with minutes to go the answer reveals itself. We
unlock the box, grab the final piece of treasure and dash for the door.
Im at Lockd, Londons newest room escape game venue, and one of hundreds opening
in cities all over the world. For the uninitiated, room escape games are immersive
experiences where players are voluntarily locked in a room filled with cryptic puzzles that
have to be cracked. Theyll all be on a theme: for example, Ive just broken into a
museum to recover some ancient artefacts.
The games first appeared in the late noughties, as puzzlers experimented with creating
real-life versions of popular video games, but in the past two years their popularity has
snowballed. Now, they are among the most popular attractions on Tripadvisor in cities
from LA to Bangkok. A generation brought up on The Crystal Maze has come of age and
they really, really want to play.People are sick of entertainment that isnt real,
Alexander Shaf, one of the founders of Lockd tells me once Ive escaped, that is.
People play computer games and spend more and more time online. Now theyre
realising its more fun to try these games in real life.
Although room escape games have a dedicated following among gamers and are a
popular corporate bonding activity (escape the room ... and your boss!), the games have
already made their way onto must-do lists in many popular city break destinations. In
Budapest, for example, more than 30 room escape games have opened in the past few
years, with tourists clamouring to give them a try. New venues continue to open across
Europe, in cities such as Prague, Berlin and Amsterdam. Last year saw the first Lisbon
venue, when Joo Santos and Anna Mendes opened Lisbon Escape Game in Cais do
Sodr.
Paul Bart is the founder of Escape Hunt, based in Malaysia, which has 21 branches around
the world, with a further 55 planned for this year. A psychologist, Bart puts the
popularity of the games down to a handful of innate desires: People like to compete,
and they like to interact with their environment. Look at the cinema, it started off silent,
then they had the talkies, then it went 3D and now theres 4D. People got bored with the
sedentary and want to interact. This interaction is what makes it extremely addictive.
But European and Asian games differ in style, he says. With the European style, which
has its roots in Hungary, you have your own dedicated room, youre not mixing with other
people and its a lot more genteel. In Asia, its completely different. You have more
blood, screaming and its a lot more sensational. Theres one in Bangkok called the Nazi
game. You wouldnt get away with that anywhere else.
Their popularity did get a bit out of hand, he admits. If you typed in any city in the world
on Tripadvisor, the number one thing to do was an escape game. Theyve had to change
their algorithm and put us in a separate sub-category now. But whether they will ever be
viewed with the same regard as a citys more traditional attractions or not, they seem to
provide a welcome alternative to travellers.