How to Make Your Escape Room Stand Out From the Crowd!

With so many escape rooms opening up around the world, those of you thinking about launching an escape room business should think about what can make your rooms special.

Pick a unique location/venue

Many escape rooms are in converted office spaces or flats, but the ones that stand out are in very unique venues. For example, I have heard of escape rooms at historic castles, on train carriages, inside vans, under railway arches, and even on boats! One of my favorite rooms was in a historic mansion where our team solved puzzles all the way up to the top of the turret!

Incorporate unique puzzles

Escape room puzzles typically include locks, anagrams, and math problems, but they can have so much more. Some of the most unique puzzles I have seen involve magic tricks, playing cards, billiard balls, jukeboxes, and chessboards. It is especially important not to have too many of the same type of puzzle….one can only do so many anagrams in an hour!

Tell an interesting story

Most escape rooms have themes—based on a location (e.g. science lab), a time period (e.g. 1920s prohibition) or a genre (e.g. horror). However, many of the best escape rooms have a well-developed storyline. An interest plot with likeable characters that continues throughout the escape room can make the room more enjoyable for players. My personal favorites are based on true stories like Jack The Ripper!

Use special effects

Anyone can buy cheap props to fill an empty room, but some owners have built their escape rooms with advanced special effects. A few escape rooms use virtual reality (VR), and in some cases players actually pass each other virtual objects. I once played a claustrophobia themed game where the room actually shrunk!!! (a motor moved one of the walls in every 5 minutes). Some rooms achieve the same results with simple mechanical effects. For example, I remember a weight/pulley system that rolled a giant boulder away to reveal a tunnel like in an Indiana Jones movie.