Real-life Escape Room games are a type of physical adventure game where people are locked in a room with other participants and have to use elements of the room to solve a series of puzzles, find clues, and escape the room within a set time limit.
These live-action games have sometimes been described as the “physical versions” of an old video game called “escape the room“. Escape Room Games are typically set in a variety of fictional locations, such as prison cells, dungeons and space stations. This form of entertainment has historically been a very popular team building exercises as well.
Image source: NY Times article – In Escape Rooms, Video Games Meet Real Life
Image source: NY Times article – In Escape Rooms, Video Games Meet Real Life
History
The earliest known real-life escape room was in Silicon Valley, California and called “Origin”. Created back in 2006, the mysteries and challenges in the game were inspired by the works of Agatha Christie and became a popular tourist attraction for that area. From there, escape room games quickly became popular in Japan, Singapore and then soon spread to many other countries worldwide. In 2015, there were over 2,800 escape room venues worldwide.
Sources:
* Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-life_room_escape
*New York Times – http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/04/arts/video-games/in-escape-rooms-video-games-meet-real-life.html?_r=0