Escape rooms have rapidly taken over the world in the past few years. By captivating puzzle enthusiasts’ and mystery lovers’ imaginations, escape rooms bring the most creative and thoughtful parts of a person's mind by challenging them with numerous puzzles.
What Are Escape Rooms?
Escape rooms are live-action-based games where your friends and you try solving puzzles and finding clues to escape the room.
The room themes vary from place to place; you may find yourself in a library of books looking for the right one, but you can also find yourself in a haunted house trying to solve the cause of a paranormal activity.
No matter the case, escape rooms will make the adrenaline kick in, boosting your heart rate and overall effectiveness of all senses.
The Brief History of Escape Rooms
Escape rooms, as a relatively new form of entertainment, have had a lot of history, combining multiple innovations and fields, such as pop culture, video games, and technology.
Escape rooms can take back roots to early 21st-century puzzle video games. It's believed that the title “Takagism” (influenced by the Japanese word for “escape“) was the primary starter of the groundwork for live-action escape rooms.
We must thank Takao Kato, a Japanese entrepreneur who was the first translator of virtual escape games into real-world experiences.
While escape rooms have rapidly gained popularity in Japan, the amazement has spread to the rest of Asia, North America, and Europe even faster!
With the opening of “Paramark,” an escape room in Budapest in 2011, the theme of diversity and creativity has been rising since then.
You have probably watched “Big Bang Theory” if you are a series geek like me. In the 16th episode of the 8th season, characters try to escape the room with a “zombie.”
Later into the future, in 2019, the movie “Escape Room” has been given credit for increasing the popularity of escape rooms. In 2021, “Escape Room: Tournament of Champions” emerged, increasing the escape rooms’ popularity again.
The Psychology of Escape Rooms
Escape rooms are designed to engage players in a demanding and mesmerizing experience, successfully tapping into numerous aspects of psychology:
- Problem Solving
The most demanding element of escape rooms, besides the ability to stay calm, is the problem-solving part which requires you to solve various puzzles, riddles, and mysteries. This engages the person's cognitive skills, as well as their critical thinking.
- Teamwork
An essential part of escaping any escape room is teamwork. Most of the time, the puzzles are created, and the only way of running is by working as a team.
Everyone must share their ideas and communicate effectively to solve a mystery. This creates a healthy, trustworthy environment full of the ability to improve and implement those improvements in real life.
- Time Pressure
Knowing that you must complete something in a specific time creates a sense of urgency and induces stress. As much as it doesn't sound like a big deal, it mimics real-life situations, enhancing the emotional intensity of the whole experience.
The Most Popular Escape Rooms
The popularity of specific escape room genres can vary based on location and time, but here is a list of some of them that you certainly won't forget:
- Haunted House
If you are a horror fan and an adrenaline rusher, haunted house-themed escape rooms are the best option! Consisting of various horror mysteries, real-life jumpscares, and creepy music, it makes your heartbeat uncontrollable and your brain unable to think clearly.
- Crime Scenes
In this type of escape room, you will be a detective trying to solve a crime scene, whether it's about murders, mysteries, or heists. Many people find this one extremely entertaining, so we had to put it on our list.
- Sci-Fi and Space
If being an astronaut has always been your dream, this represents an excellent opportunity to get to know outer space, spaceships, or aliens. Combined with the futuristic elements, this theme attracts a lot of sci-fi enthusiasts as well.
The Future of Escape Rooms
We are all familiar with the exponential number of scientific breakthroughs all over the globe. Usually, everything will evolve, changing the traditional rules, challenges, and goals.
Escape rooms are no exception, and they are believed to change drastically – the puzzles, challenges, environment, and the most popular themes.
- Integration of Advanced Technology
We often say that the human brain cannot compete with technology, and while that's true, we cannot forget the importance of the newest technology and its benefits in everyday life.
Speaking of escape rooms, we might see an implementation of more advanced technology, such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and even artificial intelligence (AI). This will create a more dynamic and immersive environment.
- Personalization
The addition of this would change the escape rooms forever. Allowing players to create and relive personal experiences sets the adrenaline and fun on another level. Additionally, customization of storylines, themes, and level difficulty will 100% contribute to escape rooms’ overall experience and popularity.
- Online and Remote Escape Rooms
The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the development of online and remote escape room experiences. This one represents a breakthrough in the escape room world because it breaks most of the problems with the unavailability to go to the escape room in person.
I hope you enjoyed and gained some knowledge from this article! Escape rooms are among the best ways to improve critical thinking, teamwork, and emotional stability. Therefore, buy a ticket for one today, or find an online one and enjoy escaping!
An article was prepared and written by Balša Kićović, editor of the Redaction