One moment you are inside a hijacked airplane, another moment you are stepping inside a spooky mansion, or investigating a crime scene. Escape rooms open up a captivating world of adventures for players out there! These games are unique in the way each game takes off in a whole new direction, leading players into an intriguing, immersive, and adventurous gaming session.
In fact, the gripping and live-action thrill offered by the escape rooms have made them incredibly famous worldwide. If you are wondering whether it is true, simply type in “escape room near me” on your search engine and you can find how many remarkable escape games have popped up!
There has been an incredibly growing number of entrepreneurs who are enthusiastically catering to large groups of players who are eagerly looking for such games to play. The games can be enjoyed with groups of friends, family, or co-workers. Moreover, you can even have kids play these game and share in the fun!
In this article, we have compiled a detailed outline of the booming growth of the escape room industry in the USA. So, check it out:
What are the escape rooms?
Escape rooms are time-based themed gaming adventures, where players step inside an intricately designed game room filled with various riddles, challenges, and puzzles. The escape games feature realistic set designs, life-like props, and stunning effects, making the entire gaming experience come alive before players.
All the games are usually based on a given narrative, making players step into the shoes of their favorite character and momentarily helping them ‘escape’ the real world. The games usually last for about an hour within which players must join forces, pool their strengths, and solve the hidden clues and riddles.
It is when players succeed in doing this that they win the game and emerge victorious! While one may think the escape rooms are just about having fun, it is a misconception. Playing the escape games can help players nurture their creativity, enhance their problem-solving skills, boost trust, increase team spirit, and refine their time management skills.
How have the escape rooms taken off in the US?
Ever since its origin in Japan, escape rooms have gradually made their way to far corners of the world. The United States is no exception, where in the 2014, there are 20+ escape room companies. From then onwards, the number of escape room companies in the USA have slowly started to grow.
Various international brands, national chains, and even local companies started popping up in different cities across the country. However, the majority of escape room brands in the US are still locally-owned brands.
Each of these companies offer players unique, incredibly engaging, live-action, and adventure-filled escape room games, based on many themes. Many agree that we spend so much time in our solitary screen-oriented worlds that it becomes fun and exciting for people of all ages to come together and solve a challenge.
Most of the well-designed escape rooms draw on various kinds of skills. Thus, it provides room for every player to shine and show off their skillsets, letting them have their ‘hero moment.’
While the success rates in the escape rooms vary, reports say that about 30 to 50 percent of players succeed in escaping the room in time! Given the massive popularity of the escape rooms, some business owners reportedly earn close to half million dollars a year!
How has the industry grown over time?
From nearly a dozen escape room brands in 2014, USA grew to accommodate a significant growth in the escape room industry in the coming years. The industry experienced a whooping growth by 317% in 2015, followed by about 800% in 2016, and the trend continued to soar high.
However, the industry experienced a slight 4.3% decrease in 2020 and 7.5% in 2021 in the light of the global pandemic. But even then, considering the boom it saw in the past few years, this decline seems relatively small. It was during this time that many escape room businesses were shut down temporarily, while others went online, diversifying their revenue channels.
There are even handful companies who permanently shut down their on-site locations and focused solely on offering online escape rooms. But while the pandemic drastically affected businesses worldwide, there were escape room companies opening up.
Reports show that about 70+ new facilities opened up in 2020 and 2021 each. Again in 2022, there were about 85+ new companies that popped up in the first six months! Thus, all this data seems to point to the fact that the earlier growth in the escape room industry seems to be returning after all.
To conclude, the escape room industry has shown incredible ingenuity, resilience, and determination to fight through the declining markets in the pandemic and emerge victorious. Consequently, it gives a lot of hope for the future that is marked off for the industry, as it slowly makes its way out of the recession.