History of the escape rooms
Escape room games provide entertainment in which the team members are locked in a room with a specific theme, from which they can get out by solving logical tasks. During the time available, you immerse yourself in the experience of the game. How did escape rooms conquer the world? That's what we're going to find out.
The origin of escape rooms
The escape rooms known today originate from the computer games of the 90s. The virtual world these games take place in provided the inspiration. In these games, we would investigate several levels to find clues and puzzles, or we had to solve a crime to win the game.
How did it become such a successful business?
The first escape game can be linked to San José, California, as the first known escape game opened its doors here in 2006. It quickly spread to Hong Kong, Singapore, China and the rest of the United States. In Japan, SCRAP Entertainment was successfully launched by Takao Kato in 2007. He saw his classmate playing an online game where the challenge was to click around a room looking for clues and objects to open the door. Kato then started working on making the game work in real life. This can be considered the predecessor of today's escape rooms. At the same time, a similar concept, known as the great-grandfather of the escape room, was being developed in Silicon Valley in the United States. The difference is that Kato was inspired by computer games, whereas the American game was inspired by the famous Agatha Christie crime novels. The Silicon Valley game typically involved solving various crimes to escape.
It spread rapidly also in Hungary
The first escape room appeared in Hungary in 2011, but the big breakthrough came in 2012. ParaPark was the first to open, followed by MindQuest in 2012, the second of its kind in Budapest and the third in the world. There are currently 150 operators in Budapest with different themed escape rooms.
Escape games are constantly evolving
The viral situation spurred the reformation of escape rooms. New games have appeared where teams have to solve tasks in the city. In augmented reality, similar to Pokemon Go, they can explore the environment with the phone's camera to discover puzzles and clues. It is not yet known where the technology will develop in the future and how escape room games will change.
A popular form of entertainment in many countries
Games with exciting themes are appearing in more and more big cities, including in Sweden, PanIQ Room Stockholm awaits its adventure-seeking guests. Visit Stockholm with friends and try out the asylum-themed escape room or help Dr. Watson solve an exciting case involving Sherlock Holmes. The experience of a lifetime is guaranteed!
The Bulletin
