Trend: Escaping locked puzzle rooms as form of escapism

Being locked in a room where solving puzzles is your only chance of escape might not be everyone's cup of tea.

But escape rooms, where this exact scenario occurs, are gaining popularity throughout the nation.

The concept is not new. They were born from the online gamer world, which spawned a 'live' version that first spread throughout Asia and Europe, eventually landing on U.S. shores in the early 2000s. Now, they've spread to just about every metropolitan area, including Eastern Iowa.

Just this year, three escape room venues opened in the area: Outfox in Coralville, Underground Escape at the Shores Event Center in Cedar Rapids and Escape Cedar Valley in Cedar Falls.

'It hasn't taken us long to catch up to the trend,' said Carolyn Beyer, owner of Outfox. 'It's just that they haven't been popular, well-known or common.'

Tazia Heyl, event manager at Shores Event Center, thinks it's becoming more popular because of people's interest in crime television. Escape rooms, she said, give them a chance to experience the suspense in real life.

'It's an opportunity for people to do something live instead of online or watching a movie,' Beyer agreed.

'And then there's an adrenaline factor,' Heyl said. 'How many times have you been handcuffed to a chair in a non-life-threatening situation, where you know you're not going to get hurt? I think people crave that adrenaline without the danger.'

Mindy Seiffert, owner of Shores Event Center, agreed. It's all about the thrill.

'For people who are competitive and like feeling like they're accomplishing something, or like challenges, that's definitely a draw,' she said.

In most escape rooms, including those in Eastern Iowa, participants are given 60 minutes to get out. They're given clues to puzzles and mind games that eventually lead them out, but only if they solve them in time.

'You're essentially testing the wits of the people that created it against the wits of the people that are doing it,' Heyl said.

It's a great bonding experience, Seiffert said.

Often, escape rooms are used for corporate team building, because they push participants outside of their comfort zone and show how they react in certain situations, she said.

Beyer estimated about 20 percent of groups will escape at Outfox — a common statistic at many escape venues around the country.

'If it's too easy and they get out too soon after paying for an hour, they feel like they've been cheated,' she said.

Designing an escape room is challenging that way, she said. They have to be designed for the maximum number of players, which can make it especially challenging for smaller groups. But there's no way around it, she said.

'There's no manual (for creating escape rooms),' she said. 'You're basically making it up.'

And, you have to be careful, she said, because 'you can't just take a video game or book and turn them into your escape room' due to copyright and intellectual property issues.

'This is different from a murder mystery where you're buying a kit out of a box,' Seiffert said. 'It's hard to know what 60 minutes worth of clues actually looks like. You don't really know. You really have to use your creative juices to pull something together.'

Another challenge is customer retention.

To keep customers coming back again and again, escape rooms have to regularly change themes or add new rooms and puzzles.

Heyl recognized it could be just a fad.

'Everything that pops up like this, there's some ability for it to come and go,' she said. 'But as long as we're refreshing the idea, we should be able to sustain the excitement a little bit longer.'