Escape rooms busting out across Delmarva
Eleven people are locked in a room. Words, numbers and pictures are scrawled on the walls, objects scattered.
The flip of an hour glass announces there are 60 minutes remaining to get out. A frenzy sets in as the group ransacks the room, looking for clues leading to the key that will allow them to escape.
Part theater, part game, part team-building exercise, escape rooms are quickly gaining momentum across the country and on Delmarva as a new and exciting form of entertainment.
Several escape room venues have opened in Maryland and Delaware within the last year, and at least four more are set to open in the coming months.
"They require you to think," said Linar Yagudin, co-owner of Escape Room OC in Ocean City. "And believe it or not, people like to think."
"Very tricky, very logical"
An interactive race-against-the-clock game, escape rooms feature their own unique narratives tied around a similar premise.
Under $30 per person, players are “locked” inside an elaborately decorated room. They are given about an hour to solve riddles and earn their freedom before time runs out. Each room has different challenges and are rated by difficulty.
Escape Room OC, for example, has a pirate-inspired room with a solve rate of about 30 percent. The room features wooden floor boards, hanging ropes and a hand-carved helm. Locked treasure chests are scattered about the room, each containing clues on how to escape.
The venue's Sherlock Holmes-inspired room — with antique book shelves, floor-to-ceiling wall paper, plush chairs and a fireplace — has been cracked by less than 1 percent of players.
“The Sherlock Holmes room is very tricky, very logical," Yagudin said, with a smile. "It is my favorite."
A fan of riddles and brain busters since childhood, Yagudin said designing each room came naturally. Although he enjoys "stumping" people, he wants to see them succeed. Groups that struggle get a little extra help.
"I'll slide a bonus clue or two under their door," he said. "I can tell which ones aren't going to make it."
Joey Converse, of Salisbury, and her family attempted to solve Yagudin's pirate room over the weekend. They had heard about the idea of escape rooms through friends from Boston.
"It was hard, like, really hard," she said. "The time seems to run out pretty quickly. But it was fun, definitely something we had never done before. It made us put our phones away and work together as a team."
Corporations and other employers are also discovering the value of escape rooms for team-building benefits.
Employees from Cape Pharmacy in Lewes recently attempted to solve "Dante's Demise," one of the trickier rooms at Escape Rehoboth, a three-room venue off Route 1, just outside of Rehoboth Beach.
"Something like this allows us get to know one another on a completely different level," said Pat Carroll-Grant, Cape Pharmacy employee. "To me, it is a more substantial interaction compared to the typical chit-chat over happy hour."
Planning the next escape
While the origin of escape rooms is up for debate, most agree the craze began in Japan before arriving on the West Coast a little less than a decade ago.
Since then, the industry has exploded with more than 4,000 locations in the United States, according to ExitGames, a website tracking the market.
“These places are relatively inexpensive to own and operate so you’re seeing a lot of enthusiasts flood the market right now,” ExitGames President Chris Dickerson said. “At some point, though, the industry will level off and the better-built venues will survive.”
A relatively lucrative business, escape rooms seem to be a sound investment for an inspiring business owner with creativity.
But there's is a catch: once a team beats a room, the fun is over.
This is the inherent risk in the business model.
There's constant pressure for room owners to find new customers or build new rooms to stay alive in their area's market. Because the market in America is new, no one knows yet how long a popular room can stay profitable.
“Coming up with the puzzles is the biggest challenge,” said Clint Thornburg, co-owner of Escape Rehoboth. “You want each room to be unique and different, challenging yet beatable."
Escape Rehoboth rooms place participants into wild scenarios, like accidentally traveling back in time to London 1888 where Jack the Ripper is running wild, having to stop a mad scientist from destroying Rehoboth Beach or having to save Dazzling Dante, the "Duke of Deception" from his most famous Houdini water trick.
"It's fun for me," he said. "Coming up with the rooms and seeing people enjoy them, that's what make this whole thing worth it."
Thornburg said more than 2,000 people have booked a visit since Escape Rehoboth opened last October. The rooms, he said, will change this fall.
"It is imperative to keep things fresh," he said. "And to always be thinking, always planning the next escape."
If You Go
Escape Room OC
Where: 11805 Coastal Hwy, Ocean City
Call: 443-856-9241
Visit: escapetheroomoc.com
Escape Rehoboth
Where: 20245 Bay Vista Rd #206, Rehoboth Beach
Call: 302-344-6125
Visit: escaperehoboth.com
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302-537-1881, ext. 209