The history of Live Escape Games

In the fall of 2017, a horror movie called "Escape Room" was released internationally in theaters. In the film, several friends visit a Live Escape Room, whose operator wanted to spice up the game with a new prop in the form of a skull-shaped box. However, it quickly becomes apparent that a demon is trapped in the box. So, what started as a fun idea for an escape turns into a serious fight for survival.

Sony Pictures, the driving force behind the film project, seems to have focused on one thing: the current trend of Live Escape Games. Apart from the fact that the theme is ideal for the horror genre, the scenario offers a high level of recognition for many viewers. More and more people have already experienced an Escape Room or a similar gameplay, making it easy for them to empathize with the desperate situation of the film characters.

However, the real success story here is not the movie but the Live Escape Games themselves. There are thousands of Escape Room operators worldwide, who have already delighted millions of visitors with captivating scenarios and challenging puzzles. In Europe, you can now find at least one Exit Room offer in almost every major city. It's no wonder that avant-garde art forms like film or literature have been following this development for a while and have already incorporated it into other works, such as the "Saw" film series or books and movies related to the "Da Vinci Code."

Nevertheless, the rapid development of Live Escape Games can be somewhat puzzling for many visitors. Almost everywhere, terms like "Exit Room" or "Live Action Game" seem to be popping up, and their inviting advertisements can be seen in cities and online. However, few people know what these Live Escape Games actually are and where they suddenly came from. That's why we would like to provide you with a brief overview of the history and development of Exit Games so that you are well-equipped with background knowledge for your own experience with this gameplay.

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What is a Live Escape Game?

It goes by many names: Live Escape Game, Exit Game, Exit Room, Live Action Game, Escape Room, and so on. However, despite the numerous designations, the fundamental principle of a Live Escape Game always remains the same. It involves one or more individuals being in a closed room and having to escape from it within a predetermined time limit. This can only be achieved by solving tasks and puzzles, the clues to which are found within the room. Through logical and creative thinking, as well as teamwork, individual players can overcome the challenges. Depending on the game variation, the goal is to escape from the room within the given time (usually 60 minutes). In the case of competitions with other groups of players, the winner is often the fastest team or the group with the highest number of accumulated points.

Most operators give their games a backstory, which serves to entertain participants further and provide a coherent context for the tasks. Scenarios such as crime cases, spy adventures, or horror stories are particularly popular. However, there are no limits to creativity, and more unconventional variants like zombie apocalypses, plots from famous movies, and highly challenging science-themed scenarios also exist.

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The History of Live Escape Games
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The Beginnings of Escape Room Games

Most people have learned about the existence of Live Escape Games within the last decade. However, the origin of the actual gameplay principle goes much further back, to the world of 1980s computer games. The most famous example from that time is the text-based Interactive Fiction game "Behind Closed Doors" by John Wilson. In this game, players had to solve puzzles to free a man from the smallest room in a house. In the following years, many more point-and-click adventure games of this type were developed, ranging from freely available browser games to commercially sold computer and console games. Since the release of the online game "Mystery Of Time And Space" by Jan Albartus, where players navigate 20 levels of rooms filled with puzzles from a first-person perspective, this genre of games officially became known as "Escape the room" or "Escape room."

However, the real breakthrough came in 2004 in Japan. There, Toshimitsu Takagi created the Flash game "Crimson Room," in which players wake up in a red room with terrible headaches and no memory and can only open the door to exit the room by solving puzzles. "Crimson Room" was a success among gamers and continues to enjoy remarkable popularity. After the hype around "Crimson Room," some pioneers explored the idea of translating the gameplay principle of escape games into the real world. The birth of Live Escape Games had arrived, and various providers claimed the title of the first implementation for themselves. One of the most well-known examples is Takao Kato, who, through his Japanese company SCRAP in Kyoto since 2007, under the brand name "Real Escape Game," has locked visitors in themed rooms and only allows them to leave after solving puzzles. Locations included schools, abandoned hospitals, and even entire sports stadiums.

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Once around the world

Live Escape Games soon began their triumphant march around the world. The trend spread particularly strongly in Asia. In addition to Japan, China, Indonesia, and Singapore became enthusiasts of the phenomenon, which, according to some experts, was meant to distract from the stressful life in the continent's metropolises. In Singapore alone, there were already over 50 playable variants of Exit Games by 2015.

Various sources claim that the true origins of Live Escape Games in the United States can be traced back to a game called "Origin" from Silicon Valley, but the evidence for this is unfortunately not entirely clear. However, it is proven that Kazuya Iwata, a close friend of SCRAP founder Takao Kato, brought the "Real Escape Game" brand to San Francisco in 2012. The following year, the first national provider in the United States, "Puzzle Break," was founded in Seattle.

In Europe, the history of Live Escape Games began in 2011 in Budapest, Hungary. Attila Gyurkovics, according to his account without knowledge of the Japanese predecessors, founded the company Parapark here and offered an Exit Game in one of the city's many cellar ruins. The visitors' reactions were so positive that various companies soon copied the concept, and by September 2015, there were already over 30 providers in Budapest. Parapark expanded to various European countries shortly after its founding, while other Hungarian organizers found foreign partners or licensed their game processes.

In 2015, the first Escape Game providers in Porto Alegre and São Paulo also opened their doors in South America.

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Live Escape Games in Germany

In the German-speaking region, Live Escape Games started to spread in the year 2013. In that year, a Swiss physics teacher named Gabriel Palacios opened a facility called "Adventure Rooms" in Bern. Originally, the game content was intended for his students, but the success of Exit Games in Hungary at that time showed promising potential. This turned out to be well-founded, as the offering was enthusiastically embraced by visitors and quickly gained fame. Palacios also expanded and subsequently licensed his concept abroad, making him one of the largest operators today with over 30 Exit Rooms worldwide.

In Germany, HintQuest became the first provider to open a Live Escape Games facility in Munich in 2013. Following this, many more providers emerged in the following years, including Exit Mania. In 2014, Exit Mania opened as the first provider in the Rhein Main area, offering Exit Rooms in Darmstadt and Frankfurt, where we provided exciting experiences for hundreds of corporate and private customers. From running stationary rooms, we then evolved into an exclusive provider of team-based Live Escape Games for companies nationwide.

By the beginning of 2017, there were already over 200 organizers in Germany operating more than 400 Escape Rooms in 90 cities.

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Live Escape Games as a Trend

Despite the relatively long history of the trend, the popularity of Live Escape Games still seems to be on the rise. On the contrary, the benefits of learning and entertainment that these games offer seem to be driving an ever-increasing demand and a variety of game variations. In addition to computer-based Escape Room Games and Live Escape Games, more and more aspects of everyday life are inspired by the concept of "escaping through puzzles." There are numerous adaptations into books and films, and even board games have embraced the theme, such as the "Exit - The Game" series by Kosmos Verlag.

One example that further solidified the cult status of these games was former U.S. President Barack Obama. In late 2015, he was jokingly challenged via Twitter by the organizer Breakout KC to take on some really tough challenges during his next vacation in Hawaii. There was no initial response, but the following year, on Christmas morning, the phone rang, and a famous personality announced their visit. It turned out that the Obama family had indeed accepted the challenge and appeared at Breakout Waikiki, successfully completing one of the provider's most difficult Live Escape Games just 12 seconds before time ran out. Apart from being a great experience for the presidential family and the Exit Game staff, players of the "Mission Manoa Rooms" in Waikiki could now compare their results with those of a former president.

The United States is also home to game shows that incorporate the concept of Exit Rooms. In "Race to Escape," two teams of three players each compete against each other. The team that finds a way out of a room filled with puzzles and riddles first wins $25,000. A modified version featuring celebrities was "Escape!" with comedian Janet Varney as the host.

The latest approaches are now combining Live Escape Games with virtual reality goggles to provide players with an even more immersive experience.

This is exactly what makes the gameplay of Live Escape Games so successful - the experience. Exit Games offer players not only high entertainment value and opportunities for self-development but also reflect a current change within society: conscious consumption. Instead of spending money on trivial things, many people - especially Millennials - nowadays prefer to seek experiences and valuable memories. Live Escape Games, with their concept, provide the ideal offering for this. Whether playing with friends, colleagues, or strangers, Live Action Games connect players and offer them a unique time full of excitement, fun, and mental challenges. And the best part is: the industry is still very young! The development of Live Escape Games is still in its infancy and has great potential to become a firm part of modern experiential culture. Whether it's breaking out of the daily routine, team-building, or a unique setting for a product presentation, the application range of the Exit Games concept is wide-ranging and offers great options for you as well. Are you curious about how to incorporate a Live Escape Game into a company event? Then contact us without obligation, and we'll be happy to assist you!