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The escape-room games industry is booming

economist.com

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Re: The escape-room games industry is booming

#71

Post by megous »

DyslexicAtheist wrote: post #61

I went with my gf and her friends for her birthday last year for the first time. We had a great time and we'll certainly be going again. What made me wonder though is how they are able to attract repeat customers, e.g. if they only have 4 rooms/puzzles then soon people will be quickly moving to a different company. Repeat business must be difficult to retain unless you keep changing your rooms frequently (or rely mos…

I've seen one that is combined with a small place to sit around independently of visiting a room, where you have a lot of mechanical puzzles available to play around with. It was fun just to stay there and explore those. It's close to the spirit of the room experience itself, and I can imagine going back to just explore those.

And the owner can probably add those easier than redesigning the rooms all the time.

Re: The escape-room games industry is booming

#72

Post by talltimtom »

nothrabannosir wrote: post #69
talltimtom wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and make it clear that if they do give hints (no matter how bad we do) they won't get paid. That sounds a bit harsh. The escape rooms I have been at all made it clear that the objective is to finish as fast as possible but if you get stuck on things and it seems unlikely you’ll make it on the hour they will give you clues. It’s just part of the deal, you will almost always finish, and “winning” vs losing is a quest…

>> and make it clear that if they do give hints (no matter how bad we do) they won't get paid. > That sounds a bit harsh. He’s negotiating in advance, not punishing them. It’s about making it clear what you want for your money, and allowing the other party to make a choice. This is how negotiations work. “Hi I’d like a room here but I have a special request: don’t call me ‘sir’. It’s non negotiable; if you do I won’t…

Hi, I’d like a ticket for the new transformers movie, but id there are any explosions I want my money back.

Sure that’s just negotiation, but in that case I’d argue just as well that the costumer is being unresonable because he has expectations of the experience that simply don’t align with what is being offered. And if the establishment decides not to take your business because of the unusual request, which is wierdly dependent on how things play out I would not hold it against them.

As for not wanting clues, you can just tell them not to provide them and they wont. No need for the weird conditional payment option. You’re taking away a timeslot no matter what and costing them money, if you want to do that you need to pay, wanting special conditions on that payment is “rather harsh”.

Re: The escape-room games industry is booming

#73

Post by Para2016 »

nothrabannosir wrote: post #69
talltimtom wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and make it clear that if they do give hints (no matter how bad we do) they won't get paid. That sounds a bit harsh. The escape rooms I have been at all made it clear that the objective is to finish as fast as possible but if you get stuck on things and it seems unlikely you’ll make it on the hour they will give you clues. It’s just part of the deal, you will almost always finish, and “winning” vs losing is a quest…

>> and make it clear that if they do give hints (no matter how bad we do) they won't get paid. > That sounds a bit harsh. He’s negotiating in advance, not punishing them. It’s about making it clear what you want for your money, and allowing the other party to make a choice. This is how negotiations work. “Hi I’d like a room here but I have a special request: don’t call me ‘sir’. It’s non negotiable; if you do I won’t…

He sounds a bit silly. Escape rooms are group events, he's not the only customer in the room. If the rest of the group wants hints (it's not fun to just be stuck on a clue) then they will give hints. One customer throwing a tantrum on Yelp afterward probably sucks though. Can't please everyone, especially not people like him.

Re: The escape-room games industry is booming

#74

Post by DyslexicAtheist »

nothrabannosir wrote: post #69
talltimtom wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> and make it clear that if they do give hints (no matter how bad we do) they won't get paid. That sounds a bit harsh. The escape rooms I have been at all made it clear that the objective is to finish as fast as possible but if you get stuck on things and it seems unlikely you’ll make it on the hour they will give you clues. It’s just part of the deal, you will almost always finish, and “winning” vs losing is a quest…

>> and make it clear that if they do give hints (no matter how bad we do) they won't get paid. > That sounds a bit harsh. He’s negotiating in advance, not punishing them. It’s about making it clear what you want for your money, and allowing the other party to make a choice. This is how negotiations work. “Hi I’d like a room here but I have a special request: don’t call me ‘sir’. It’s non negotiable; if you do I won’t…

thanks, yes negotiation was my intention. I wouldn't word it as harshly (the tone makes the music) but tell them beforehand that this would be my expectation and condition for engaging in a transaction. my phrasing would be more like "hey I had some really bad experience before because a/b/c and I'd expect absolutely no help regardless how bad we do etc..."

and if this happens we would break from finishing the game immediately and walk out (as it is imho like cheating ourselves (which I wouldn't pay any money for). I'd also make clear that in case we can't finish that it's actually a reason for us to come back.

in any case it would be strong enough worded so that they get it (without sounding threatening)

Re: The escape-room games industry is booming

#75

Post by talltimtom »

jammygit wrote: post #36
b_tterc_p wrote: post #2

I can't read the full article but it the preview seems oddly mixed in whether its talking about how there are fire hazards vs. how they're a successful business model. Either way, I enjoy them. I do, however, think the business model could be a lot more scalable. Content providers should seek to either use the same space for multiple games, or use the same game across multiple scenarios. This would be a great use cas…

VR interferes with the social aspect of it. Wireless AR could be neat though.

You should look up “Just keep talking and nobody explodes” which works out quite fantastic social VR Game. One person has a headset and can see a bomb with different contraptions that needs to be solved to defuse it, the other team members have instructions on how to defuse the contraptions but can’t see the bomb. It’s also a great exercise in effective communication.

Re: The escape-room games industry is booming

#76

Post by DyslexicAtheist »

Para2016 wrote: post #73
nothrabannosir wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> and make it clear that if they do give hints (no matter how bad we do) they won't get paid. > That sounds a bit harsh. He’s negotiating in advance, not punishing them. It’s about making it clear what you want for your money, and allowing the other party to make a choice. This is how negotiations work. “Hi I’d like a room here but I have a special request: don’t call me ‘sir’. It’s non negotiable; if you do I won’t…

He sounds a bit silly. Escape rooms are group events, he's not the only customer in the room. If the rest of the group wants hints (it's not fun to just be stuck on a clue) then they will give hints. One customer throwing a tantrum on Yelp afterward probably sucks though. Can't please everyone, especially not people like him.

> He sounds a bit silly.

feel free to address me directly I'm right here. Also you're right I am silly. Silly silly silly a very stupid person. I've got some incredibly silly way of looking at the world. I am the Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov of HN.

If you want to insult me please use my email from the profile and send me a message directly. But don't dress up your insults by talking about me instead of talking directly at me. thanks

EDIT: also you suggest I leave yelp or other online reviews to bully companies. I don't even have a phone. Instead I talk to the person directly whether it's a restaurant or whatever else. Even they piss me off I'd never leave a review. I am not a fucking coward. Please speak for yourself and don't put things in my mouth that I haven't done or suggested.

Re: The escape-room games industry is booming

#78

Post by devgutt »

gkoberger wrote: post #37

I was really fascinated by the industry, so I got into it and eventually built my own as a side project ( http://StartupEscape.com ) It can be a good business if you have a few rooms. There's two types of people who get into it: passionate people, and people who buy designs online for a decent revenue. The latter makes more money, but there's some amazing escape rooms that are Disney-parks-level. Unfortunately, escap…

Just as a side note, I wonder if this could be a better alternative to job interviews. An opportunity to have fun and interact with possible candidates.

Re: The escape-room games industry is booming

#79

Post by FakeComments »

talltimtom wrote: post #72
nothrabannosir wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> and make it clear that if they do give hints (no matter how bad we do) they won't get paid. > That sounds a bit harsh. He’s negotiating in advance, not punishing them. It’s about making it clear what you want for your money, and allowing the other party to make a choice. This is how negotiations work. “Hi I’d like a room here but I have a special request: don’t call me ‘sir’. It’s non negotiable; if you do I won’t…

Hi, I’d like a ticket for the new transformers movie, but id there are any explosions I want my money back. Sure that’s just negotiation, but in that case I’d argue just as well that the costumer is being unresonable because he has expectations of the experience that simply don’t align with what is being offered. And if the establishment decides not to take your business because of the unusual request, which is wierd…

The person said they asked, and the service provided clues anyway. That’s what caused the comment to tying payment with actually providing the right service.

So “you can just” clearly isn’t true, at least in that case.

Also, the premise that a customer not wanting clues to a puzzle is unreasonable, or anything like conditioning on a pre-recorded movie, is a pretty questionable — to the point I think it’s just wrong.

Having a puzzle proactively spoiled by staff is nothing like that, at all. Refusing to pay if staff ruin the experience by taking actions you ask them not to is actually standard in service industries.

Re: The escape-room games industry is booming

#80

Post by almost »

DISCLAIMER: My own startup, Buzzshot (https://buzzshot.co), makes an Escape Room software SaaS product. I've been running it for 2 years and its been my full time gig for about 6 months

The article doesn't talk about it much but there's also a booming support industry that's built up around Escape Rooms. From prop makers, puzzle desingers, suppliers of full turn key rooms.

It's a fascinating industry to work in. Having spoken to every customer on the phone (highly recommended) there's such a range of people starting Escape Rooms from people starting their first ever business to people with lots of experience in related (or less related) areas. The amount of different skills that go into making these things is amazing. Having multiple rooms seems important to growing revenue, since it's the only practical way to get return customers. A lot of people of expanding to multiple locations as well as a way of reusing work.

A cool thing happening right now in the UK is two rooms are openning using licensed IP. There's a Dr Who one which sounds really exciting and one based on the Benedict Cumberbatch Sherlock show (disclaimer no 2, they're a customer of mine which I'm very excited about)

They're a whole lot of fun to play as well :)

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