10 Escape Room Alternatives to Launch Your Business Into the Future

10 Escape Room Alternatives to Launch Your Business Into the Future

The secret to delighting guests = integrating fresh, fun, challenging puzzles into a compelling story.

You know that already.

But what happens when other entrepreneurs open up escape game businesses nearby, and they know that secret too?

Well, you can keep going, hoping your customer service, competitive prices, and positive reviews keep you in the black. And they’re doing just that for many escape game owners.

Or you can look at where the industry is headed and pioneer something nobody in your town or metro area has even thought of yet!

How is the immersive entertainment industry evolving, and how can you get ahead of the curve?

Keep reading and get ready for the future of escape rooms!

Continue reading »10 Escape Room Alternatives to Launch Your Business Into the Future

September 10, 2017
Tips to creating challenging escape room puzzles

How to Create Great Escape Room Puzzles: 4 Strategies That Work

Do your escape room puzzles keep your customers on their toes?

Do they result in huge, delighted “a-ha” moments when they’re finally solved?

Do your escape room customers spend as much time laughing over missteps and cheering victories as they do pondering and strategizing?

No matter how new you are to the escape room business, you know that the quality of your puzzles is a critical factor in your success.

Fortunately, you probably got into the escape room business because you, yourself, love puzzles! So spending the extra time to make sure you’re providing your customers puzzles they’ll be delighted to solve is a no-brainer.

Want to make sure your escape room puzzles have the right ratio of challenge to success rate? This guest post by Rob Mesler, owner and operator of Escape IT in Columbus, Ohio, offers proven tips for creating great room escape puzzles.
Continue reading »How to Create Great Escape Room Puzzles: 4 Strategies That Work

July 25, 2017
Nowescape Blog: Escape Room Design: Designing for the Group Over the Individual

Escape Room Design: Designing for the Group Over the Individual

Escape rooms have taken the world by storm, popping up in most cities as a fun activity you can do with your friends, family and colleagues. What you may not have noticed though, is that most rooms are designed more for individual gameplay than the group.

While watching the camera feed of your escape games, does it ever seem like certain players in a group tend to be solving all the puzzles while others do little but stand around and watch?

This might not be because the spectators just came along for the ride.

It’s possible that the idle players really want to participate in the fun but simply don’t know what they’re supposed to be doing or don’t have the right skillsets to solve the challenges before them.

Before you assume the groups that book your rooms typically have a few enthusiastic players balanced out by several who aren’t really into the game, take a look at how your puzzles are designed and make sure you’ve created a well-rounded series of tasks that encourages teamwork.

Here’s how.
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March 8, 2017
100 Escape Room Puzzle Ideas

100 More Great Escape Room Puzzle Ideas

Your goal is to design the most fun, challenging, immersive escape room game in your area.

Or, heck – no reason to limit yourself . . . you want to design the best escape game in the world!

To do that, you need great puzzles.

You need puzzles that will challenge your customers, but which will also be fun and just the right amount of difficult to make them enjoy solving them without getting angry or frustrated.

The puzzle ideas in Nowescape’s blog, 101 Best Escape Room Puzzle Ideas, helped you get started. Now we’ve compiled another list to spark your imagination and help get you on the path to success.

Remember, you don’t want to just copy these ideas exactly as they are. If everyone used the same puzzle ideas in their room escapes, customers would get bored pretty quickly.

Take these ideas and give them your own unique spin. Your customers will appreciate it, and your revenue will reflect it!

Let’s get started!
Continue reading »100 More Great Escape Room Puzzle Ideas

January 16, 2017
4 Essential Rules to Creating Great Escape Room Photos

I Shot 500+ Professional Escape Room Photos. This is What I Learned

Do the images you use to promote your escape room inspire delight?

Do your escape room photographs kindle the imagination?

When potential customers see the photos on your website, are they dying to book a game and explore the mysteries you’ve hinted at?

In this guest blog from escape room photography expert Ilya Nodia, you’ll see examples of room escape promotional photographs that do exactly that and learn Ilya’s four essential rules to creating your own spectacular marketing images.

Read on to discover the secrets behind escape room photographs that will sell your games for you.
Continue reading »I Shot 500+ Professional Escape Room Photos. This is What I Learned

December 12, 2016
4-Point Checklist: Escape Room Website Design

4-Point Checklist: Escape Room Website Design

First impressions are key – in life and in business.

For businesses today, that first impression is formed the moment a person looks at your website.

What is your potential customer’s first impression of your business?

Does this sound familiar?

You’ve opened you doors, and the local news outlets have done stories on your new business.
You’re getting good reviews from people who have experienced your room, so word-of-mouth traffic is good.
But you’re still not getting the online bookings you had been hoping for.

If this sounds like your experience, it’s time to analyze the effectiveness of your website.

Read on to find out how to design a website that makes a great first impression.

Continue reading »4-Point Checklist: Escape Room Website Design

November 23, 2016
How to Crack the ‘Google Puzzle’ and Get Found by Customers

SEO Tools for Escape Room Owners: Solving the Digital Marketing Puzzle

As an escape room operator, you wear many hats.

You’re a showman and an entertainer. You’re also a marketer, a handyman, a customer service representative, an employer, a bookkeeper, and more!

Chances are, you don’t have training in every aspect of each of these roles.

One area you may find particularly challenging is marketing your escape room.

Sure you’ve got a website set up and you’re posting some things on social media, but when talk turns to SEO techniques and digital marketing strategies, you start feeling like maybe you’re in over your head.

For more marketing ideas – many of which require no computer skills at all –
check out 21 Ways to Sell More Escape Room Games.

In this guest post, Elliott Bailey, owner and operator of Heist Escape Party and self-proclaimed “tech head,” makes developing an effective online presence easy to understand.

If you’ve been wondering how to increase traffic to your website, this is the step-by-step escape room marketing tutorial for you.

Continue reading »SEO Tools for Escape Room Owners: Solving the Digital Marketing Puzzle

October 19, 2016
How I Built a Successful Escape Room Business in Less Than a Year - NowEscape

How I Built a Successful Escape Room Business in Less Than a Year

What does it take to open an escape room business?

What are the challenges you’ll face?

What are the sacrifices you’ll have to make?

How long will it take for you to stop feeling like you’re “new to the business” and start feeling like you’re a pro?

No matter where you are in the world, starting a business is a scary proposition.

Do you have the courage to follow your dreams?

What if we could show you how other people have done it – and succeeded?

There’s nothing better than a success story to remind you of what you’re capable of!
Continue reading »How I Built a Successful Escape Room Business in Less Than a Year

September 7, 2016