Residents of modern cities are already rather tired of turning their leisure time into Groundhog Day - discos and cinemas, bowling and billiards, anti-cafes and board games, etc. From time to time, the entertainment remains the same, but the public demands more and more new spectacles. And as such an event, quest projects in real time and space, which are gaining popularity, come to the fore - quest rooms that are gradually conquering the entertainment industry.
The essence of escape room puzzles is as follows: a small group of people (2-6 people) are locked in a small room, who, using their own logic and left clues, try to find a way out in a limited time. The entire event is held within the framework of a theme - for example, leaving an abandoned mansion / hospital, Halloween, and so on. Also, during the pre-holiday period, less gloomy quests dedicated to Christmas, New Year, etc. are popular.
General organizational issues
Quests in the event industry have a variety of incarnations. It can be either the classic "Escape from the room" or the search for a target throughout the building / city. The latter direction requires less investment, but now it is already losing relevance . However, in any case, you will either have to work under a franchise, or raise a business from scratch. The 1st option requires rather high investments, but it is noticeably simpler, since it does not require the development of a scenario, its testing, etc. In the 2nd case, you will need not only to come up with your own quest, but also to work out all possible options for its development, to make sure that it is not too complicated, but not extremely simple either.
When choosing the target audience, one should focus primarily on young people aged 16-25 years. For this category of visitors, a large proportion of scenarios should be allocated, since teenagers and students will be the main clients of the quest room. However, do not discount other residents of the city. It is required to develop "children's" themed events for family rooms, as well as universal adventures for corporate clients who can use the quest room as a form of team building. Thus, clients in this business can be both sexes aged from 6 to 60 years or more.
Speaking about the further development of business, one should focus primarily on cooperation with other entertainment industry projects (cinemas, cafes, etc.), as well as social organizations (schools, kindergartens). But at the same time, one should not discount the possibility of distributing the quest room by franchise in other cities and regions of the country.
The main threat of the project can be plagiarism from competitors, so you should take care of brand recognition. Also, competition itself and dumping from other opening quest rooms will make it difficult.
Scenario Development
The scenario of each classic quest room should be a set of logical tasks aimed at finding the key that allows you to get out of the room. At the same time, it is extremely important not to leave this key in free access - it is necessary to exclude the possibility of accidentally finding the key by one of the participants, which will lead to the end of the game and customer dissatisfaction. Moreover, for the sake of replayability, it is recommended to prepare several different logical tasks that will be interchangeable. This will allow you to periodically change riddles and tasks, which guarantees the solution of new puzzles and will be able to attract old customers to the passage of an already known quest, but on new conditions and with new challenges.
The script can be unique, have references to some works of literature (for example, Lovecraft's stories or the Harry Potter theme), cinema, history. Moreover, recently the use of animators is gaining popularity - actors who create a certain atmosphere of the event, as well as helping or, on the contrary, hindering the solution of the quest.
When creating a new scenario, it is necessary not only to objectively verify its relevance, but also to repeatedly work it out both by the participants themselves and by the involved testers. This will allow you to identify all its shortcomings and vulnerabilities before the quest is released.
Choice of location and premises
It is necessary to choose a location for the future quest room based on the available capital. Of course, rooms located in shopping centers in the most visited areas of settlements will enjoy the greatest popularity. However, given the cost of rent and the specifics of organizing an event (pre-registration, excluding spontaneous participation), in order to save the budget, it is better to open your business in residential areas or on the outskirts of the city.
When talking about a room, you should focus on the potential number of rooms. You can work with one, but over time, it will need to be rethought and updated. Therefore, it is recommended to rent an area that will accommodate at least 2-3 quest rooms. There are no strict requirements for the premises itself.