The escape room industry is well known for its active, welcoming and vibrant business community. But with so many different resources available — including 25+ Facebook groups, numerous blogs, podcasts, and conferences — it can be difficult to sort through the clutter.
In an effort to help aspiring and current owners, we collected and organized the most popular escape room community websites, blogs, podcasts, and more.
Escape Room Blogs
There are many blogs dedicated to the escape room experience. People have created blogs devoted to reviewing rooms, enthusiast discussions, and more. Yet there is a much smaller collection of websites that produce informative, high-quality content designed specifically for owners and operators.
That being said, here are our eight favorite blogs for escape room owners:
1. Xola Blog
Xola’s blog provides marketing & business best practices, expert interviews, and data-driven industry insight to help escape room entrepreneurs and owners build more successful and sustainable businesses. To get started, check out our best posts here:
- A Comprehensive Guide to Facebook Ads for Escape Rooms: Powerful Strategies for Selling More Games
- How to Develop an Escape Room Marketing Strategy
- 8 Things to Consider Before Deciding to Open an Escape Room
2. Room Escape Artist Blog
The Room Escape Artist website is run by David and Lisa Spira, two well-respected escape room enthusiasts and industry advocates. Their website includes a wide range of resources, including a directory, room reviews, player tips, room design, industry analysis, and business tips.
Here are a few of the best posts:
- Montreal, Canada: Escape Room Recommendations
- San Francisco, California: Escape Room Recommendations
- RECON Boston’s Guide to Boda Borg (August 2022)
3. Creative Escape Rooms
The Creative Escape Rooms blog provides a variety of informative blog posts about puzzles and escape rooms alike. The blog content is mostly geared toward customers, but it’s a great place to stay up-to-date with the latest trends in the escape room world. Here are a few of the best posts:
4. Escape Reality Blog
The Escape Reality Blog has been pumping out helpful escape room content this year, including lists of unique escape games, tips for players, and more. The blog covers the basics — like educating customers and aspiring owners about what is an escape room — to more advanced trends like escape games and NFTs. Here are a few of the best posts:
- What is an escape room?
- Types of Players of Escape Rooms
- 10 Reasons why escape rooms are good for team building
5. Cracked It! Escape Games Blog
Cracked It! Escape Games is an escape room business in North Carolina run by Brian Vinciguerra. Unlike most escape room business blogs (which normally write content for guests) Brian focuses on creating content for other owners. He writes about marketing, business operations, legal topics, and much more. Here are a few of the best recent blog posts:
- So Sue Me! Tips For Preventing/Dealing With Injuries In Your Escape Room
- How To Open An Escape Room Business: Copyright Infringement
- The Case Against Escape Room Technology
6. Puzzle Break Blog
Puzzle Break is also an escape room business. Their blog is run by co-founder Nate Martin, who opened the first escape room in the US and is dubbed the “Founding Father of Escape Rooms”. Nate provides thought-provoking opinions on important topics like public versus private pricing options and the dangers of competition. Here are a few of the best posts:
- Virtual Escape Rooms: The #1 Best Team Building Activity
- A Beginner’s Guide to Online Escape Rooms and Team Building
- Top 5 Cybersecurity Best Practices
7. Escape Room Tips
The Escape Room Tips site was founded by William and Yuan, which have completed over 375+ escape rooms together. The duo has been running this blog since July 2016. They post reviews of escape rooms in most major cities, as well as helpful content for players and operators alike. Here are a few of their most popular posts:
- Top 29 Tips & Tricks to Win Escape Room Games (2022)
- Top 14 Puzzle Ideas for Escape Rooms (2022)
- Escape Room Prices in the United States (2022)
8. The Escape Game Blog
With more than 15 locations across the U.S., The Escape Game clearly knows what they are doing when it comes to building, growing, and running escape room businesses. Their blog offers tips on everything from virtual games to expert gameplay tips. Here are a few of their great posts:
- How to Play a Virtual Escape Room over Zoom
- Types of Escape Rooms | Comprehensive Guide
- Why You Should Book The Escape Game for Your Company’s Virtual Holiday Events
Escape Room Podcasts
Escape room podcasts are a great option for people who are constantly on the go. Listen in during your daily commute or while you’re doing chores around the house. These podcasts offer a variety of ideas, opinions, and entertaining stories for owners and enthusiasts alike.
1. Room Escape Divas Podcast is an audio program about escape rooms from the perspective of experiences of escape room enthusiasts. The podcast is great for new players, experienced players, and owners. The podcast includes interviews, escape room tropes, and a wide variety of conversations.
2. Escape Authority Podcast covers a myriad of escape room business topics, from immersion to the Do’s and Don’ts of social media usage.
Escape Room Facebook Groups
The escape room community owes a lot to these Facebook groups which, for the past 3+ years, have helped owners and startups connect, share ideas, and develop the escape room industry into what it is today.
Enthusiasts
Enthusiast groups are dedicated to the most avid escape room aficionados. Most enthusiasts are not owners. Instead, they’ve gained significant knowledge from the many escape rooms they’ve played both nationally and internationally. It is common for an enthusiast to have played upwards of 100+ games and be able to give strong but thoughtful opinions about what makes an escape room great, and what might ruin the experience.
Escape Room Enthusiasts
An international group for escape room enthusiasts to discuss their shared love for escape rooms. The perfect place to get to ask questions, debate the ins and outs of great room designs, and get to know your audience a little better.
Humans of Escape Rooms (Public Group) Another group for escape room enthusiasts. The group is a lot less active than the previous one, and a large portion of the content in this group is promotional.
Startups
1. Escape Room Start Ups (Official) (Private Group) The newest group dedicated to escape room startups. A great place to find answers to all sorts of questions both big and small. Also a good place to request resources and references for different types of suppliers and vendors.
2. Escape Room Start-Ups (Original) (Private Group) The original group created for escape room startups. Another good place to ask questions, get answers, and engage with other entrepreneurs and owners.
Business Discussions
Running an escape room is a business, not a hobby. These groups are dedicated to helping owners ask questions, share ideas, and collaborate to run and grow their business more effectively.
1. Escape Room Owners (Private Group) A private group that is only accessible to escape room owners with an escape room that is open and in operation. A great place to swap ideas with other owners, share best practices, and discuss current industry trends.
2. Escape Room Owners (Private Group) Another private group for current escape room owners created as an alternative to the original group. This is a place to discuss business, marketing, sales, and software/tools with seasoned professionals.
3. Escape Room Business Discussions (Private Group) A private group for owners, designers, and potential startups to share ideas, opinions and experiences to better their businesses and the community as a whole.
4. EscapeFront: A Community For Escape Room Owners (Public Group) The official Facebook group for Escape Front, a publication dedicated to providing content that helps you launch and run a successful escape room business.
5. Escape Room Operators (Private Group) A private group for operators to discuss ideas, share stories from the field, or ask questions regarding business operators. This group is invite only.
Marketing
As any escape room owner will tell you, you cannot get bookings without a strong escape room marketing strategy. These groups are dedicated to owners who want to learn more about what strategies, tactics, and tools are effective and stay on top of the latest developments in digital marketing.
1. Escape Room Owners Sales and Marketing (Private Group) A group dedicated to the escape room marketing and sales strategies, tactics, and tools.
2. Escape Room Marketing (Private Group) A group focused on open discussion around marketing ideas for the escape room industry, with a focus on marketing and sales tactics.
Room Design, Props, and Technology
The escape room industry is built on creative minds with a strong DIY culture. These groups help owners expand their creative boundaries, showcase their inventions, and share technical knowledge in an effort to improve the industry room by room.
1. Escape Room Idea Discussion (Private Group) A group to discuss ideas, give ideas, and help one another develop ideas further. Just owners helping owners, sharing ideas to make the industry better.
2. Escape Room Design (Immersive Story Experience) (Private Group) A group exclusively for immersive entertainment developers, designers, consultants, and students who want to improve the escape room industry by creating more engaging, immersive storytelling experiences.
3. Escape Room Owners- Clues, Ideas, Advice (Private Group) A group for escape room owners to discuss clues, room ideas, and share room design advice with one another.
4. Escape Room Technology and Props (Private Group) A group for the free exchange of escape room props, ideas, puzzles, and technology. A great place to ask questions and learn about the technology behind great escape rooms, or to share your latest invention with others.
5. Escape Room Buy – Sell – Trade (Private Group) A group created by Evilusions which is dedicated to buying, selling, and trading high quality props, designs, and puzzles between owners.
6. Escape Room Exchange (Private Group) An unaffiliated group for buying and selling new and used escape room-designs, riddles, software, electronic parts and other products.
7. Escape Rooms for Sale (Pre existing) (Private Group) A group that connects existing room owners that have successful rooms that they want to recycle and sell to other new or existing room owners (preferably in a distant location where no one has already experienced that room before).
8. Escape Room Trading (Private Group) A group dedicated to owners who want to trade established games with one another, but want to avoid others trying to sell games and props.
Niche Groups
These niche groups may be smaller, but have developed thriving communities. These communities are tight-knit and very clear about who they are and why they exist.
1. Female Escape Rooms Owners (Private Group) A forum for female escape room owners to bare their creativity, ideas, share knowledge, and ask questions absolutely free from judgement.
2. Female Room Escape Owners (Private Group) Another fantastic female-only escape room owner group. As they like to remind the rest of the industry, “We make up a smaller population, but our games are damn good.”
3. Mobile Escape Room Owners (Private Group) A group exclusively for owners of mobile escape room games. A group where owners can discuss ideas, best practices, and share products exclusive to mobile escape rooms.
4. Escape Room Gamemasters (Private Group) This group is solely dedicated to discussions between passionate game masters. It’s a place for game masters to give and receive advice, share control room war stories, and discuss ways to improve and master their craft.
Local or Regional Groups
Many communities, both large and small, who formed local or regional groups dedicated to expanding and promoting the escape room industry together. These are great places to collaborate, form partnerships, discuss local developments, and help one another navigate the pains of permitting and city requirements.
A quick search on Facebook will let you know if there is a local escape room group in your area.
Escape Room Conferences
The escape room conferences provide a single place to go if you want to meet hundreds of other owners, enthusiasts, thought leaders, and vendors. They’re also a great place to learn about the latest technology or see some of the leaders in escape room design and development.
Each conference features a series of events and seminars covering hundreds of different topics from hands-on technology training to marketing strategies and tactics.
1. Escape Room City at TransWorld’s Halloween & Attraction Show Escape Room City first developed at the Halloween & Attraction Show as haunted house owners turned to escape rooms as a way to use their space outside of the halloween season. The conference dedicates a large portion of the trade show floor to escape room vendors and boasts an impressive series of events and seminars led by escape room owners and industry experts.
2. TransWorld’s Room Escape Conference & Tour is the largest conference in the US solely dedicated to the escape room industry. It boasts interactive exhibits and vendors, on-site demos, networking opportunities, and an impressive lineup of educational seminars.
3. Up The Game Up The Game is an international conference devoted to escape rooms and real-life gaming experiences. The conference is hosted every year in the Netherlands, where you can expect a diverse array of speakers, exhibitors, and activities.
4. The Escape Room Unconference The Escape Room Unconference is led by Scott Nicholson, a professor of Game Design and Development at Wilfrid Laurier University in Brantford, Ontario. Unlike normal conferences, the “unconference” agenda is not determined until the first hour of the event when people propose topics of interest and develop a schedule together. There are no formal speakers, and the experts are the attendees. It is a day of sharing information, asking questions, and building new relationships.
Other
1. Escape Room Reddit Thread The escape room reddit thread includes anything and everything you could think of including reviews, marketing tips, and intriguing business questions.
2. Escape Room Enthusiasts Secret Slack Channel The Codex hosts a private Slack channel where escape room enthusiasts can talk shop, share recommendations, and more. Go get access to the secret channel, follow the link below and submit your email.
3. Escape Rooms FAQ (Frequently Argued Questions) The Codex released a shared Google Doc that outlines an impressive collection of “frequently argued questions” and provides insight and differing opinions collected by the enthusiast community. Topics include a wide range of business policy issues, room design questions, and industry debates.
