This sort
of collective entertainment has become popular in Poland pretty recently. I
have first heard of it in the summer 2015 and back then there were quite a few
such facilities in Warsaw; since then several new escape rooms have sprung up and
you need to book a room several days in advance if you want to go there on most
popular time slots (Thursday / Friday evenings or during weekends).
The very
concept is well-explained in the dedicated wikipedia article (funnily enough,
there is no Polish version as of today). It is essentially a battle of wits
with the forces that lock you up, so participants need to use their brains to
crack several logical puzzles to break out of the locked room. Usually the game
has a specific theme around which puzzles revolve. Players need to get to grips
with the brainteasers within an allotted time. They win if they manage to find
a key to the door before this time runs out.
I ventured
to such place on Friday evening with my workmates. Such game is said to enhance
teamwork skills, yet we went there off our own bat (and paid for it from our
own pockets), not being ordered by The New Factory. The facility we visited was
located on the third floor of a tenement in the very heart of Warsaw and was a
spacious flat redesigned into three escape rooms and an accompanying office.
One needs to invest a bit to create this and I estimate the entry costs at some
2 million PLN, assuming a flat is purchased (I cannot imagine a landlord giving
tenant a free rein to build an escape room in their property); running costs is
what I find harder to estimate. Plus to attract new clients the business-keeper
should bring in new themes from time to time… The facility we went had just one
significant drawback, namely it lacked air-conditioning, which in the summer
season might be a nuisance, when a few persons are locked in a tiny space with
area less than 20 square metres.
Most
clients of such facilities are companies which send their staff to escape rooms
as part of team-building programmes or just to expend integration budgets. The
cost is not exorbitant. We had a discount voucher from a workmate who once had
been to the same facility, but to a different room and we filled the room with
maximum number of participants and ended up with expense per head below 20 PLN,
while an average rate you can expect is around 30 – 40 PLN per person, still a
sum which will not break the bank.
Though
neither enchanted by the game, nor fascinated by it, I will eagerly repeat it
in a while and recommend you also try it out with your family, friends,
colleagues or whoever you want to enjoy time with.
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