A Brief History of Escape Rooms
If this is your first time hearing about escape rooms, you’re probably not alone. In the past couple of years, the concept of escape rooms has made its way into popular culture and media, spreading around the country and even the world. Hedge mazes and corn mazes are an early example of people escaping for entertainment, but the concept of being physically trapped might be accredited to digital games.
Escape rooms originated from escape games where players would be trapped in virtual rooms, having to uncover clues in order to escape. John Wilson, one of the earliest influencers of the “escape-the-room” genre and the creator of the text-based adventure, “Behind Closed Doors”, required players to enter text commands to get out of a bathroom. The most attributed game that is said to have inspired the modern-day version of escape rooms, however, began with “Crisom Room” by Toshimitsu Takagi. Released in 2004, the game required players to navigate around a small, red room and decide what actions to take to help them escape.
The first ever escape room was created in 2007 in Japan by Takao Kato, who opened Real Escape Room. It proved to be a popular concept and escape rooms spread throughout the world to places like San Francisco, Singapore, and Switzerland. The global population became entranced with the live-action puzzle, and now it can even be found on some Royal Caribbean cruise ships.
If you’re interested in challenging yourself, book an escape room or participate in the tons of fun games and entertainment experiences that we have for you to take advantage of. Call us today for more information, or come visit our location and experience our escape rooms, mini-golf, laser tag, bumper boats, batting cages, and arcade. Create unforgettable memories with us here at Fort Fun!