Music in Escape Rooms       By far one of the most overlooked aspects of what makes a great escape room is the music. Now not necessarily music per se, but some type of background noise is definitely necessary for escape rooms. For example, if you’re walking through an old abandoned cabin, then perhaps you would hear the creaking of the wooden floor panels or the sound of crickets from outside. For example, If the room’s theme is based on a train, then perhaps add in the sound effect of the train on rails or the sound of the train car swaying back and forth. When building an es ..read more

Bad Escape Room Experience with Strangers     It’s very common for you and your group to be paired with strangers when playing an escape room, which is an entirely different argument from what we’re talking about today. If you’ve ever been paired with strangers, it can be one of two experiences–magical or disastrous. If everyone is on point, and communication is good throughout the group with each member playing to their strengths, then the game should go smoothly. Unfortunately, life does not always work out the way we want, and sometimes we may end up with a completely dysfunctiona ..read more

How Escape Rooms Help Build Better Teams         1. Communication Whether you’re trying to figure out an encrypted Morse code or trying to break into a bank, communication is one of the most crucial elements when it comes to beating an escape room. The saying “two heads are better than one” is true…but only when there’s good communication. When you’re stuck in close quarters with a mountain of puzzles, you’ll have to rely on communicating with your partners in order to succeed.   2. Dopamine Rush There is almost always a satisfaction factor when you figure out a puzzl ..read more

Tales from the Gamemaster     Watching people solve puzzles and fumbling around in the dark might sound like a fun job, but it’s not always sunshine and rainbows. While there are many laughable moments while game-mastering groups, there are also many frustrating moments that a game-master might come across. Whether it is groups not paying attention to the super obvious answer laying right in front of them, or just simply not paying attention to the instructions in their briefing, there’s quite a good amount of crazy moments that go on in a game. In this video, Hilda goes over just so ..read more

OUR FAVORITE ESCAPE ROOM         Once in a blue moon, you’ll find an escape room that just blows you out of the water; a game that has the perfect combination of story, puzzles and set design. For us here at The Box, two games come to mind Selachi Tech Lab (A-Escape) in Asheville, NC and Ocaam’s Apartment (Evil Genius) in Los Angeles, CA.  These two rooms are absolutely fantastic in their execution hitting almost every nail on the head. Even though it’s been awhile since we’ve last done the rooms, it is still memorable til this day.     The post Our Favorite ..read more

WHAT TO DO IN CHARLOTTE, NC     1. Inner Peaks   With two different locations in Charlotte, Inner peaks is an indoor rock climbing place. Whether you’re a beginner or expert, anyone can always find the best place to start climbing. No better way to get up and get out than by scaling a 25-foot wall with friends and family.     2. Discovery Place   Jam-packed with more knowledge than a science textbook, Discovery Place lets you see and experience science in real life. With experiments that you, yourself can play and have fun with, Discovery Place is fun for the en ..read more

3RD ROOM UPDATE – TEASER TALK         After a couple months of hard work and restless nights, we are ecstatic to give you a 3rd room update. One of the things we pride ourselves most in is our attention to detail in every aspect of the room. From the story to the set design, it is incredibly important to us that our players truly feel immersed in their game. And for the third room, we have spared no effort in making this the best possible experience for our players. Specifically for this room, teamwork is an absolute must in order to beat this game. Working with your partn ..read more

5 Traits of Bad Escape Rooms         If you’re an Escape Room enthusiast then I’m more than sure that you’ve come across them — bad escape rooms. White walls, red herrings, puzzles that make no sense, we’ve all seen rooms like these. Nowadays with the dramatic rise in Escape Room venues, the bar for quality is rising. Now if you want to see what makes an Escape Room great click here! But as for the opposite, here are some deal breakers we’ve found.   1. White Walls While understandable that many Escape Rooms are located in office buildings and that a budget is a real ..read more

Escape Room Themes I’d Like To See         There’s only so many zombie viruses you can cure or prisons to break out from. Not that I don’t enjoy a good zombie run or even rummaging through the house of a serial killer, but sometimes it’s fun to do something outside of your regular organ collecting murder mystery. So here are some of the escape room themes I wish to be made.   1. Winchester Mystery House The Winchester Mystery House is a real landmark in San Jose, California. Currently, it serves as a museum for tourists. But what makes this gigantic house that covers ..read more

What Makes a Great Escape Room       Sometimes it’s difficult to say what separates a good escape room from a bad one. But there certainly is a divide between the ordinary and a great escape room. Sure there are some blatant things that can go wrong in an escape room–malfunctioning props, distracted game masters, etc… But how do you separate a great escape room from just an average one? Now, this is a gross overview of the work that goes into creating an escape room, but it’s some of the more important aspects of what separates the great from the herd.   Scenic One the mos ..read more