ESCAPING SOLITUDE

If you’ve never done an escape room, chances are good that at least one of your friends has been bugging you on a regular basis to give it a try. Over the past decade, escape rooms have “brute forced” their way into our lives, to use an industry term. Nowadays, when you pass a building with blacked-out windows in a sketchy part of town, you no longer have to assume that there are sordid films being shot there. Instead, it’s likely just a group of enthusiasts trying to make their way out of a U-boat before running out of air.

Until this year, everything was going swimmingly for escape rooms. From only 24 facilities in 2014 to over 2,300 just a year ago, the industry’s rise has been meteoric. Especially considering that customers aren’t buying lattes or electronics, but solving puzzles in themed rooms. Congratulations if you were one of the people who saw that coming.

And then—well, you know the story. Escape rooms