Lifestyle

London Escape Room On a Plane Taking the Industry to Another Level

The escape room industry has been evolving throughout the last decade. Once a very narrow field is now expanding, offering more experiences and wild fantasies than ever before to its customers. This kind of entertainment has also become much cheaper than it used to be. Now you can book cheap escape rooms in London here in the capital or elsewhere across the nation. The increased affordability is one of the reasons why escape rooms have gained such momentum. The most recent notable addition to not only the UK but the global market is an escape room set inside of a real decommissioned airplane, in Greenwich, London. But before we take a closer look at this particular experience, let’s see how the industry developed into what it is today.

No, Escape Rooms Did Not Start in Europe or The US

Much of the inspiration behind modern escape rooms, particularly the themed ones has to do with the TV shows and iconic movies from the late 20th century. However, the first escape room was not established in one of the former industrial buildings North of the Thames.

A manga enthusiast and a former publishing employee Takao Kato is the brain that embraced the idea. A Japanese entrepreneur had long wanted to make real-life experiences more attractive and ‘book-alike’, taking many off the screens. In 2009 he told the Japan Times: “I wondered why interesting things didn’t happen in my life as they did in books. I thought I could create my own adventure, a story, and then invite people to be a part of it”. Following his ideas, the first 2007, the first escape room opened in the Japanese city of Kyoto under the company name of SCRAP.

Kato’s initiative saw a soaring interest and soon expanded across the nation. Afterwards, escape rooms started popping up in China as well, making it the second major market at that time. However, it still took the industry some time to reach Europe or the US.

A former social worker from Hungary also had an idea to make people escape closed spaces for entertainment. However, when he started to work on the project, he had no idea that escape rooms had already been well-established in the Asian market. In 2011, Attila Gyurkovics finally opened the first of its kind European venue in Budapest. The hype over it was so strong that many former industrial buildings were soon transformed into a variety of escape room experiences across the Hungarian capital.

Hin Hunt did not stop there. It was the company that brought the first escape room to France and the United Kingdom in North London. The United States and Canada were next on the expansion agenda and for now, escape rooms are present on every inhabited continent on earth with more than 10,000 venues in operation worldwide. Britain is leading the way, considered as one of the biggest, most diverse markets. It offers experiences under the themes of Doctor Who, Harry Potter or BBC’s iconic Sherlock Escape Room in central London.

The phenomenon gained lots of popularity within Britain for a particular reason. Those who grew up in the 1990s feel nostalgic about the iconic shows broadcasted within that period. Notably, Crystal Maze fantasies can be embodied in many of the London venues. There is even an escape room dedicated to the legendary show in the capital.

Flight 338: Fasten Your Seatbelts

The jet plane parked in the Greenwich venue studio 338 was shipped specially for this escape room experience in South London. The story involves an interesting plot set in the criminal United States. You and the rest of your unlawful gang were exposed to your crimes and are being prepared to be sent to a high-security prison on a plane. Prior to the game, players are being handcuffed and fully adjusted to the prison environment for the journey. However, once you get on the plane, one of the crew members gets lost, leaving the clues behind. A team has 75 minutes to find the missing parts, solve puzzles and overcome challenges before the plane takes off and leaves the hopes behind.

The airplane is pretty much identical to a real one. In fact, it is a decommissioned airplane. The interior design features real jet plane seats, safes, difficult to unlock chains and other details that make this one of London’s best escape room experiences.

Some went extreme online, comparing the realness of the experience to a Ryanair flight.

Another recent addition to the London escape room scene is the Chernobyl experience launched by the Riddle Within, the same company that put the flight 338 venue together. It opened on the 30th of January and is set in 1986 Ukrainian city of Chernobyl. The number 4 nuclear reactor malfunctioned and a chain of nuclear reactions is threatening the region. A team of players is set in the middle of the explosion, inside of the control room with a mission to stop the catastrophe.

Are They Worth a Visit?

It is difficult to tell since we tend to have our individual preferences. However, as the escape room market in the United Kingdom as well as globally is becoming more diverse, the chances of finding a niche you like are getting higher. There now are venues with very attractive themes and even some placed in disused London tube stations, which sounds like something worth a try.

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