If you’re looking for a chance to steal a priceless art piece, save the galaxy from a giant blackhole, or find a treasure after surviving a plane crash, look no further than The Escape Game located at Market Street.
The company started in 2014 in Nashville, Tennessee, where, with just two rooms to choose from, it would eventually become a hotspot. Now it has opened 52 stores, with two locations in Massachusetts, priding itself on creating its rooms in-house and creating memories that its guests will never forget.
The Market Street location has six rooms, which are currently “Ruins: Forbidden Treasure,” “Cosmic Crisis,” “Timeliner: Train Through Time,” “The Heist,” “Special Ops: Mysterious Market,” and “Gold Rush.” Each one has its own difficulty level, and according to General Manager Anthony Rowe, “Special Ops: Mystery Market” is their hardest.
“Personally, I would say ‘Special Ops’ is our hardest. This and ‘Heist’ because they both have a little bit of everything when it comes to escape rooms,” Rowe said.
Rowe has been working with The Escape Game for about two years, starting in Florida before moving to Massachusetts to help open the Lynnfield location. He feels the company gave him a chance to grow.
“I actually worked at a different escape room before with The Escape Game, and I was looking to grow through the company and really dig my feet in and set up for a career, but that wasn’t working out for me. There wasn’t room to grow there any further than what I was,” Rowe said.
Even just at the interview for The Escape Game job, he knew it would be different.
“Our mission is to design and deliver epic interactive experiences for every single guest, and we have a vision statement, which is to define and dominate the escape game industry and disrupt the world of entertainment,” he said.
Rowe then noted the company’s six values: excellence, passion, growth, integrity, teamwork, and creativity.
He also said their primary concern is taking care of everyone who walks through the door. An example of this occurred during his interview with 01940, as a child in one of the rooms was nervous. Without hesitation, a staff member grabbed a plushie from a shelf so the child had something to hold as the group finished up their room.
“We have some really dedicated fans, and that’s a plus for us. We are an entertainment business, but overall, we’re a hospitality business before anything. It is 100% a guest experience. That’s the only reason you stay open — if the guests leave happy,” Rowe said.
One of the ways The Escape Game ensures guests leave happy is through the quality of their escape rooms. Each room was crafted to be an immersive experience for each guest, shaping the storyline of the upcoming escape. When asked what made the atmosphere in each room, Rowe said it was a combination of everything.
“You can put together an escape room with a couple of locks and keys and some ideas for puzzles, but you also need to think about the type of light in the room, the light level, the kind of music that should be playing, and sound effects,” he said.
Stepping into “Ruins: Forbidden Treasure,” you can see exactly what Rowe meant. Hints of animal noises play from above, accompanied by the rustling of leaves. The walls of the plain are realistic, with rusted screws, wires, and dim lighting, making you forget entirely that you just came from the hallway behind you.
Rowe said that sometimes things get worn down, so they have a dedicated call line to fix everything, and that it was a 24/7 operation to ensure things stay in top shape. He also mentioned that the company has a small team of engineers who spend their days conceptualizing various ideas, undergoing testing phases, and creating spaces for groups to try out and provide feedback on. All of this is how the immersive magic eventually happens.
Rowe left first-timers with some advice: “I always tell this to groups when they’re first starting out. Going into an escape room is a challenge, and there’s a lot to do — it can be hard. But, especially if it’s your first time, go in for the experience.”
