Why Escape Rooms are Great Family Activities During the Holidays

The holiday season is a time for families to come together, create cherished memories, and indulge in quality time with one another. While we know it’s not always perfect, amidst the hustle and bustle of the season, finding activities that engage and unite family members of all ages can be a challenge.

Enter escape rooms, the immersive and interactive adventure games that have been captivating the hearts of families worldwide. These intriguing puzzles and challenges not only make for an entertaining outing but also serve as the perfect recipe for family bonding during the holidays.

Fostering Teamwork and Communication:

Escape rooms are all about collaboration. When you step into the world of an escape room, you and your family members are immediately tasked with solving a series of puzzles and riddles to escape within a time limit. This requires effective communication and teamwork. Each family member will bring their unique strengths to the table, and you'll quickly discover that working together is the key to success. Through these challenges, family members learn to listen to each other, share their ideas, and work collectively to achieve a common goal, strengthening their bonds in the process.

Uncover Problem-Solving Skills:

The puzzles within escape rooms are diverse and often require creative thinking. From deciphering codes to connecting hidden clues, family members get the opportunity to flex their problem-solving muscles. This not only provides a mental workout but also helps family members appreciate each other's distinct problem-solving approaches. It's an excellent way for parents to witness their children's growth in cognitive skills and vice versa.

Quality Family Time:

In today's fast-paced world, carving out quality family time is often a challenge. Escape rooms offer a perfect escape from daily routines and electronic devices. They immerse your family in a different world, free from distractions, where the focus is solely on solving puzzles and enjoying each other's company. The experience is a welcome respite from the digital world, making it an ideal way to reconnect during the holidays.

Excitement and Adrenaline:

Escape rooms are designed to be thrilling, offering a rush of excitement as you race against the clock to escape. This shared excitement and adrenaline create memorable moments that you'll reminisce about for years to come. The highs and lows of the game generate a unique bonding experience and often trigger bursts of laughter and surprise, strengthening the family's emotional connection.

If you’re looking for more of an outdoor adventure you can also try things like a Scavenger Hunt through the company Roamli.

Multi-Generational Fun:

Escape rooms are accessible to people of all ages. Whether you're a grandparent, a parent, or a child, there's a role for everyone. The diverse puzzles cater to different skill sets, ensuring that every family member can contribute to the team's success. The experience bridges generational gaps and fosters a sense of togetherness.

Safe and Controlled Environment:

Safety is a primary concern for families, especially during the holidays. Escape rooms provide a controlled environment that ensures everyone's well-being. The rooms are supervised, and the staff is always on hand to offer hints or assistance if needed. This peace of mind allows families to enjoy the experience without worry.

Customizable Difficulty Levels:

Escape rooms come in various themes and difficulty levels, allowing families to choose an experience that suits their preferences. Whether you're looking for a lighthearted, family-friendly adventure or a more challenging brain teaser, there's an escape room for you. This flexibility ensures that everyone can have a memorable time, regardless of their age or puzzle-solving skills.

Post-Game Bonding:

After successfully escaping (or even if you don't), there's a sense of accomplishment and shared achievement. Families can relish the post-game discussions, sharing their thoughts on the experience and celebrating their victories, no matter how small. These conversations often lead to deeper connections as family members reflect on their shared adventure.

To summarize, escape rooms are a delightful way for families to come together during the holidays. They offer a unique blend of excitement, problem-solving, and quality time, all within a safe and controlled environment. With their ability to foster teamwork, communication, and shared moments of joy, escape rooms make for an unforgettable holiday experience that strengthens the bonds within your family. So, this holiday season, consider unlocking the adventure of an escape room and unlock the joy of togetherness with your loved ones.

Choose an Escape Room for your Corporate Event!

Corporate events are an essential aspect of any business as they allow employees to connect, build relationships, and foster a positive work environment. However, planning a corporate event that is both engaging and interactive can be challenging. One activity that has gained popularity in recent years is escape rooms. Escape rooms offer a unique and exciting experience for corporate events, which can benefit businesses in many ways. In our newest Lock Chicago blog post we’ll explore why escape rooms are great for corporate events and those participating.

This phrase gets used most commonly as reasoning for any event but we certainly have to start with Team Building. One of the primary reasons why escape rooms are great for corporate events is that they promote team building. Escape rooms require players to work together and communicate effectively to solve puzzles and escape the room. This teamwork can improve relationships among coworkers and build trust. It also allows employees to develop their problem-solving and critical thinking skills, which are valuable in the workplace.

Stress relief: Corporate events can be stressful for employees as they may feel pressure to socialize and network with colleagues. Escape rooms offer a fun and immersive experience that can help alleviate this stress. It provides an opportunity for employees to unwind and have fun while still building relationships and engaging in team-building activities.

Improves communication: Communication is a vital skill in any workplace. Escape rooms require participants to communicate effectively to solve puzzles and escape the room. By participating in an escape room, employees can develop their communication skills, which can improve their overall performance at work. It also allows coworkers to get to know each other better and learn how to communicate effectively with each other.

Boosts morale: A positive work environment is crucial for employee satisfaction and productivity. Escape rooms provide a fun and exciting experience that can boost morale and create a positive work environment. By participating in an escape room, employees can feel valued and appreciated by their employer, which can lead to increased job satisfaction.

Encourages creativity: Escape rooms require participants to think creatively and outside the box to solve puzzles and escape the room. This type of thinking can be beneficial in the workplace, where creativity and innovation are highly valued. By participating in an escape room, employees can develop their creativity skills and apply them to their work.

Promotes healthy competition: Escape rooms can also promote healthy competition among employees. By working together to solve puzzles and escape the room, employees can feel a sense of accomplishment and healthy competition. This competition can motivate employees to work harder and achieve their goals in the workplace.

In conclusion, escape rooms are an excellent activity for corporate events. They promote team building, communication, creativity, and healthy competition, while also providing stress relief and boosting morale.

At Lock Chicago we offer unique team building experiences not just with Escape Rooms but with Scavenger Hunts and on-site events as well! Whether you want us to visit a location of your choice or set up an interactive Scavenger Hunt through our partner, Roamli we’ve got plenty of options. Overall Escape Rooms are a fun and exciting experience that your employees will surely appreciate and we look forward to hopefully hosting you in the future!

Roamli, Scavenger Hunts, and Hidden Gems! Things to Discover in Chicago!

For this blog post we thought we’d take some time away from the pure Escape Room talk and chat about some of our favorite things in Chicago. We’ve been in Evanston for the past 8 years and being close proximity to Chicago we’ve been able to discover some amazing sights and places to explore. We’ve taken our love of escape room discovery and tied it into the travel app, Roamli.

Roamli helps companies build interactive walking tours and scavenger hunts so we thought they would be a perfect partner in finding amazing things to discover around Chicago! Redfin also reached out to us to get our thoughts on some of our favorite sights in Chicago and you can view that article here including some great contributions by other local Chicagoans.

We created two unique Scavenger Hunts, the “Chicago Scavenger Hunt”, and “Evanston Scavenger Hunt” that highlight some of the most unique and hidden gems around the city. Participants can download the event and play through the Roamli App along with discovering amazing sights throughout the world. We’ve included murals, architectural gems, statues, monuments, and more!

Roamli is a unique travel and scavenger hunt app that combines the thrill of exploring new places with the excitement of solving puzzles and riddles. The app is designed to help users discover new locations and landmarks in their own city or while traveling to a new destination.

One of the main features of Roamli is its scavenger hunt game mode. In this mode, users are presented with a series of clues and riddles that lead them to different locations in their chosen city. Users must solve each clue in order to unlock the next one, and ultimately complete the scavenger hunt. This game mode is perfect for users who want to explore new areas of a city, or who want to add a fun and challenging activity to their travel itinerary.

Roamli also offers a more relaxed "tour" mode, which allows users to explore a city at their own pace. In this mode, users can choose from a variety of tours created by Roamli, or they can create their own custom tour. Each tour includes information about different locations and landmarks, as well as suggestions for places to eat and drink along the way.

One of the most unique aspects of Roamli is its focus on community. Users can connect with other Roamli users in their city or in a destination they're traveling to. This allows users to share tips and recommendations with each other, as well as compete in scavenger hunt challenges.

So all-in-all whether you’re looking to get your thrills at an escape room or try your hand with an outdoor Scavenger Hunt we’ve got you covered with Lock Chicago or Roamli. Go discover something amazing today!

Why you should book an Escape Room this Valentine's Day!

Looking for a new experience to celebrate with your partner? With Valentine's Day just around the corner, escape rooms offer a unique and fun way to celebrate the holiday with your significant other. Here's why:

Strengthening relationships: Escape rooms require teamwork and communication to solve puzzles and escape the room within a set time limit. This makes it a great opportunity for couples to work together and strengthen their relationship. It's a fun and exciting way to bond and see how well they work as a team. By overcoming challenges together, couples can build trust, mutual respect, and a sense of accomplishment.

A change of pace: Valentine's Day can sometimes feel like just another day, with the usual dinner and movie date options. An escape room offers something different, something exciting, and a change of pace from the usual routine. It's a great way to make the holiday feel special and memorable.

Encourages creativity and critical thinking: Escape rooms are designed to challenge the participants' problem-solving and critical thinking skills. This can be a great opportunity for couples to let their creative juices flow and come up with innovative solutions to the puzzles. By working together, couples can think outside the box and approach problems in a new way.

Builds excitement and anticipation: Escape rooms are full of surprises, twists, and turns. They are designed to build excitement and anticipation, making it an ideal choice for a Valentine's Day date. The rush of adrenaline that comes with solving puzzles and escaping the room is a great way to add an extra layer of excitement to the holiday.

A unique bonding experience: An escape room is a unique bonding experience that can't be replicated. It's an opportunity to create memories that will last a lifetime. The experience is exclusive and exclusive, making it an ideal way to celebrate Valentine's Day with your significant other. We offer private escape room experiences that are great for two or if you’re looking to double date!

Increases intimacy: Escape rooms are a great way to increase intimacy. They provide an opportunity for couples to interact and get to know each other in a new way. By working together to solve puzzles, couples can deepen their understanding of each other's strengths, weaknesses, and communication styles. This can lead to increased intimacy and a stronger relationship. Make sure you save some patience up however as escape rooms will certainly test these skills!

In conclusion, escape rooms are a great way to celebrate Valentine's Day and make it a holiday to remember. They offer a unique and exciting experience that brings couples closer together and challenges their problem-solving skills. With its immersive and interactive nature, an escape room is the perfect way to create memories that will last a lifetime. So why not try something different this Valentine's Day and visit us at Lock Chicago!

Lock Chicago & Roamli's Evanston Summer Scavenger Hunt!

Chicago summer’s are something special, and other than the 90-100+ degree days we know most people are outside enjoying the beaches and other outdoor recreational activities. So what better way to have some escape room-like outdoor fun than with our first Evanston Summer Scavenger Hunt?

We partnered with the company Roamli, which builds customizable Scavenger Hunts anywhere in the world that you can play on your phone or mobile device. So we decided to highlight some of the hidden gems and most unique sights around Evanston including murals, architectural gems, statues, and more!

Last Saturday we were lucky enough to have some cooler weather for the 2 hour event and our teams were off to the races! We had a total of 40 “Challenges” for teams to uncover and our 1st place team ended up finding 35/40 for our top spot and grand prize! 2nd and 3rd place were close behind with over 30+ each of their own.

The most enjoyable part of hosting these events is seeing teams spot each other around the city. There’s no set starting point so even in a town as large as Evanston it’s great to see groups out and about exploring their neighborhoods.

If you’re looking for more unique outdoor team building experiences look no further!

Lock Chicago Room Updates & New Puzzles

We’re excited to announce we’ve updated our escape rooms with new puzzles and theming! It’s been nearly two years since we’ve moved from our previous 820 Davis location and we’ve been gradually making changes to our rooms in order to create the best possible experience for you all. We recently hired a theater design student from Northwestern to help us take the themes to the next level and we’re excited to share it with the community.

The most important thing for us is that kept the same level of challenge difficulty and room completion rate while adding new thematic decorations to enhance the experience. Matsuri is currently at a 48% success rate, Icarus is 52%, and Malfunction is 39%. We hope you all get a chance to experience our updated rooms and look forward to any feedback!

Valentine's Day 2021

Hey everyone! It’s been a crazy year to say the least and we hope everyone is staying healthy and warm with the crazy snow that’s been in Chicago these past few months.

It’s interesting to think how different this Valentine’s Day feels versus 2020 and years past and Escape Rooms are no different. With all Private Room experiences it definitely helps create a more intimate setting and a good double date night option for friends. All of our puzzles and props are sanitized with a CDC approved disinfectant between groups in addition to an abundance of hand sanitizer available at your disposal!

We’re just as ready as you all to get back to a new normal and are doing everything we can in accordance with local health guidelines to ensure all our games and experiences are completely safe and comfortable for our players. Have a great Valentine’s Day and hopefully we’ll see you soon with the warmer weather!

Happy Halloween!

Hey Again!

We know it’s been a while so we figured Halloween would be a great time to get another post going. We’ve seen some great costumes from escape room guests over the past week and will be holding our annual “Best Dressed” contest this season. Whoever has the best costume will be rewarded with a free 10-person Private Escape Room experience to any of our rooms! Details are sent out in the confirmation email when reserving but please feel free to also reach out with any questions.

We’re also excited about the upcoming holiday season. We’re running a 10% corporate/group special for the months of December and January. Just give us a call at 312-646-0051 or email us at info@lockedchicago.com and we’ll help your group celebrate some stellar wins in 2018!

Until next time - we hope to see you soon!

Thanks,

Lock Chicago Escape Rooms

Brand New Virtual Reality Arcade at Lock Chicago

Hello!

We missed you all and figured it was time to catch up since the last post back in September when we opened our 3rd escape room, "Matsuri". We're excited to announce that since then we've recently opened our state of the art Virtual Reality Arcade at Lock Chicago in Evanston. 

Equipped with 2 HTC Vive headsets and a spacious play area, guests can compete in head to head challenges or fight cooperatively against hordes of robotic aliens or zombies! We have dozens of unique games and experiences including hits such as Beat Saber, Rick and Morty's VR Experience, Arizona Sunshine, and more.

Pricing is $20/person for the hour and you can bring up to 8 total guests. With multiple 50'' flat screen televisions see what they see and immerse yourselves in the experience. Come check us out and see what all the hype is about! 

Cheers,

Brian, Bane, and Alex - Lock Chicago

Escape Room #3 - "Matsuri" Opening October 14th!

Hello Again!

It's been a busy couple months but we're excited to finally announce the arrival of our 3rd Escape Room, "Matsuri"!

The village of Matsuri is on the verge of peace. The rival gangs that run the village have decided to end their decades-long-conflict by celebrating with a fireworks festival, and your company, Hanabi, will be providing the fireworks.

However, the grand finale has been stolen by the village thief and taken to their hideout! Luckily everyone knows where that is because that kind of goes with the gig when everyone knows you're the village thief. But without the grand finale, the rival gangs will accuse each other of sabotage and the warring will continue.

You'll have to use your brain and teamwork to solve the traps in the hideout of the thief and recover the fireworks. The village of Matsuri depends on you!

Matsuri opens on October 14th but we will be doing testing throughout October prior to the official release. For those of you who have been in contact with us over the past few months we'll be reaching out and sending you your invitation soon but if you're interested send us an email at info@lockedchicago.com and we'll see if we have any slots available! 

Happy Escaping!

Lock Chicago

Finally Moved! Lock Chicago's New Escape Room Facilities

Hello Again!

We know it's been a few months since our last post and it's been a crazy 60 days as we've fully transitioned out of our original location and onto our new facilities at 820 Davis Street, Suite 151 in Evanston. Have no fear as we're still literally one block away from our prior location just with some new upgrades.

We have an additional 2,400 square feet to work with for a total of 4,000 with 2 new escape rooms coming by the end of 2017! We have added some new features to our existing "Sunburn" and "Malfunction" escape rooms and increased the capacity to 10 players each for "Private Rooms". They will still remain 8 players each for the "Public Room" function.

Feel free to stop by at our new spot to chat or take a sneak peek at our upcoming escape room concepts as we look to build on our new Lock Chicago location!

Best Regards,

Brian, Bane, and Alex - Lock Chicago

Lock Chicago's New Escape Room Location!

Hello Again!

Our team at Lock Chicago is excited to announce we're moving to a brand new location (still in Evanston don't worry!) to 820 Davis Street. This facility will be close to 4,000 square feet and triple the size of our existing space.

This will allow us to add 3 additional escape rooms and enhance our existing rooms even further to provide the best possible experience for our guests. We're delighted to be able to leverage our new innovative technology in our 3rd upcoming room which will launch in July! More details to come in a following post :)

Stay tuned as we will be passing out some hot new deals and promotions on our new room!

Cheers,

Lock Chicago

Understanding Humans and Running an Escape Room

Hello Again!

In this next installment of our Blog we're going to talk about what we've learned about human interaction when people are put in a new situation. It's funny, we initially thought that Private Escape Room groups would be more congenial or civil towards one another seeing as they are already friends/family but that is not necessarily the case! 

Our Public Group players even tend to be the nicest towards one another. Maybe it's because they're strangers and are trying not to look especially mean but who knows. When players are put in a unique situation they haven't experienced before they tend to also try things they might not have before. It's especially entertaining noticing younger kids or children with their families taking on more of a leadership role as parents try to scatter throughout the room without a sense of direction.

Our corporate partners/clients are also great examples of this when in many cases the central manager or organizer is not the one taking charge where you might find a more typical introverted employee stepping up and showing their skills.

It certainly keeps our time at Lock Chicago entertaining and we always welcome our friends from Evanston, Chicago, and all over to come try it out for themselves!

Best of Luck,

Lock Chicago - Escape Rooms

Lock Chicago/Life Movie Partnership Contest

Hello All!

We're excited to announce a contest we're hosting with the upcoming movie "Life"! We're offering free screening passes to the AMC 21 early screening on 3/22. Visit either of our Escape Rooms from now until 3/22 for a chance to win or visit or Facebook page for contest details: https://www.facebook.com/lockchicago.

We also have free "Life" swag including multi outlet charging cords, metallic water bottles, sunglasses, and more so come check us out!

Good Luck - Lock Chicago

Lock Chicago and the Escape Room Festival Season!

Hello Again!

Today we're going to talk about Escape Rooms and the unique opportunity they bring to different street festivals, concerts, and outdoor events throughout the community and city. While escape rooms initially started out as designs built specifically for in-house locations the industry and experience has grown so much beyond that point. Larger companies and brands such as Zelda, Resident Evil, Ford, and more are crafting unique mobile experiences that they can take from city to city that not only promote an upcoming event but drive awareness for the unique experiences of an escape room.

Us at Lock Chicago are no different as we initially began our foray into mobile games with our partnership with Northwestern University's "Dillo Day" student-run music festival. We set up a 30 minute mobile escape room on the festival grounds back in 2016 and we look to ramp that up even further in 2017. 

The nice thing about being able to create an experience on the go is that you can take it virtually anywhere. As Spring and Summer inches closer keep an eye out for all the local community festivals in the area. Evanston has an abundant amount in their downtown area which makes a perfect opportunity for you to contribute and drive awareness of your own escape rooms brand in a fun and innovative way.

Just make sure you're prepared for any weather situation as that can put a damper on the outdoor escape room experience as well as durable props (us at Lock Chicago learned that the hard way).

In any case best of luck as we get through this seemingly mild winter and onwards towards warmer weather!

Cheers,

Lock Chicago

Now Hiring Escape Room Game Masters/Operations Manager at Lock Chicago!

Game Master 
Lock Chicago Escape Games – Evanston, IL 60610 
$10 an hour - Part-time

Do you want the coolest job you've ever had? We are currently looking to add multiple part-time team members to our Lock Chicago team at Lock Chicago - Escape Games.

We are a rapidly growing, team-building, design consulting and retail entertainment company. We are looking for someone with wide ranging talents to work in conjunction with our current Operations Manager and learn the business as we expand to our new location in the coming months.

The positions we are looking to fill will be titled "Game Master". To be considered please submit a resume with the subject of "Game Master Application" to info@lockedchicago.com.

Game Master:

  • This is a unique and one-of-a-kind job! You will educate our guests on how it all works. You will inform them of their objectives while in the room. You will work in a control room and coach the guests while on their journey to escape! You will be their guide when they stumble and offer them hints if needed. You will then prepare the Escape Room for the next group of guests.
  • You must be fun and enthusiastic as you are a big part of the whole guest experience from beginning to end.
  • Prior to applying to this position you must first familiarize yourself with the concept of Escape Rooms and the worldwide phenomenon that is spreading fast across the US. Escape Rooms stimulate the mind, your sense of curiosity and your ability to work with others in an effort to escape.
  • Please visit our website at www.lockedchicago.com to learn more.
  • If on one hand you like video games, playing chess, and solving puzzles/riddles, while on the other hand you like designing, building and/or fixing things, you have found the perfect job!

This job requires you to be:

  • Remotely view and monitor games in progress and assist participants
  • Customer Service focused
  • Professional, polished and well-spoken
  • Hands-on and handy with tools and gadgets
  • Game or puzzle-minded
  • Creative thinker
  • Flexible with regards to work schedule

This job requires the following experience:

  • Retail, amusement or hospitality experience.
  • Comfortable engaging with both small and large groups of people.
  • Public Speaking experiences a plus!
  • We'll teach you the rest!

Escape Rooms and Advertising! How Lock Chicago Can Build Your Brand.

Hello Again!

As entrepreneurs who are constantly trying to build our brand presence on and offline we understand the importance and how companies are using escape rooms and other unique methods to increase their presence. We recently had the great opportunity to partner with McDonald's and help unveil their 3 new "Big Mac's" to the world as well as assist in delivering over 10,000 bottles of their secret sauce to the loyal fanbase!

We were initially contacted by a production agency tasked with making it all happen and knew from minute one that this was going to be no ordinary escape room design project. The task seemed simple enough - develop one escape room that could be replicated 3 times to be live streamed across the world on 3 major social media platforms of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

We worked closely with the props teams to develop puzzles that incorporated McDonald's legacy and culture as well as facts about the new Big Mac rollouts. All in all it was a very unique and creative way for McDonald's to get their message across (with over 100,000 views currently across 3 platforms) and we expect to see many other companies/brands hopping on board with this trend!

Even now we are seeing the video game "Resident Evil" launch their nationwide live escape room tour to advertise and promote their newest version of the game coming out. Companies are getting wise to the way that they can interact with their fans and escape rooms provide the perfect venue to do so.

Us at Lock Chicago certainly support that notion and are here to lend a hand for those looking to venture into this space and those who are just curious to find different escape games coming to their city! Until next time...

Cheers,

Lock Chicago

Lock Chicago Data and Escape Room Statistics

Escape Rooms have been around for over a decade across the world but within the past 3 years have recently begun to gain mainstream popularity across the United States. But are they just a fad or will they follow the same path as Laser Tag or other similar games? We spoke with guests and other escape rooms to pull together some interesting key data pieces about the state of the industry in the United States. Special thanks to King's Escape Room for information from their infographic! 

  • From a survey of 1,000 33.9% of respondents said they had never heard of an Escape Room before!
  • 100% of respondents ages 18-24 loved their Escape Room experience.
  • 50/50 there was no correlation between male/female on opinions of escape rooms.
  • 84.9% of those who had visited an Escape Room in the past year "loved" their experience.
  • There are over 2,300 escape rooms in the United States compared to 2,200 in Russia where the industry has been thriving.

There is no doubt that this industry will continue to grow at a staggering rate but all things must eventually slow down especially as others look to play in the same space and join the market. It is up to the customer to decide on what makes the most special experience and escape rooms to keep up and continue to provide that experience. 

If you haven't tried an escape room yet what are you waiting for?? 

Cheers,

Lock Chicago