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Should I be an escape room designer?
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Have you been planning a great escape since birth?

baby climbing 6ft baby gate

Then you might be destined to be an escape room designer!

What Kind Of Rooms You Ask?

Escape rooms are adventurous team games with four main parts:

You're locked in a room.

Squid Game characters navigating a complex room

Search for clues.

Squid Game character scanning a scene with their eyes

Collaborate with teammates to solve puzzles.

Two Squid Game players shaking hands over the text 'we got this'

Escape before the clock runs out!

Squid Game characters escaping by jumping over a line

Sounds a bit scary right? Well, that's part of the attraction.

Don't worry! You can do this with friends for fun. It's a great way to bond and hang out in person or virtually.

Did you know?

The Netflix series Squid Game has inspired dozens of escape rooms. For example, @4FunToronto hosts a series of challenges where competing teams face each other in an hour and a half escape room.

So What Skills Do You Need For The Job?

Designers come from all kinds of backgrounds, from carpenters, and engineers, to self-taught gadget makers and puzzle solvers. So you don't need any particular training to be an escape room designer.

The main skills you need are:

  1. A passion for puzzles

  2. A flair for storytelling

  3. A willingness to learn and try new things

  4. A love for mystery

    Loenardo DiCaprio in The Great Gatsby holding up a glass of campaign. He says, 'Cheers to mystery!'

Quiz

Solve the riddle: What's always in front of you but you can never see it?

Did you know?

The origin of escape rooms comes from video games called Escape Games. The first Escape Game video game, Crimson Room, was made in 2004 and was created by Toshimitsu Takagi.

What Does An Escape Room Designer Do?

  1. They create settings and themes.

    an open book with a string of lights running through itPhoto by Nong V on Unsplash

  2. They determine how players discover clues.

Typewriter with a white paper in it that says INVESTIGATIONPhoto by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

  1. They design puzzles and game flow.

    Drawing of the corners of a puzzle with some pieces missingPhoto by Clark Van Der Beken on Unsplash

    1. They make sure players have a great time!

      Mr. Bean in an interrogation room. He dances while detectives watch him through glass. The text reads, 'Swag!'

Did you know?

Mr. Bean famously has a few video game escape rooms designed with his clumsy lovable character in mind. For example, in Mr. Bean Escape, he gets himself locked inside a one-room apartment. You must search for clues that will help him get out.

How Do You Break Into The Business?

A global love of escape rooms has fueled a booming industry that has grown over 80% in the last 7 years in the US alone.

The career of an escape room designer is entrepreneurial and you have to be adventurous and carve out your own path.

Here are some ways others built careers:

  1. Get experience working at an escape room and apprentice with the design teams.

  2. Build your own escape room wherever you can to get practice.

  3. Enter escape room competitions and get noticed.

  4. Design virtual escape rooms and sell them at online marketplaces.

Person sketching out floor plans and designs of a room

What can I expect to earn?

Icon Canadian flag

The national average salary for an escape room designer is $60,174 in Canada. 

Icon American Flag

The national average salary for an escape room designer is $64,307 in the United States.

 

Take Action

A man saying, 'This is my escape room palace!'

Are you ready to start your adventure as an escape room designer?

License:

This Byte has been authored by

AF

Amina Farah

Life long learner, Equity Advocate

#career-skills

#job-hunting

#career-counseling

#info

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