“We always want to make something that we haven’t seen before.”

There are few companies who have been as influential in the escape room scene as Cross Roads Escape Games. Not only are all their games highly polished with brilliant puzzles, gorgeous sets, and fun interactions, they’re also creatively experimental.

The owners, Luke and Madison Rhoades, have made some of the most innovative and format-breaking escape rooms in the world from the iconic experience, The Hex Room, to their most recent masterpiece, The Weeping Witch. In this episode, we break down the brilliance behind their games and what makes them unique.

At their core, Luke and Madison are creative dare devils. They look for ways to challenge the industry and add their own fun twist on what defines an escape room. Combined with their theatrical backgrounds and business acumen, this experimental nature is what defines Cross Roads Escape Games and makes them such an iconic company in the escape room scene.

Thank You to Our Sponsors

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: Morty App, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Topics Discussed in this Episode

• 00:00 Introducing Cross Roads Escape Games and Luke and Madison Rhoades
• 00:12 Sponsor Break: COGS by Clockwork Dog, Interactive Show Controls
• 03:11 Origin Stories: How Madison and Luke Met
• 04:40 Early Financial Struggles at Cross Roads
• 08:00 Drawing Inspiration From Horror Movies
• 10:50 Taking Risks and Experimenting with Formats
• 16:35 Lessons and Takeaways from The Hex Room
• 19:20 Sponsor Break: Morty App, Discover and Track Escape Rooms
• 23:12 Explaining The Trust Experiment: Escape Room Social Deduction Game
• 29:07 The Weeping Witch: Immersive Theater Meets Horror Escape Room
• 31:00 Sponsor Break: Buzzshot, Escape Room Marketing Software
• 34:45 The Art of Player Positioning
• 40:06 Thoughts on The Fun House: A More Traditional Escape Room
• 43:30 The Struggle to Open Slashers: An Interactive Horror-Themed Axe Throwing Venue

• 53:03 Tips and Tricks for Scenic Design
• 54:42 Tips and Tricks for Carpentry and Tech
• 58:30 Future Plans and Upcoming Games
• 1:04:43 Bonus Story: Roman Numerals are Hard

Leave us a voicemail

Got a question or thought for the podcast? You can submit a voice recording by calling the Room Escape Artist not-so-hotline that always goes straight to voicemail (551-227-7273).

Resources Mentioned in this Episode

• Cross Roads Escape Games Website
• Slashers Axe Throwing Website
• REA Reviews
  • The Hex Room
  • Revisiting The Hex Room
  • The Fun House
  • Weeping Witch
  • The Trust Experiment (closed)

About Luke and Madison Rhoades

IG: @Cross_Roads_Escape_Games, @Slashers_AxeThrowing

Luke and Madison Rhoades are the husband and wife team that built and created Cross Roads Escape Games in Anaheim, California. Madison graduated with a Fine Art and Theatre degree from USC. She designed and painted sets for theaters around Los Angeles and was the Lead Scenic Artist for Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor, giving her many great ghost stories to share. Luke graduated Vanguard University with a degree in Performance and Scenic Construction and was the Master Carpenter for the Hollywood Acting Academy, AADA.

In 2016, Madison and Luke opened Cross Roads Escape Games in Anaheim and have won many awards, including the top 10 best in the nation and an international finalist for their groundbreaking games, The Hex Room and The Weeping Witch.

They became axe-throwing enthusiasts and wanted to bring the same level of immersive atmosphere, story, and special effects to the sport as in their escape rooms. Combining their love of theatre, axe throwing, and horror movies, they opened Slashers Axe Throwing & Ales in December of 2023 in Costa Mesa, California.

Support REPOD

• Subscribe to Patreon for bonus content.
• Please rate and review our podcast!

Thanks for listening!

Support Room Escape Artist’s Mission

There are lots of ways to support Room Escape Artist, like buying from Amazon or Etsy after clicking into the links included in this post or backing us on Patreon.

The money that we make from these helps us to grow the site and continue to add more value to the community that we love so much.