“It’s not about the size of the room, it’s about the richness of the details.”

Whether you’re making new robot friends, investigating a haunted school, or cooking up some puzzles, the escape rooms at Omescape Sunnyvale are all absolute bangers. Omescape Sunnyvale is a rare gem in the escape room world. Their games are all massive (or feel massive) with gorgeous sets, chock-full of puzzles, and oftentimes with unique mechanics. They’re all telling different stories with different styles of gameplay, and this is all contained under one roof at Omescape’s Sunnyvale location.

Sarah Zhang, one of the co-founders of Omescape Sunnyvale, joins us to chat about their escape rooms. While many of their games are licensed, Sarah explains that they usually end up changing over 80% of the game, building new sets, creating new puzzles, and even writing new narratives. As an escape room enthusiast, Sarah often travels the world playing games, and when an especially interesting mechanic or aesthetic catches her attention, rather than just copying it, she looks to license the game. This is a pretty unique approach, and I appreciated her candor in explaining their business practices.

As the conversation progresses, it becomes very clear that Sarah has a deep understanding of what makes games fun for players. She talks about the need for puzzles that involve the whole team as well as designing around a few “aha!” moments. I especially appreciated the segment where she talks about the importance of ending a game on a thrilling, physical sequence. This gets the players’ heart rates up, and creates a strong ending memory for the guests. Check out the whole episode for the secret sauce behind Omescape Sunnyvale’s success.

Thank You to Our Sponsors

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

Topics Discussed in this Episode

• 00:13 Sponsor Break: Cogs By Clockwork Dog, Interactive Show Controls
• 02:43 Reflecting on Pursuit of the Assassin Artist
• 08:06 The Success of Undercooked
• 12:40 Lessons from Making Robotopia
• 16:35 The Goal in Creating Haunting at Haruka High
• 20:29 Sponsor Break: Weldwood Digital Marketing Agency
• 22:55 The Transition to Making Bigger Games
• 24:38 Using Unique and Memorable Game Elements
• 26:56 How Sarah is Inspired by Chinese Escape Rooms
• 27:51 How Sarah Adapts Licensed Games
• 29:10 The Choice to License Other Games
• 33:00 Sponsor Break: Buzzshot, Escape Room Marketing Software
• 35:15 The Team Working Behind the Scenes at Omescape
• 37:44 Their New Game: Witchly Ever After
• 39:32 Teaser for Motel Molly
• 41:14 Sponsor Break – RECON & PG’s Playhouse
• 42:59 How They Made Decisions About Store & Game Locations
• 45:38 The Google Effect on Their Design Decisions
• 47:54 How Sarah Splits Her Time Between Design and Running the Business
• 49:02 What Comes Next
• 53:51 Credits

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Resources Mentioned in this Episode

• Omescape Sunnyvale Website
• REA Reviews of Omescape Sunnyvale:
  • Pursuit of the Assassin Artist
  • Undercooked
  • Robotopia
  • Haunting at Haruka High
  • Forsaken Temple
  • Chaos in The Galleria
  • Midnight in Hong Kong
  • Kingdom of Cat-tastrophy 
• David’s 2014 review of one of Omescape’s early games at their (now closed) Richmond, CA, location: The Omega Room Escape

About Sarah Zhang

Facebook, Instagram: @omescapebayarea

Sarah Zhang is a co-founder of Omescape in Bay Area. What began as a personal obsession in 2014 quickly became her mission: to craft immersive, puzzle-filled adventures that spark joy and “aha!” moments. Now Omescape offers 14 unique escape games across San Jose and Sunnyvale – including several award-winning ones.

When away from escape room design , Sarah enjoys painting and gaming (video games, board games, and of course, escape rooms). She lives in San Jose with her husband, their energetic toddler, and a 9-year-old cat.

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