Last month I wrote a piece titled, “Never. Ever. Plan an escape room trip on the promise of a new game opening” and a lot of you thought that the piece was directed specifically at you.
This is not the first time that my DMs and random encounters with escape room owners have come with the question, “Hey… umm… were you calling me out?”
The answer is unequivocally: No. I am not lowkey calling any of you out specifically.
If I was asking anyone to change with last month’s post it was enthusiasts, not escape room owners. Go back and re-read it.
Even this piece isn’t calling out a specific person or company because so many of you have asked me about last month’s post… and this is part of a larger trend.
Watching Trends
When I write pieces about larger trends, I am not calling out specific people… I am highlighting and analyzing what I see happening in our industry at large. In some cases, yeah, you might be one of the people who falls in line with the trend (sometimes for better, by the way).
If we’re calling out something specific at a particular company, then we cite the source. Richard Burns loves doing this in his writing… but you’ll note that when we’re highlighting a specific company in a thought piece, it’s pretty much always positive unless you’re lighting players on fire like an idiot psychopath.
Shining a Spotlight vs Waving a Flag
There are so many escape rooms out there, and there is so little time. We cannot play them all. More than 10 years ago we shifted from trying to cover everything to a model where we strive to shine a light on great games rather than wave a flag about mediocre ones.
Sometimes we seek out bad reviews, but that’s usually when someone has cultivated a reputation for doing terrible things.
More often than not, when we stumble into a negative review, it’s because the owner asked us to play it (often emphatically and repeatedly). We’re like Beetlejuice, say our name enough times and we will show up.
Coming From A Place of Love
A dozen years into Room Escape Artist, the only way that this all works is if its coming from a place of love. Love for the games, the players, and the creators.
But the funny thing is that if you only ever say positive things, then your words slowly become meaningless. If we like everything then our reviews are meaningless. And if we only highlight positive trends, then we are ignoring critical information.
We have a vast network of players and owners within our Patreon community that help us keep our finger on the pulse of the escape room movement, not just within our region, but all over the world. It’s an incredible group of people, and we could not do the work that we do without their knowledge, support, and funding.
Special shout out to those who joined this month: Emilio Garofalo Neto, Leslie Chong, Heather Logas, Matt S., Mitchell Otis, Mike Hamel, Natalie, Sam Sharpe, Brandy Agerbeck, and Stims24
@EscapeRoomExplorer
303 Escape
Abi · Lyontree
Adam Johnson
Adam M
AJ Webster
Alex Epstein
Alex Rosenthal
Alexander Gierholz
Alyssa Diaz
Amlesh Jayakumar
Amy Koo
Amy Schneider
andie auna
Andras Gal
Andrew Reynolds
Andrew Sturridge
Andy Bauch
Andy Mintzer
Angela Kensy
Anjali Nath
Anna Lysova
Anna Simon
Anne Lukeman
Anonymous
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Arcturus Wang
Austin Opler
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bananarama
Barry Joseph
Ben Enos
Ben Rosner
Bent Vent
Bill Chang
Billy Paraskevopoulos
Black Crow Productions
branden sayarath
Brandi Miller
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Brandy Agerbeck
Breakout Games
Brent Busboom
Brent Mair
Brett and Kelly Johnson
Brett Kuehner
Brian Resler
Bronna Butler
Byron Delmonico
C.J. Smith
Cameo Wood
Captain Mew
Caro Murphy
Carol King
Casey Chattle from Brain Games Escape Room
Cath
Catie Catterwaul
CB Hart
Charles Rasnake
Chris Bittle
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Chris Loughlin
Chris M. Dickson
Chris Post
Chris Waters
Chris White
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David
David Behar
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David Ryan
Dawnward
Dawson’s Escape
deadpan1113
Deejed
Derek Tam
Devin Sanders
Dino Paulo
Doug McKenzie
Drew Nelson
Dwayne Sanburn
Dylan Callery
Eddie Nguyen
Elaine
Eliviascape (Pat Toupin)
Elizabeth Griffin
Emilio Garofalo Neto
Emily Z. Jillette
Emma Liddell
Encrypted Escape
Erik Horn
Erika Aquino
Escaparium
EscapeCouple
Evan Broder
Evan Meltzer
Expedition Escape
Farand Pawlak
Florian Thalmann
Fro
Gabe Berkovich
Gem Chien
Geneva Kaplan-Smith
Grant Luecke
Guy Ellis
Haley & Cameron Cooper
Heather Logas
Herbert Chan
Ian Hickson
Imagination Junkie
Immersia
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Jacob Hubers
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James Shearer
Jamie Smith
Jan-Luc Van Damme
Jana Erbes
Janelle Gallagher
Jared Butler
Jason Adair
Jayna Shea
Jeff Harper
Jeff Keys
Jen Merrill
Jenna
Jennifer Fonfara Tactical Escape 101
Jeremiah Sizemore
Jess and Troy Seidl
Jess Noone
Jessica Schoolman
Jill Parisher
Jim of PARADOXsquared
Jim Williams
Joe Brown
Joel Smileypeacefun
John DeGroot
John H
John Houser
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Jonathan Cruz
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Joseph Stamps
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Joshua Veltman
Julia Cooke
Julie Buchheit
Julie Burge
Justin Nevins
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Karin
Katelyn Cahill-Rowley
Kathryn
Katie Kasplode
Katrina Lat
Kelsey Ziegler
Ken Zinn
Kern Konwiser
Kevin & Alyssa
Kevin Burns
Kevin McKain
Keystone Escape Games ( Mark )
Kiley and Milaine
Kurt Leinbach
Kyle P Curlett
Laura Burkart
Laura E. Hall
Laura Reynes
Laurens van Laarhoven
Lawrence J. Alfano
Leanne
Lee-Fay Low
Leslie Chong
Live Action Attractions
Lo Co
Lonnie
M. Sean Molley
M&C Saiewitz
Madeleine Alexis
Manon
Marc P
Mariana Scottini
Mark Denine
Marlee Delia
Matt Keyser
Matt S.
Matthew McClain
Matthew Stein
Mayu
Megan Reichard
Melanie Rice
Michael Andersen
Michael Campion
Michael Larson
Michael Swift
Michelle Cervenka
Michelle Rundbaken
Mihir Kedia
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Mike Ringrose
Miranda P
Mitchell Otis
Mrs Threepwood
Mystery Unfolds
Natalie
Natalie Currie
Nate Javier
Nathan Walton
Negina Kolesar
Neil Patrick Harris
Nekeisha Johnson
Nick Moran
Nico Cesar
Niklas
No Proscenium
Olivia
Omer Aru
PanIQ Room
Paul and Eric from Escape Mail
Paul Tashima-Boyd
Peter
Philip Ho
PJ Mann
PostCurious
PuzzleConnect Escape Rooms
Quark and Odo’s Escape Room Experience
Rachel Dunphy
Rebecca Horste
Rémy Strobbe
Rene Sorette
Rex Miller
Rich Bragg
Rich Malena
Richard Burns
Richard Chiou
Ricki Heicklen
Ricky Hvisch
Riddlehaven
Rob Tsuk
Robin Schriebman
Roger at Key To Escape
Roger L
Ryan Brady
Ryan Lee
Rylee Thompson
sagi meir
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Sam Sharpe
Samantha Koehler
Sarah Zhang
Scott
Scott Chua
Scott Levy
Scott Olson
Sendil Krishnan
Shay
Sherwin Doroudi
Sida
Simon Edwards
Steffanie
Stephanie Guimera
Stephen Kowalski
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Steven Rawlings
Steven Valdez
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Suhani
Tahlia Kirk
Tammy McLeod
Taylor & Sheryl
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The Catterwauls
The Ministry of Peculiarities
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Thomas Meston
Tiffany Schaefer
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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.
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