Room Escape Artist

Escape room drama – I am not talking about what happens between teammates when it is discovered that the key everyone has been searching for has been in your friend’s pocket the whole time. I am talking about games that forgo the normal escape room emotional palette and ask players to feel something sincere. Where the stakes are framed as personal, even internal.

My thoughts here were sparked by this article that talks about how drama is being integrated into the horror genre in Athens to create some of the best escape rooms in the industry. That started me thinking about other drama-based escape rooms and how it may be a wider trend worth watching.

Recognizing Drama

While there may not yet be a clearly identified drama genre for escape rooms, there are games that have an emotional register that makes them stand out from other adventure games.

I’ve played Why?, The House on the Hill, and Maestro (review coming soon), mentioned in the article above, and the author is correct to point out that these are not pure horror games. They are dramas. There are scares, to be certain, but the actors, scenes, and even monologues support something more. Story, depth, and meaning emerge beyond the adrenaline and above the adventure. Characters exist that compel players to care about them and empathize with them in ways that are more complex than we see in more standard games. They feel more real somehow. Their scenarios are more believable and are not easily forgotten. 

Other recent games come to mind. Sleep, Arbreville, The Taxidermist, and The House of Twisted Minds are escape rooms I would describe as dramas. There may currently be a movement happening in this direction. Yet I maintain that drama is part of what made The Man From Beyond an early and now perennial leader in the US market. Real, interpersonal tension and caring is at the heart of that experience. That game was ahead of its time in that respect.

If an escape room leans towards drama, it raises an uncomfortable question:

Did You Have Fun?

The ubiquitous post-escape room question “Did you have fun?” doesn’t need to apply to every game we play. Is watching Schindler’s List fun? Is The Leftovers a fun TV series, or is Death of a Salesman a fun play? I’d say “no” in each case, yet when viewed as works in their respective art forms, their quality and importance are clear. 

I feel some modern escape rooms are explicitly testing whether the format can carry the same weight as a film, novel, or play, where “did I have fun?” isn’t really the measure of success. Success is measured in emotional resonance and by players describing the game as staying with them for months afterward, a claim which can be found in reviews for several of the games mentioned in this article. Escape rooms are a form of art that need not always be fun to experience.

Why Drama Is Important

The increase in the number of genuinely dramatic escape rooms is a sign of evolution in the industry. It is something different. And to grow and evolve we need things that are different. Now, for some designers, the goal is earning an emotion that doesn’t fade by the parking lot. Drama rooms bet that a lump in your throat is worth more than a high-five at the door.

Standard genres like horror or light, family fun may be easier to design and deliver. Comedy might be scrutinized a bit less closely. Drama rooms still owe players a worthwhile experience, which is a different and somewhat harder bar to clear than a laugh or a scare. When one tries to deliver a solidly dramatic escape room experience, the pressure is on for it to land as intended. The fact that creators are attempting this, and pulling it off, makes me excited for the future of the medium.

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