2016: A BIG YEAR FOR THE LOCKED ROOM

Before looking ahead to what we have in store for 2017 we would like to take a chance to recap all of the big changes that occurred in 2016 at the Locked Room.

The Escape Room on Wheels

Calgary Stampede 2016 – At the 2016 Calgary Stampede we were able to create the very first mobile escape room experience with our mobile escape room trailer. Although 2016 proved to be a rain-filled Stampede season, the Locked Room experience was a hit, with over 2,000 participants coming to play the room throughout the 12 days of the Calgary Stampede. We hope to be back at the 2017 Calgary Stampede with a brand new escape adventure!

Locked Room Calgary Expansion

3 Locations in Calgary – The biggest change that we made in 2016 was our escape room expansion in Calgary, which saw us go from 1 escape room facility to 3 facilities across Calgary. In March of 2016 we opened the doors to both our Calgary Southland and Calgary Southeast locations and with this expansion we saw our Calgary Locked Room team grow from 12 employees in 2016 to over 30 employees in 2017. The Locked Room was also a finalist in the Calgary small business awards in the “Emerging Growth” category.

The Locked Room goes International

Omaha, Nebraska – We recently went international as our first U.S. Locked Room franchise opened on Dec. 16th, 2016 in Omaha, Nebraska. The Omaha location opened with 3 escape rooms: Death by Wine, The Last Hour of the Titanic, and Back to the 50s: Marv’s Soda Shop. The 4th room, a zombie themed escape room, is currently in development and expected to launch in the 1st quarter of 2017.

CHANGES COMING TO THE LOCKED ROOM IN 2017

The escape room industry has evolved immensely (and continues to evolve) since the Locked Room first opened in the summer of 2014. We appreciate the feedback of our guests and work hard to learn what you liked and what you didn’t like in order to provide you with the best overall escape room experience. With that being said, here are some of the changes and additions that we have planned for 2017:

The Next Generation Locked Room: “HANGAR 403”

What the heck is Hangar 403? It’s next level – that’s what it is. The Locked Room is working with international experts in the escape room industry to build a next level room utilizing integrated technology to blend lighting, sound, and puzzles into a high production value theatrical experience.

We’ve been working on this one for a LONG time already, and we are excited to bring the future of this industry from across the globe to Calgary.

Hangar 403 is an area 51 inspired escape room; the escape room revolves around a laboratory that is located in a top secret industrial hanger. Scientists and soldiers have long abandoned the hanger but rumour has it that it may be the home of a being from another world. Can you infiltrate the base and shed some light on the truth?

We expect this new escape room experience to open in the spring of 2017. The room will be opening in a brand new facility in the Northeast beside our current Calgary Northeast location … which brings us to our next big announcement:

Partnership with Archery Games Calgary

The Locked Room will be partnering with Calgary’s first archery tag arena! A new facility beside the Locked Room Northeast location will play host to both the archery tag arena, as well as, ‘Hanger 403’, our next generation Locked Room experience.

Archery tag is a physical and intense game, but fear not – the archery tag arenas are designed for player safety & an overall fun player experience! For more information on Archery Games Calgary visit: www.archerygamescalgary.ca

Private Escape Room Bookings

While we have had many mixed escape room groups that have led to the formation of fantastic new friendships, one of the biggest requests we had in 2016 was for private bookings in our escape room experiences. We’ve listened to your feedback, and we’ve decided to make the switch from publicly booked rooms to exclusively private Locked Room experiences. This change comes after much thought, research, and feedback from customers like you.

We feel that, on average, the best overall customer experience for an escape room is with your friends and people that you know. This is because so much of the positive experience that an escape room brings revolves around the interactions that you have with the other players in the room.

The change to private rooms will take affect for all bookings created on or after January 3rd, 2017. Any group that makes a booking on or after this date will have a private Locked Room experience and will not be paired with other groups. If you have a current booking that was made prior to January 3rd and would like to change it to a private room please contact us.

Each room now has a minimum number of players required to make a booking. Participants may bring additional players above their booking size with them up to the room maximum (additional players can pay upon arrival prior to participating). We believe that this change will enhance the customer experience and our entire team is committed to bringing you Calgary’s top escape room experience.

Escape Room Improvements & Additions

We’re dedicated to provide you, our guests, with the best overall escape room experience. This means that we will continue to improve, tweak, and modify our current escape rooms. If we feel a certain lock, puzzle, or component isn’t up to our high standards we’ll look to replace it with something better. Rest assured, with the opening of a brand new adventure, that we aren’t forgetting our already existing escape rooms and that we are committed to providing the high quality Locked Room standard in all of our escape room experiences.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU IN 2017

2017 is going to be our biggest year yet and we can’t wait to have you out to see what we’ve been working on! Stay in the loop for all Locked Room offerings, promotions, and news by signing up for our newsletter below.

[et_bloom_inline optin_id=”optin_7″]

We hope that you all had a great holiday season and that everyone has an amazing 2017!

SEASON’S GREETINGS
~Locked Room Team