What’s the difference between Escape Rooms and Adventure Games?
What’s the difference between Escape Rooms and Adventure games? We think for the most part it’s about perception. Escape rooms are a popular activity which are growing year on year. The same is true of Adventure games which are often mistaken for the same thing. With an Escape Room a team starts captive and must find a way of getting out of a situation. With an adventure game, the focus is on completing an objective whilst being immersed in a storyline. The two options have their different audiences with both providing immersive storytelling.
Escape Rooms
Escape rooms are the more popular way of identifying immersive experiences as the concept has gained more interest and publicity. This can be down to movies such as “Escape Room” which for many was their first experience with the concept. Escape Rooms provide a challenge to those participating with a degree of peril implied but this can sometimes be to their detriment.
Unintentional consequences
It is our view that the general public considers Escape rooms to be a risky activity to consider. There are many who thrive on overcoming challenges. But there are also others where the prospect of being locked in a room and the risk of failure are too much. This may be enough to avoid the activity altogether. This is especially difficult when trying to organise a team consisting of a few people together.
Adventure Games / Immersive Experiences
At Prodigy we are keen to promote the positive aspects of Adventure by making our stories as accessible as possible. We have tried to make each story adventure-orientated so that participants do not feel pressured or stressed by participating. We do have a mild peril element featured but have constructed each narrative to focus on achieving a goal.
Adventure games favour a linear progression which sees puzzles completed as the story progresses. For increased guest comfort we also ensure that the rooms remain unlocked. A subtle but important relief for many.
Are the two fully separate?
There is much crossover between escape rooms and adventure games. I believe that for the most part perception is the main difference in whether the audience will see the glass as half full or half empty. Prodigy hopes to be a gateway for people to experience their first escape room or immersive experience. It is, for this reason, we align ourselves more closely with the Adventure room approach. This is reflected in our business name referencing Escapes and Experiences.
Read more about our escape room adventures here.