2019 was a banner year, both for Escape Rooms around the globe, and specifically for us here at Hourglass. We are proud to say that this year we achieved many new milestones and continued to push the boundaries for the kind of experience an Escape Room can offer. So without further ado, we present to you Hourglass Escapes’ favorite things of 2019
The Official Evil Dead 2 Escape Room Launches
#1 The Official Evil Dead 2™ Escape room
On July 1st, after nine months of planning and production, we opened the Official Evil Dead 2 Escape Room and it immediately became a massive success. Featuring the voice and acting talents of film and television greats Yuri Lowenthal (Ben 10), Ben Rock (Blair Witch Project), Andrea Hays (Twin Peaks), Donal Thoms Capello and fantastic production from our own in-house team, the Official Evil Dead 2 Escape Room represents the high-water mark for our company–one we plan to surpass in 2020.
#2 MoPoP Halloween Bash.
Every year, the Museum of Pop Culture hosts Haunt! The Ultimate Halloween Bash.When it comes to celebrating All Hallows Eve it is the place to be, with dancing, costume contests and a live DJ. This year, we were over the full moon to work with the amazing MoPoP staff to create a new puzzle experience for the over 600 partygoers looking for a break from the dancing. Around the Hourglass office Halloween is our favorite holiday, but this year was made extra special by working with the MoPoP. We can’t wait to do it again!
#3 The Annual Facebook Summer Party
On a beautiful sunny day in August, in Carnation, Washington, at the amazing Remlinger Farms, we helped to put on Facebook’s annual Gameday Celebration. We set up two enormous tents and our portable Ghostly Galleon escape boxes and ran games of forty players at a time for the whole day for the roughly thousand people in attendance. At times we still feel like we’re recovering from that day, but man was it fun!
#4 New Merch and Escape Mobile!
Okay, this might be a little self-serving, but we think it’s pretty cool, and it represents another small milestone in our journey as a company. This year saw the launch of our very own online merch store where people can buy Hourglass enamel pins, gift certificates and gift packages that includes Escape Room Board Games, stickers, pins and gift certificates. We also got the Escape Mobile, if you see us say hello and maybe get a prize!
#5 Our First Scavenger Hunt
We are always trying to push boundaries when it comes to delivering escape and puzzle experiences to our customers. That’s why we developed a free-to-play scavenger hunt through our Facebook page that led participants throughout the city, discovering Seattle’s great landmarks. Not only was it a good time, but those who solved all the puzzles and made it to the end were rewarded with a $240 gift certificate to any one of our Escape Rooms.
Employee milestones
David Iezzi our game master and one of our game designers helped create the new game Calico! Ben Disidoro production and road manager for Golden GIrls Live Drag theater. Joaquin Lowe is in the middle of finishing his sequel to the hit novel Bullet Catcher.
2019 was a great year for our employees and for Hourglass Escapes, but now that it’s nearly in the books, we find ourselves looking forward to 2020. We have so many exciting things in the works, and the thing we’re most excited about is our new brand new Escape Room that we plan on unveiling early next year. Again, we are pushing the envelope when it comes to game design; this new room will take advantage of our newly minted Escape Room Role Playing System (or ERPG), where players get assigned a character, who brings special information and tools to the game playing experience. This ensures that everyone has the chance to play the hero and help the team to victory.
While we’re sad to see 2019 go, we’re excited for what 2020 has in store, both for our employees and customers, and for Hourglass as a whole. Happy Holidays!
