Lock Chicago Room Updates & New Puzzles

We’re excited to announce we’ve updated our escape rooms with new puzzles and theming! It’s been nearly two years since we’ve moved from our previous 820 Davis location and we’ve been gradually making changes to our rooms in order to create the best possible experience for you all. We recently hired a theater design student from Northwestern to help us take the themes to the next level and we’re excited to share it with the community.

The most important thing for us is that kept the same level of challenge difficulty and room completion rate while adding new thematic decorations to enhance the experience. Matsuri is currently at a 48% success rate, Icarus is 52%, and Malfunction is 39%. We hope you all get a chance to experience our updated rooms and look forward to any feedback!

Happy Halloween!

Hey Again!

We know it’s been a while so we figured Halloween would be a great time to get another post going. We’ve seen some great costumes from escape room guests over the past week and will be holding our annual “Best Dressed” contest this season. Whoever has the best costume will be rewarded with a free 10-person Private Escape Room experience to any of our rooms! Details are sent out in the confirmation email when reserving but please feel free to also reach out with any questions.

We’re also excited about the upcoming holiday season. We’re running a 10% corporate/group special for the months of December and January. Just give us a call at 312-646-0051 or email us at info@lockedchicago.com and we’ll help your group celebrate some stellar wins in 2018!

Until next time - we hope to see you soon!

Thanks,

Lock Chicago Escape Rooms

Escape Room #3 - "Matsuri" Opening October 14th!

Hello Again!

It's been a busy couple months but we're excited to finally announce the arrival of our 3rd Escape Room, "Matsuri"!

The village of Matsuri is on the verge of peace. The rival gangs that run the village have decided to end their decades-long-conflict by celebrating with a fireworks festival, and your company, Hanabi, will be providing the fireworks.

However, the grand finale has been stolen by the village thief and taken to their hideout! Luckily everyone knows where that is because that kind of goes with the gig when everyone knows you're the village thief. But without the grand finale, the rival gangs will accuse each other of sabotage and the warring will continue.

You'll have to use your brain and teamwork to solve the traps in the hideout of the thief and recover the fireworks. The village of Matsuri depends on you!

Matsuri opens on October 14th but we will be doing testing throughout October prior to the official release. For those of you who have been in contact with us over the past few months we'll be reaching out and sending you your invitation soon but if you're interested send us an email at info@lockedchicago.com and we'll see if we have any slots available! 

Happy Escaping!

Lock Chicago

Finally Moved! Lock Chicago's New Escape Room Facilities

Hello Again!

We know it's been a few months since our last post and it's been a crazy 60 days as we've fully transitioned out of our original location and onto our new facilities at 820 Davis Street, Suite 151 in Evanston. Have no fear as we're still literally one block away from our prior location just with some new upgrades.

We have an additional 2,400 square feet to work with for a total of 4,000 with 2 new escape rooms coming by the end of 2017! We have added some new features to our existing "Sunburn" and "Malfunction" escape rooms and increased the capacity to 10 players each for "Private Rooms". They will still remain 8 players each for the "Public Room" function.

Feel free to stop by at our new spot to chat or take a sneak peek at our upcoming escape room concepts as we look to build on our new Lock Chicago location!

Best Regards,

Brian, Bane, and Alex - Lock Chicago

Lock Chicago's New Escape Room Location!

Hello Again!

Our team at Lock Chicago is excited to announce we're moving to a brand new location (still in Evanston don't worry!) to 820 Davis Street. This facility will be close to 4,000 square feet and triple the size of our existing space.

This will allow us to add 3 additional escape rooms and enhance our existing rooms even further to provide the best possible experience for our guests. We're delighted to be able to leverage our new innovative technology in our 3rd upcoming room which will launch in July! More details to come in a following post :)

Stay tuned as we will be passing out some hot new deals and promotions on our new room!

Cheers,

Lock Chicago

Understanding Humans and Running an Escape Room

Hello Again!

In this next installment of our Blog we're going to talk about what we've learned about human interaction when people are put in a new situation. It's funny, we initially thought that Private Escape Room groups would be more congenial or civil towards one another seeing as they are already friends/family but that is not necessarily the case! 

Our Public Group players even tend to be the nicest towards one another. Maybe it's because they're strangers and are trying not to look especially mean but who knows. When players are put in a unique situation they haven't experienced before they tend to also try things they might not have before. It's especially entertaining noticing younger kids or children with their families taking on more of a leadership role as parents try to scatter throughout the room without a sense of direction.

Our corporate partners/clients are also great examples of this when in many cases the central manager or organizer is not the one taking charge where you might find a more typical introverted employee stepping up and showing their skills.

It certainly keeps our time at Lock Chicago entertaining and we always welcome our friends from Evanston, Chicago, and all over to come try it out for themselves!

Best of Luck,

Lock Chicago - Escape Rooms

Lock Chicago/Life Movie Partnership Contest

Hello All!

We're excited to announce a contest we're hosting with the upcoming movie "Life"! We're offering free screening passes to the AMC 21 early screening on 3/22. Visit either of our Escape Rooms from now until 3/22 for a chance to win or visit or Facebook page for contest details: https://www.facebook.com/lockchicago.

We also have free "Life" swag including multi outlet charging cords, metallic water bottles, sunglasses, and more so come check us out!

Good Luck - Lock Chicago

Lock Chicago and the Escape Room Festival Season!

Hello Again!

Today we're going to talk about Escape Rooms and the unique opportunity they bring to different street festivals, concerts, and outdoor events throughout the community and city. While escape rooms initially started out as designs built specifically for in-house locations the industry and experience has grown so much beyond that point. Larger companies and brands such as Zelda, Resident Evil, Ford, and more are crafting unique mobile experiences that they can take from city to city that not only promote an upcoming event but drive awareness for the unique experiences of an escape room.

Us at Lock Chicago are no different as we initially began our foray into mobile games with our partnership with Northwestern University's "Dillo Day" student-run music festival. We set up a 30 minute mobile escape room on the festival grounds back in 2016 and we look to ramp that up even further in 2017. 

The nice thing about being able to create an experience on the go is that you can take it virtually anywhere. As Spring and Summer inches closer keep an eye out for all the local community festivals in the area. Evanston has an abundant amount in their downtown area which makes a perfect opportunity for you to contribute and drive awareness of your own escape rooms brand in a fun and innovative way.

Just make sure you're prepared for any weather situation as that can put a damper on the outdoor escape room experience as well as durable props (us at Lock Chicago learned that the hard way).

In any case best of luck as we get through this seemingly mild winter and onwards towards warmer weather!

Cheers,

Lock Chicago

Now Hiring Escape Room Game Masters/Operations Manager at Lock Chicago!

Game Master 
Lock Chicago Escape Games – Evanston, IL 60610 
$10 an hour - Part-time

Do you want the coolest job you've ever had? We are currently looking to add multiple part-time team members to our Lock Chicago team at Lock Chicago - Escape Games.

We are a rapidly growing, team-building, design consulting and retail entertainment company. We are looking for someone with wide ranging talents to work in conjunction with our current Operations Manager and learn the business as we expand to our new location in the coming months.

The positions we are looking to fill will be titled "Game Master". To be considered please submit a resume with the subject of "Game Master Application" to info@lockedchicago.com.

Game Master:

• This is a unique and one-of-a-kind job! You will educate our guests on how it all works. You will inform them of their objectives while in the room. You will work in a control room and coach the guests while on their journey to escape! You will be their guide when they stumble and offer them hints if needed. You will then prepare the Escape Room for the next group of guests.
• You must be fun and enthusiastic as you are a big part of the whole guest experience from beginning to end.
• Prior to applying to this position you must first familiarize yourself with the concept of Escape Rooms and the worldwide phenomenon that is spreading fast across the US. Escape Rooms stimulate the mind, your sense of curiosity and your ability to work with others in an effort to escape.
• Please visit our website at www.lockedchicago.com to learn more.
• If on one hand you like video games, playing chess, and solving puzzles/riddles, while on the other hand you like designing, building and/or fixing things, you have found the perfect job!

This job requires you to be:

• Remotely view and monitor games in progress and assist participants
• Customer Service focused
• Professional, polished and well-spoken
• Hands-on and handy with tools and gadgets
• Game or puzzle-minded
• Creative thinker
• Flexible with regards to work schedule

This job requires the following experience:

• Retail, amusement or hospitality experience.
• Comfortable engaging with both small and large groups of people.
• Public Speaking experiences a plus!
• We'll teach you the rest!

Escape Rooms and Advertising! How Lock Chicago Can Build Your Brand.

Hello Again!

As entrepreneurs who are constantly trying to build our brand presence on and offline we understand the importance and how companies are using escape rooms and other unique methods to increase their presence. We recently had the great opportunity to partner with McDonald's and help unveil their 3 new "Big Mac's" to the world as well as assist in delivering over 10,000 bottles of their secret sauce to the loyal fanbase!

We were initially contacted by a production agency tasked with making it all happen and knew from minute one that this was going to be no ordinary escape room design project. The task seemed simple enough - develop one escape room that could be replicated 3 times to be live streamed across the world on 3 major social media platforms of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

We worked closely with the props teams to develop puzzles that incorporated McDonald's legacy and culture as well as facts about the new Big Mac rollouts. All in all it was a very unique and creative way for McDonald's to get their message across (with over 100,000 views currently across 3 platforms) and we expect to see many other companies/brands hopping on board with this trend!

Even now we are seeing the video game "Resident Evil" launch their nationwide live escape room tour to advertise and promote their newest version of the game coming out. Companies are getting wise to the way that they can interact with their fans and escape rooms provide the perfect venue to do so.

Us at Lock Chicago certainly support that notion and are here to lend a hand for those looking to venture into this space and those who are just curious to find different escape games coming to their city! Until next time...

Cheers,

Lock Chicago

Who Would You Do An Escape Room With?

Hello Again! 

We've seen hundreds of amazing groups come through our Lock Chicago escape rooms over the years and we love seeing the different compositions whether it's coworkers, friends, family, college/high school students, and more. As escape rooms continue to grow in popularity it's nice seeing celebrities and public figures making headlines as they bring their own friends to take up the cause.

Most recently actress Kristen Bell brought fellow coworker Ted Danson and his wife along to do an escape room which went interesting to say the least! Patton Oswald, Chris Evans, and others have used Escape Rooms to donate money to charities and other organizations while having fun at the same time.

Who's your ideal person to do an Escape Room with? Sound off! 

http://www.contactmusic.net/kristen-bell/news/escape-room-game-was-a-big-challenge-for-kristen-bell-ted-danson_5523967

Escape Room Gift Cards and Lock Chicago Donations

Hello Again! 

We're only 4 days away from Christmas and hopefully if you're reading this you've gotten most of your holiday shopping done. Lucky for you Escape Rooms offer a great gifting opportunity for family and friends who are looking to take on new experiences!

Gift cards are also a great way to contribute to the community and your favorite charities. Whether it's a silent auction, raffle, or giveaway it's a great way to contribute to a relate able cause and introduce people to escape rooms.

What are some of your favorite Christmas gifts you've given or received? What could be better than spending time with family trying to uncover buried treasure or escape a zombie?

We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season and finds everything they are looking for!

Cheers,

Lock Chicago

Happy Holidays From Lock Chicago, Our Escape Room to Yours

With only two weeks away from Christmas and New Years we wanted to wish everyone a Happy Holidays! It's been nearly a year since we opened and been an amazing experience meeting other owners and sharing our love of escape rooms with the community.

When we initially opened Lock Chicago we wanted to create the ultimate experience leveraging puzzles and games no other escape room was utilizing. While it's impossible to know what's being offered throughout the world we have had an amazing time connecting and networking with other owners who share a passion for the industry. 

It is important that all escape room owners help each other out because the last thing we want is for a new room to open and fail causing first time escape room goers to be turned off to the industry. I'm sure it's been a busy year for everyone so take some time during the busy holidays to rest up, relax, (maybe repair your rooms from the holiday madness) and spend time with friends and family.

We know we will!

Cheers,

Lock Chicago

Christmas is Coming to Lock Chicago!

Hello All,

We hope everyone had a Happy Halloween and now that election mania has passed we can focus on the brighter things such as Holiday Parties and the Thanksgiving/Christmas season!

Escape Rooms provide the unique opportunity to be tailored in a wide variety of ways. Many rooms change themes based on the season, holiday, and more with Halloween and Christmas being the focal point of this. Generally escape rooms tend to be busier during the winter months as the weather gets colder and people look for more indoor recreational activities when there is a foot of snow on the ground (at least here in Chicago).

Themed rooms provide a unique experience and us at Lock Chicago are happy to provide that to our customers. Many escape rooms will open a completely new themed room for the holidays where others might opt to adjust the existing theme to make it more festive.

Corporate Christmas/holiday parties are a large factor in this as well as companies look to venture outside the box for their get togethers. What better way to celebrate a successful year than pounding back some egg nog and saving Santa's reindeer?

If anyone's come across a stellar holiday-themed escape room feel free to sound off in the comments or send us a message! As always we love hearing from you and can't wait to get our snow on this season.

Cheers,

Brian, Bane, and Alex - Lock Chicago

Escape Rooms: Where Are They? (Not Just Lock Chicago!)

Hello Again!

We wanted to follow up our last post to highlight a growing trend in the Escape Room Industry. When we began in Evanston back in January we were 1 of 15 companies in Illinois operating some form of an escape room. Just under 10 months later we are now 1 of 40 companies.

Escape Rooms are growing at an extremely rapid rate which is great for the industry as it continues to spread the word and increase exposure for this exciting and fun activity. More mainstream outlets are getting on board as well as we see hit television shows such as "The Big Bang Theory" and more highlighting Escape Rooms on their broadcast.

Disney recently announced a new "Guardians of the Galaxy" themed Escape Room in their park. The success of rooms throughout the country will undoubtedly spur an increase for larger outlets to capitalize on the success. 

To us at Lock Chicago this is great news because it continues to challenge us and other Escape Rooms to create the best possible experience for the most important person, our guests. If you're looking for nearby escape rooms feel free to visit the popular website: http://escaperoomdirectory.com/ which has a large index of rooms across the world!

Until next time take care and happy escaping!

Cheers,

Brian, Bane, and Alex