The Best Casino-Themed Escape Rooms Around the World

Escape rooms are a reasonably new phenomenon. Like most wacky and unlikely inventions, the craze started in Japan in 2007 (although some enthusiasts suggest Hungary and Spain were also the birthplaces). While there are fragments of what became the ‘escape room concept’ as we know it, it is generally accepted that the format most used came from Takao Kato, the head designer and concept artist of Real Escape Game.

For those who don’t know, and there can’t be many, escape rooms are real-life, immersive puzzle games featuring real people and live cryptic situations. The players must work together to find clues, crack codes, and solve puzzles within a time frame in a locked room until the puzzle is solved. There’s always a theme; you must beat the competing teams (other patrons) within a 45-60 minute window to win the game.

Escape rooms are incredibly popular, with casino themes topping the bill worldwide, particularly in places with brick-and-mortar gaming establishments. These add-on facilities are proving particularly popular with Millenial or Gen X audiences who prefer a mixture of gaming and gambling to straight-up wagering. Excitement comes in all forms. In this blog, we look at escape rooms around the world to decide who best recreates the heady days of the Crystal Maze and how they have improved the concept for today’s players.

Escape Rooms London: Casino Heist (Break the Rules)

This escape room puzzle is casino themed, but it’s not really a casino; there is no gambling, just ransacking the house. The premise is you’re in a casino, the lights are out, the cameras go down, and you have 60 minutes to rob the joint. Yes, there is a roulette table and some slot machines, and the decor screams high-end gaming joint. The deal at Casino Heist is to steal as much money as possible from the vault and run!

If you thought you could win the money by spinning the wheel, you will be disappointed, as the game is a smash and grab. Take the money and run! As casino themes go, it was okay. But without the lure of a round of poker, winning isn’t winning without a game of chance.

Caesar’s Palace Las Vegas: 8 Escape Rooms in the Forum

Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas is so famous that anyone who loves the casino life will know it. This is why this trip to Caesar’s on the strip was disappointing. The first thing to say is that there are no casino-themed escape rooms in the casino (hello!). Missing a trick here. Yes, you can carry out an art heist and have a cosmic crisis, you can escape from under the sea and go on a prison break, but you can’t escape from the casino, which is the entire point! An escape from the gift shop would be a more apt theme here!

The Venetian Hotel Casino: PanIQ Room Las Vegas

The premise resembles the London casino heist game: you must find the cash. The money is in the vault located inside the manager’s office. You have 45 minutes to dodge lasers, crack codes, pry the door open, and stash the cash before security arrives and throws you out. The room has all the gaming tables, slots and even some plastic buffet food, but that’s where the similarities stop. If you want proper risk, you must go into the casino and play some poker because you won’t get the blood pumping at PanIQ Room Las Vegas.

To our surprise, real casino-themed escape rooms are not a thing! Maybe they are a distraction, but that’s the point, isn’t it? With casinos branching out into entertainment hubs, you would think this escape room malarky is a no-brainer! Fear not, because escape rooms are not going anywhere. It won’t be long before some wealthy gaming institution realises that an escape room concept is the perfect way to keep your captive audience, captive!

Escape Rooms From the Past

While escape rooms as we know them haven’t been around that long, there was a time when all casinos were built like them. Bill Friedman, the most prolific casino designer, created all casino designs with no escape policy. The designs were maze-like with hypnotic lights and 24-hour air conditioning; you couldn’t tell if it was day or night.

Friedman designed the casino floor to be a one-stop shop, with no need to leave. Food and beverages were almost always free to players, and those who wanted to leave the pool and go to their hotel room had to navigate the slots, poker tables and roulette wheels in their bathing suits.

To run the gauntlet of a Friedman design was an escape room concept without Bill ever cashing in. The idea of a casino-themed escape room is all very well, but in reality, it’s a bit of a damp squib, a fiasco in the making. What’s wrong with a calm poker game or a leisurely spin on red and black? Why, if you can choose, do you want to run around sweating and panting to get nothing at the end except claustrophobia and a badge that says you joined in? If playing casino games is your aim, play with the big boys and leave the puzzles to the bald man in capes shouting, ‘Will you start the fans, please.’