The Hex Room

February 20 2018

What It Takes To Be A Great Detective

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The Hex Room at Cross Roads Escape Games is a unique escape room where you can star in your very own horror film. Before the game begins, each player takes a personality quiz to determine which character they best fit within the game. From there, they are placed into their own room where the goal is to work together through the physical barriers to escape each individual room and, finally, the game.

Being separated into individual rooms really tests each player’s ability to discover, describe, solve, and face fears. And even though The Hex Room requires every player to participate in order for the group to escape, the most weight is placed on one character in particular: The Detective.

When players come in and begin filling out their questionnaires, they often ask who their leader is. My shortest reply is; pick someone who is great at communicating and multi-tasking.

The best Detectives are actively social within the game. They are the ones who can go room to room asking their teammates what they’re working on and what they need help with. This means they also have to be adept at collecting a massive amount of information and processing it to determine what is important, what might be important, and what is just set dressing.

Detectives are often great puzzle-solvers. They can take fragments of a puzzle, visualize how the puzzle will be solved, and figure out what pieces are still missing to complete the puzzle. They don’t necessarily solve the puzzle, but they can figure out if the puzzle is matching, referencing, or physical.

On top of this, great Detectives are also great multi-taskers. Not only will they be communicating with every player in the game and passing information back and forth, they will also need to solve their own set of puzzles at the same time.

Detectives are not afraid to ask for help. Good leaders know that you can’t always solve everything on your own. Recognizing your own strengths and weaknesses and asking for help is what can propel you from an okay Detective to a great one.

The greatest downfall of a Detective that I have noticed is that they don’t communicate well. Sometimes another player will tell them they are missing something, and though the Detective hears, they don’t pass along that information to the other players in the game. Detectives must act as a telephone line between the rooms.

Another great downfall is when a Detective is too focused on their own puzzles to offer assistance to the rest of the players. Too often I have seen a player locked in a room asking for help with a puzzle, only to have the Detective tell them to wait while they work on their own puzzle (often which can’t be solved without first helping the other player.) Sometimes they must take a step back to help others before their own puzzles start to make sense.

Though the Detective’s role is a demanding one, there is nothing quite like the satisfaction of knowing you helped your team to the best of your ability. There is nothing quite like seeing the pride and accomplishment on Detectives’ faces after they successfully helped their team escape.

The skills of a Detective extend beyond the walls of an escape room. Detectives will share many similar traits to effective leaders and managers. Teambuilding in an escape room can help identify the strengths and shortcomings of your employees while providing a fun, exciting, and new way to bring your team closer. That’s why Cross Roads Escape Games offers teambuilding experiences for company outings, celebrations, and workshops. To learn more about teambuilding at Cross Roads Escape Games, check out this blog, or our team building page.

What do you think makes a great Detective in The Hex Room? Leave us a comment on our blog, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or Instagram to let us know what leadership means to you.

Geoff Durham
Game Master, Manager
Cross Roads Escape Games

January 29 2018

What You Win If You Escape

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Prizes! Everyone loves prizes! Did you know that Cross Roads Escape Games is one of the very few escape rooms that gives out prizes? Even if you don’t escape, every group leaves with something.

We are escape room enthusiasts too, and our favorite thing to do after an escape room is to sit down with our team and talk about it over some food and drinks. Next time you visit us, make sure to head to Top Class Pizza or Stereo Brewing afterwards!

Top Class Pizza, located at 1026 N Tustin Ave in Anaheim, is less than a mile away from Cross Roads and serves fresh gourmet pizzas, salads, sandwiches, and pasta. Their pizza crust is to die for and their Chicken Alfredo pizza is a Cross Road’s favorite! Just for playing a game at Cross Roads Escape Games, Top Class Pizza offers a 10% off coupon to all players OR a buy-one-get-one-free coupon to the few who manage to successfully escape!

Stereo Brewing, located at 950 S Via Rodeo in Placentia, is .7 miles away from Cross Roads and is the new hip brewery in town. Stereo Brewing has a great selection of beer on tap, fun music, and sometimes food trucks for when you want a bite to eat with your drink. Just for playing, guests receive a 15% off coupon for any beer on tap, OR if they escape they win a 25% off coupon for any beer on tap! Our current favorite is the ‘Wall of Sound’ Oatmeal Stout.

As you probably know, our escape rates are fairly low. On average, 40% of players escape The Fun House and 20% escape The Hex Room. The Hex Room also has an additional challenge to “survive” that only 5% are able to complete and escape. If you are a part of this 5% of survivors, then you also win a free “I survived” sticker! Wear it proud because you are one of the few!

I survived The Hex room prize

If you play The Fun House KIDS, our alternative kid version of The Fun House for children under the age of 13, there is a bonus challenge inside the game to collect 8 gold coins. If all 8 coins are found, kids get to pick a prize from our treasure chest! Our treasure chest is full of an assortment of toys that change all the time!

Now, this trophy is not free like the other prizes we have, but it is worth bragging about. If you manage to escape either of our games, you are qualified to purchase an “I escaped” t-shirt! We are very strict on our t-shirt sales and will only sell our “I escaped” shirts to those who actually escape. Yes, we have turned down many offers. T-shirts can be purchased in store for $20. We have both men’s crew neck and woman’s V-neck styles in sizes S-XXL.

I Escaped! t-shirts

We know our games are not easy, so that is why we believe everyone deserves a prize! Book your game with us and see what one you will leave with!

Madison Rhoades
Co-Owner and Creative Director
Cross Roads Escape Games

December 11 2017

The 6 Types of People Every Great Escape Room Team Needs

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Every escape room has a varying skill set that is needed to complete each mission. When gathering your team, make sure to get a diversity of creative thinkers so you have all your bases covered. Here is our list of the 6 types of people every great escape room team needs! Which one are you?

Detective in The Hex Room

The Leader

O’ Captain my captain! Every good group needs a fearless leader! Someone to help settle time wasting disputes and support their team mates when they need an extra set of hands. The Leader is usually elected into the role, either consciously or by habit, and others react and respond to the Leaders suggestions with little to no argument. The Leader doesn’t stick to any one puzzle though and can often be seen running about the room checking in with the rest of the team.

Prom Queen in The Hex Room

The Finder

This is the person you call when you lose the T.V. remote and need help finding it. This person is the one that pops up every three seconds while in the room and shouts “I found something!” The Finder is usually the one who finds most of the clues and puzzles and helps to figure out what things goes with what. They are also normally the keeper of keys and the knower of clues. They will sometimes also act as a courier running their new clues back and forth between team mates to trying to figure out if it can help solve any active clues.

The Nerd in The Hex Room

The Thinker

The brains of the group. Usually this player is a natural puzzler. Often, they are referred to as the smart one and they derive the most enjoyment from being the one to crack the puzzle’s code! However, Thinkers do tend to have a really bad habit; The Thinker likes to focus on one puzzle until it is solved and hates it when they need to leave a puzzle half solved to try and solve a different puzzle. In extreme cases, this can lead to the Thinker being that one player who spends half the game in a corner by themselves working on a single puzzle.

Jock in The Hex Room

The Worker

Do you have to look through several volumes of an encyclopedia? No problem! Bag full of puzzle pieces? No problem! Other process of elimination puzzles? No problem! This tireless worker doesn’t get frustrated by meticulous tasks and can finish up the busy work on puzzles that have already been “solved” while their team mates move on to other tasks!

Rebel in The Hex Room

The Leaper

Oh Leaper… What can we say about the Leaper other than this: every group has one and every group needs one. The Leaper is that one person on the team that chooses to ignore clues and make huge leaps in logic when trying to find a solution to a problem. The Leaper embodies the age old saying that “there is no such thing as a dumb idea.” They will leap to strange and confusing conclusions that often end up being wrong. However, whenever the thinker gets stumped, it becomes the leapers job to attempt to find new out-of-the-box ideas for the Challenger to work with. When the clock is ticking down and everyone else starts panicking, the leaper is always there with another solution.

Virgin in Hex Room

The Challenger

The Challenger works in tandem with the Thinker and the Leaper and acts as a grounding force for their brainstorming. Simply put, the challenger challenges the solutions put forth by the Thinker and the Leaper to help them come up with solutions that actually makes sense. The Challenger’s role is not to shoot down ideas, but rather to prioritize ideas with highest chance of success. They are the ones saying things like “We can try that, but first let’s see if this works instead…” They also help the Leaper turn their crazy idea into a plausible one by working through the Leapers thought process and forcing them to think about certain ideas in greater depth. If the team is a factory that produces ideas, then the Challenger’s role is quality control.

You also may have some team mates that can take on multiple roles, but it is fun to figure out which habits fit your team mates and friends. Let us know what roles each of your team mates fill in the comment section below! Also, make sure to play The Hex Room and put your teamwork to the test!

Jason Sakal
Game Master and Manager
Cross Roads Escape Games

October 30 2017

What is Immersion? What Is Next For Immersive Experiences?

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This past Saturday, Oct. 28th, I had the honor of being a panelist at Stan Lee’s Los Angeles Comic Con on the ‘Future Fandom Immersion’ talk. This panel was super informative and if you missed it, I would love to share some of the things I took away from it.

The panel was hosted by Geeks With Grey Hair’s Jonathan Tavss and Jenny Stiven and had a wonderful mixture of talent for its participants: Brian Crosby (Creative Director, Marvel Themed Entertainment), Matt Motchenbacher (21st Century Fox), Chick Russell (Themed Entertainment Executive Producer/Creative Director – Formerly with Universal and Disney), and myself, Madison Rhoades (Owner and Creative Director of Cross Roads Escape Games).

Panelist Badge

A lot was discussed on this panel, but for this blog, I want to focus on the parts about immersion and my opinions on the subject.

The panel opened with each of us giving our definition of ‘immersion’. I answered with the theatrical example of the forth wall. In theatre, the forth wall is the invisible barrier between actors and audience, normally the space just past the proscenium. I believe that immersion is when the fourth wall becomes unclear or unapparent. The clear divide between actor and audience disappears and the boundaries no longer exist.

My fellow panelists had a different take. Some said it was when a story or movie was so captivating you forgot about the real world and were sucked in this new one. Others said it was when you were surrounded by a new scenic world, like what you would experience inside a ride or inside one of the themed lands in a theme park.

None of these answers are wrong. In fact the true definition of immersion is “a sate of being deeply engaged or involved; absorption,” which is exactly what we all said, but in our own words. Somehow though, these definitions didn’t seem right to me, or strong enough. Something was missing.

To me, immersion is more then just the illusion of disbelief through a story or space. It’s a feeling. It’s an action.

The conversation then turned to the role of the fans, what involvement they have, and our responsibility to them. It was majorly decided that with this new form of immersive entertainment it was our job to make the fans/guests become the star of his or her own movie. Examples were given such as Space Mountain or the new Guardians of the Galaxy ride.

This, again, is where I felt conflicted. Although what they are saying is not wrong, I still felt there was more to it. Sure you all save the day at the end of the Guardians of the Galaxy ride, but what exactly did you do? Nothing. You sat there and watched a video that referenced you a few times, but you didn’t actually do anything.

I recently experienced an ‘Extreme Haunt’ where the actors can touch you, but you cannot touch them. You have to do everything the actor says to do and you must remain silent. I had a really hard time being put in these intense situations and having to remain a passive participant. I had no control over what was happening to me. I literally had to stand there and take whatever abuse came my way. To remain calm I had to continue to remind myself that it wasn’t real and that the actors could not actually hurt me. This took me out of the experience and it was no longer immersive.

Immersive theatre can also have these same errors. I recently did an immersive theatre show that you were not allowed to talk in, but the actors could talk to you, take you on a different path, and have an intimate one-on-one moment. I didn’t like it. Again, I had no choice. Actors would talk to me and give me this heart felt story that made me want to run up and give them a hug, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t even talk to them. I had to just sit there and watch them go through this struggle while they reach out to me for help. The fourth wall was definitely blurred, but in the end I was just a moving audience member.

I understand that by putting an audience member in this passive situation makes them feel helpless. And maybe that is what they wanted to achieve. But I wanted more.

I can’t be the star of my own movie if I am a passive audience member. I need to be an active participant.

Next, the conversation turned to experiences that inspired us in the past and blew our mind. What popped into my head was Haunted Play’s Delusion.

Delusion is a theatrical experience in Los Angeles that was the first self-proclaimed immersive event. You and group of about 8-10 are lead throughout a real Victorian mansion in hopes to escape with your life, but each new room has its own risk and tasks. Someone needs to dance with a ghost to let us pass, another person is sent out on their own to collect a key, etc. Even though this experience is railroaded and there are no real choices, just the illusion of them, the play could not go on without an audience. This has been the best form of immersive entertainment that I have ever seen to this date.

Immersion is when a story cannot continue without its audience.

In the end I realized that I didn’t really know what immersion was because the idea of it kept changing the more we talked. No one person was right, but we also were not all wrong. I realized that if you took all the points that were made: a blurred division between actors and audience, turning passive audience members to active participants, and creating a world and story that can not continue without an audience, there is one thing that is true to all of them- Escape Rooms.

In an Escape Room the audience becomes the actors.

The Hex Room is more then just a game. It’s an experience. It’s a real life adventure. There are no actors in the room telling you what to do next or where you can or cannot go. Players are free to touch, move, and go wherever they want. The fourth wall is gone. The design of The Hex Room splits people into different rooms where they are physically separated from the rest of their team forcing them to be active participants, and not just stand around and watch as other people step in. In any escape room experience the story cannot continue without its audience. There are things that need to be done, worlds that need to be saved, and someone must step up to the challenge. Before The Hex Room begins, we cast you as stereotypical horror movie characters: Jock, rebel, prom queen, virgin, nerd, or Detective. Players get costume pieces and become the actors in their own real life horror film, with their own fate in their hands.

I believe escape rooms are just stepping stones for what is to come. There are big ideas that I am sure are already being developed that will take this level of immersion to the next step. After hearing from the minds behind escape rooms, Disney, Universal, Fox, and Marvel it’s clear to everyone that fans love immersive entertainment and we look forward to creating whatever that might mean.

What does immersion mean to you? Leave us a comment with your definition or let us know of your favorite immersive experience.

Madison Rhoades
CEO, Co-Owner, and Creative Director
Cross Roads Escape Games

October 23 2017

Confessions of a Game Master: Horror Special!

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Welcome to the second installment of Confessions of a Game Master! If you haven’t seen our first installment, click here to watch what being a Game Master means in seven words and the most important skill for a Game Master to have. Since October is the scariest month of the year, this video has our Game Masters confess their favorite “scary” moments they have seen in the games.

Many people react differently when faced with fear, and because we lock many people into a room multiple times a day, we get to experience a cornucopia of reactions. I often look forward to the reactions of unsuspecting players in The Hex Room, but it’s the reactions I don’t expect that are the funniest and most memorable.

We also get to see people reacting to things that, frankly, aren’t scary. What seems commonplace outside of an escape room can suddenly become a bit frightening to those who don’t know what they are getting into. Though it is most likely to happen in a horror-themed room such as The Hex Room, it’s not the only place we’ve seen people scared. Even in The Fun House, where nothing is designed to be scary, some guests can psych themselves out and convince themselves that they are going to be scared.

Finally, we finish off the video by asking our Game Masters what horror movie they would want to survive, if they had to choose.

Have questions for our Game Masters? Leave a comment on our blog, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram and we may answer your question in a future video!

If you want to see if you have what it takes to survive a horror film, try The Hex Room where you are cast as one of six horror movie characters in your very own horror film. It’s a perfect choice for Halloween fun!

Geoff Durham
Game Master and Manager
Cross Roads Escape Games

October 18 2017

JIGSAW Giveaway and Contest This October!

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“Could you survive a horror film?” This is a question that horror movie fanatics ask each other all the time. It’s fun to sit around and joke about which of us would make it and which of us would fall victim to the killer’s nefarious plot. However, when the SAW series first made its debut on the silver screen in 2004, many horror movie fans found themselves slack jawed when asked if they had what it takes to survive?

SAW redefined what it would take to survive a horror film. No longer could we survive by simply avoiding horror film clichés or by enduring until help arrived. Suddenly, there was a time limit on our survival and in place of some supernatural monster, we found ourselves trapped in a room full of torturous contraptions with a sadistic game to be played. Instead of being a passive victim, we were forced to actively find a way to survive.

Though the idea of being locked in a room, building, or house was not new to horror films, SAW quickly became the first thing on peoples’ minds when horror escape rooms started gaining in popularity.

The Hex Room, though less deadly (and requiring less physical harm), offers players a similar experience to living one of the SAW movies; you are trapped in a room with a set of clues that you must solve within the time limit or you lose. It was only natural that the promoters of the movie JIGSAW would team up with Cross Roads to promote their new movie, in theaters October 27! For the month of October, any group that manages to escape the Hex Room will get a free JIGSAW poster while supplies last.

Jigsaw Poster

In an additional giveaway, if you comment on our official social media posts on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook and tag 5 friends that you want to see JIGSAW with, you will be entered to win a special JIGSAW prize package, including a T-shirt, playing cards, a syringe pen, and tickets to the film! Want to stack the odds in your favor? Comment on all 3 social media sites! The winner will be chosen at random on October 23rd.

Do you want to play a game? You can see if you have what it takes to survive a horror film with The Hex Room at Cross Roads Escape Games, perfect for the Halloween season.

About the movie: Thirteen years ago on Halloween weekend – SAW and the character of JIGSAW introduced the world to a new face of horror. For seven straight years “If it’s Halloween it must be SAW” was a holiday tradition. This October 27… Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures proudly present JIGSAW! After a series of murders bearing all the markings of the Jigsaw killer, law enforcement find themselves chasing the ghost of a man dead for over a decade and embroiled in a new game that’s only just begun. Is John Kramer back from the dead to remind the world to be grateful for the gift of life? Or is this a trap set by a killer with designs of their own?

Jason Sakal
Manager & Game Master
Cross Roads Escape Games

October 10 2017

Resident Artist: Dan Litzinger

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If you have made it down to Cross Roads Escape Games, you may have noticed the fun poppy art of Dan Litzinger for sale on the wall, or on your very own Hex Room t-shirt! Dan Litzinger is a painter and film editor living the dream in beautiful Glendale, California. Originally from Atlanta, Dan discovered his love for painting and pop art while attending the prestigious Savannah College of Art and Design and Graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2003. His addition to popular fiction and film leads him to create simple but bold art based on his passions. A frequent contributor to the Los Angeles group art exhibit scene, he loves to bring a retro cool and fun energy to works that revel in his storytelling fetish.

Litzinger’s fun horror themed paintings are a perfect complement to the games at Cross Roads. We always hear such high praise for Litzinger’s art when guests come in, so we sat down with him and asked him some of the common questions we hear among our players.

CREG: What got you interested in art?
DL: Starting in first grade, I dreamed of being a newspaper comic strip artist. Then in seventh grade, an art teacher (Ms. Kimberly Robinson!) showed me Roy Lichtenstein’s work and that was a real game changer for me. Comics were “real art” in museums! I got my Bachelor of Fine Art from Savannah College of Art and Design with a major in Film/Television and I’ve been a working editor for 8 years.

CREG: Why do you focus on horror?
DL: I’ve been interested in horror from a young age – probably too young, because my older brothers would show me movies that were a bit too scary for me. But I loved and still love the feeling of being scared in the theater, when you know you’re in a safe place. I do believe in ghosts, so I’m a real sucker for haunted house movies.

CREG: What about pop art inspired you to create these paintings?
DL: The first large painting I did was a direct parody of Lichtenstein’s “Drowning Girl” painting, but with young Jason Voorhees drowning instead. I just thought it was funny and I hadn’t seen it done before. I took the painting around Monsterpalooza and it got such a great response, I continued working on pop art paintings of films. I’ve had my own booth at Monsterpalooza for a couple years now!

‘Drowning Boy’ by Dan Litzinger, 36″ x36″, Price: $400

CREG:What is your favorite type of horror?
DL: Slasher. They’re generally very simple and visceral. The creativity comes from the kills and that’s what brings the audience in, even though you should be rooting against the villain. I think sometimes horror films are a safe way of dealing with real life horrors we see on the news.

CREG: What is your favorite movie and/or director?
DL: My favorite movie of all time is Die Hard. But for horror it’s Sam Raimi’s “Evil Dead 2.” For me, it strikes the absolute perfect balance between horror and comedy.

Dan Litzinger’s art and t-shirts are for sale on his website HERE or at Cross Roads Escape Games. Litzinger also is the designer behind our popular Hex Room t-shirts available in both men’s and woman’s styles sold only at Cross Roads Escape Games in Anaheim. Dan updates his art at our location, so make sure to stop by and see some of this amazing pieces in person! We currently have the original Twilight Zone “You Unlock This Door With The Key Of Imagination” showing in our lobby and available for $425. All proceeds go straight to the artist.

Madison Rhoades
CEO, Co-Owner, & Creative Director
Cross Roads Escape Games

September 25 2017

Escape Rooms vs Haunts- What to choose this Halloween Season?

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Horror goes hand in hand with escape rooms, in fact, most of our guests think all escape rooms are scary. While not all escape rooms are horror-themed, Halloween is a great time to seek out the ones that are.

Escape Rooms are designed to be thrilling experiences that involve teamwork and communication. Only those with a level head, common sense, and calm under pressure can make it. What better way to test those skills then with a life or death situation?

Describing an escape room almost sounds like describing the plot to a movie from the SAW franchise: you are locked in a room where you must solve puzzles to escape. Other horror movies with similar trapped or hostage plots reinforce the idea that escape rooms can be scary places. Indeed, horror helps increase the tension, suspense, and urgency. This is what people love about horror themed escape rooms: the stressful situation tests your skills just like you are in a real horror film.

Hex Room review

This Halloween season, you probably have a few haunts already planned, and although haunts are fun, escape rooms really take the intensity and realism to the next level. In a haunt, you are probably going to be in a train of people with masked monsters jumping out at you from the left and right. As fun as this is, it does get dull rather fast. Horror themed escape rooms put you right in the action. You are completely immersed; you can go wherever you want and touch whatever you want.

You can’t make choices and you can’t lose in a haunt. Horror escape rooms are a thrilling experience with a payoff in the end. Escape rooms give you a sense of accomplishment when you finish. Whether you win or lose, your team can look back at what you accomplished in the time allotted.

Our horror themed game, The Hex Room, puts you right in the center of your own horror film. First, you are cast as a stereotypical horror movie character: Jock, Prom Queen, Virgin, Nerd, Rebel, or Detective. From there you are placed in a room on your own. It is up to you to rejoin the rest of your teammates or be left behind. Who will live? Who will die?

I highly recommend adding a horror escape room or two to your list this Halloween season. Make sure to book your Hex Room game early, we will sell out!

Madison Rhoades
CEO, Co-Owner, & Creative Director
Cross Roads Escape Games

August 14 2017

What Makes The Hex Room So Unique?

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Since The Hex Room opened back in January of 2016, it has received rave reviews from fans and critics who consistently claim it as their new favorite escape room. But what makes The Hex Room so unique and popular? Is it the room’s dedication to absolute immersion? Is it the set design perhaps? Though these aspects play a huge role in people’s experience, I believe that the number one reason for the Hex Room’s popularity is its unique style of game play.

Owner and creator of The Hex Room, Madison Rhoades, says, “My husband and I created The Hex Room because we wanted something new. We played about 50 escape rooms, and they were starting to all blend together. We wanted something that gave each player an individual experience and their own moment to shine, without having to battle over it with other players. We also wanted to create an escape room that was replayable. We love escape rooms so much, but once we played one we really enjoyed, it was impossible to replay it with new friends without already knowing all the answers. It was a huge challenge to create this unique design, but after a lot of testing, it all came together in the end!”

In a standard escape room, you and your team all start in a single room with clues to find and puzzles to solve. You are told to communicate and work as a team, but not everyone needs to participate. Sometimes there aren’t enough puzzles for the number of people in the room. Sometimes people are shy and let the more assertive players take the lead. Either way, it is possible for parts of your team to do all the work while other parts of your team do very little. This is the biggest difference between the standard escape room, and the Hex Room.

In the Hex Room, each person is divided into separate rooms based on a personality quiz that is taken before entering the room. Each person is given costume pieces based on which stereotypical horror movie character their personalities best match; such as the Detective, Rebel, Jock, Nerd, Prom Queen, and Virgin. You are then led into the rooms one by one. Once divided, it becomes each player’s imperative to try and escape their individual room. Though the team is divided, everyone must still work together to escape. Each player must search their rooms for clues to help themselves and their team mates.

HEX_Characters

In the Hex Room, everyone must work as a team and effectively communicate between their individual rooms. They must be able to tell their team mates what they see and what they have; they must ask for and pass clues between their rooms; and they must actively participate throughout their experience if they are to have any chance of escaping alive.

When six players enter the Hex Room, they will leave with six completely different experiences; each of them feeling a sense of accomplishment for their contributions to their team. There are no passive observers in The Hex Room, only active players!

Once each player is inside their room, they are instructed to remove their blindfolds and are instantly immersed within their own horror film. Cross Roads is dedicated to making each player feel as though they have stepped out of their normal lives and into the extraordinary adventure. This engaging environment makes players want to participate and see more of what the room has to offer. I have, on several occasions, had a player admit to me that they normally just stand around and let their team mates do all the work, but in the Hex Room they felt so completely immersed and engaged in the experience that the thought of standing around never even occurred to them. This is the magic of the Hex Room.

As mentioned before, The Hex Room is also the only replayable escape room in SoCal. Because each player has such an individualized experience, you can come back and play again as a different character and enjoy the game all over again with new friends or family members. We have had multiple guests play up to 6 times because they wanted to experience every room.

The Hex Room has a stressful and demanding style of game play that requires each member of the team to push themselves to escape. When this is combined with our movie quality set design and immersive ambiance, players are compelled to suspend their belief for an hour and experience what it feels like to step into the shoes of a horror film character. This completely unique style of escape game is exactly why the Hex Room has become the #1 escape room in both Orange County and Los Angeles.

If you are a fan, or even if you have not played yet, make sure to check out our pinned post on our Facebook page for a chance to win 2 free tickets and an awesome box of horror swag by tagging who you and your friends would play as in The Hex Room! Contest ends September 4th.

Jason Sakal
Manager & Game Master
Cross Roads Escape Games

July 17 2017

My First Escape Room and Why I’m Still Escaping

Geoff Team Building, The Hex Room Anaheim, escape game, escape games, escape room, escape rooms, First Escape Room, Fun House, Hex Room, Orange County, Team Building 9

If you’re reading this blog, chances are you have at least a vague idea of what an escape room is. Escape rooms have become increasingly popular just over the past few years. Thinking back, it’s strange how only three years ago, I wouldn’t have any idea what an escape room is. What makes these experiences so captivating and why are they becoming a staple for friend and family gatherings?

My name is Geoff, I am a Manager at Cross Roads Escape Games, and I am an Escape Room Enthusiast. I began working here as a game master with a few escape rooms already under my belt. Now I have experienced more than a dozen rooms, but I still remember my very first escape room. The first escape room I ever played was a zombie-themed room in San Antonio, Texas. There are similar rooms across the country: you are locked in a room with a zombie that is chained to the wall. Every few minutes, the chain gets longer and you must work harder to avoid getting eaten while still trying to solve puzzles.

Needless to say, we had a blast (And, yes, we escaped… with 3 seconds remaining). The team consisted of five coworkers, two complete strangers, and myself. It was a great way to test our multitasking abilities, our communication, and our ability to keep a cool head under pressure. It even showcased our ability to interact with and include strangers, which is something I find very important when doing public games. I think we also strengthened our relationships with each other, were inspired to create memorable experiences, and just plain had a great time. Teamwork, unusual puzzles, the rush that comes when you open a lock, and the total immersion into a new world; all of it made for an addictive and thrilling experience. That experience is what began my obsession with escape rooms.

After I moved to California, I got to play more escape rooms with friends. The first room I did with my friends was Cross Roads’ own Hex Room. I was the Prom Queen. We escaped with nearly 12 minutes remaining! To date, The Hex Room has been my favorite room because of its unique design and attention to detail. It was easy to picture myself as the star of my very own horror film, determined to escape before being brutally murdered. I really enjoyed being able to work on my own puzzles but still have friends nearby if I needed any assistance.

The ability to work together with friends, family, and strangers to solve puzzles and fully engage in a story is what keeps me coming back.

I think that’s why escape rooms are so popular: they are engaging, requiring the participants to use problem-solving skills and critical thinking, while building relationships and developing teamwork. In an age where most of us, me included, spend a lot of time interacting with screens, it’s nice to unplug for a while and use your hands. Not to mention, escape rooms aren’t mindless entertainment: You need to think, engage, interact, and be present. Plus, no two escape rooms are exactly alike. You get to experience and star in new and exciting stories every time. It’s fun to enter new scenarios and imagine you are really in this world, even if it’s only for an hour.

If you haven’t done an escape room yet, I think you should. They are a great way to do something a bit out of the ordinary while hanging out with friends or family, a wonderful alternative to going to the movies because you are still able to interact with your group, to have fun, and to laugh together. It’s an inspired way to spend time with family because a wide range of ages can participate. After the game is over, you’ll be talking about it for days, meaning you’ll never be wanting for conversation.

I believe escape rooms filled a niche for people who want to go out and do something together a bit out of the ordinary, offered an experience for people who love solving puzzles, and provided a place for businesses to offer their employees a fun and innovative way to work on team building.

I think it’s safe to say we’ll be seeing escape rooms for quite some time. I know I’m excited to try my next one.

Geoff Durham
Manager, Game Master, & Most Likely To Barely Survive A Horror Film
Cross Roads Escape Games