2023 has been a landmark year for Cross Roads Escape Games, earning multiple prestigious awards that solidify their reputation as leaders in the escape room industry, best escape room in Southern California, and world wide. Known for their innovative and immersive experiences, Cross Roads received accolades for both their newest game, The Weeping Witch.
Cross Roads Escape Games was honored with the **Golden Lock Award** by Room Escape Artist, recognizing their excellence in escape room design. They also received the **Best of Morty Award**, further cementing their status as industry favorites. Perhaps most impressively, they were named one of the **Top Rooms in the World** by the Top Escape Rooms Project Enthusiasts’ Choice Awards (TERPECA), highlighting their global impact and unparalleled creativity.
If you have not yet, now is the time to book your ticket for The Weeping Witch, and see why it is rated as one of the best escape rooms there is.
Escape Rooms created by game enthusiasts for game enthusiasts. Owners Luke and Madison Rhoades come from a theatre and haunt background and found escape rooms to be the perfect backbone for their #1 rated company- Cross Roads Escape Games. Celebrating their 6th year in business, here is the story of the creators and designers of Cross Roads and how it all came to be.
ABOUT US
Luke and I are high school sweethearts, and we got married shortly after finishing college. I graduated from the University of Southern California with a B.A. in Fine Art and a minor in Theatrical Set Design. I designed and painted sets around Los Angeles and was the lead scenic painter for The Queen Mary’s Dark Harbor for three incredible years. Luke graduated from the Vanguard University of Southern California with a B.A. in Theatre Performance and Scenic Construction. He worked as the Master Carpenter at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Hollywood. I would often get set design jobs and hire Luke as my technical director and carpenter for almost all of my shows. We were a great tag team duo. I would design it, he would build it, and then I would paint it.
THE FIRST ESCAPE ROOM
On Oct. 31st, 2014, we played our first escape room. We had no idea what we were getting into. I thought I bought tickets for a haunted house, so we were completely shocked when we found out that they would put us in a room with eight other strangers and lock the door. Our group did terrible. It was chaos trying to get ten people on the same page, but that was part of the fun. I remember the time being about halfway up when I realized we had not opened a single key lock. I yelled at the group, “How have we not found a single key?!?!” The girl next to me goes, “Oh! I found a few keys!” and starts to remove about 5-10 keys from her pocket that she decided to put there for safekeeping (and not use?).
Afterward, our game master comes in with a look of disappointment and tells us that we only made it about 60% of the way through. It didn’t matter to us if we won or lost or how far we got, the experience was unlike anything we had ever done, and we were hooked. The idea for The Hex Room came later that same night.
THE BEGINNING
We decided to take a chance. We quit our jobs and used our ten years’ worth of savings that we were keeping for a future house. It was one of those scenarios where we would always live a life of ‘what if’ if we didn’t give it a shot. And what better time to try and fail than when you are young? So we did. We found a location in Anaheim, California, battled the city for permits (that’s a whole story I won’t get into today), and put ourselves in a hole of loans and credit card debt (our savings was drained very quickly). With the help of some amazing family and friends, Cross Roads Escape Games opened one year later.
Cross Roads… get it? Luke and Madison Rhoades… ok, good.
THE GOAL
We wanted to create something that felt so real, you forgot it was a game. Imagine being transported to a new world where you can go anywhere and touch anything you want? To desperately try to find clues to help unlock the secrets to your escape? All our games are designed by us and built from the ground up. Not only is the production value outstanding, but even the game design is different.
We love games. Board games, card games, video games, and now escape games. Once we were hooked on escape games, we played every one that was available to us. Playing escape rooms was a great learning experience. We saw what we liked, and what we didn’t like. Our biggest issue was that no matter where we went, no matter what the mission was, the game was the same. We knew we had to change that up with ours.
CREATING THE HEX ROOM
As huge horror fans, we would always watch movies and say something along the lines of, “If that was me, I would have never run up the stairs!” or, “If I was in that situation, I would have done this…” Now with this new immersive theatre at our fingertips, we decided to create just that: a real-life horror movie scenario where people can find out if they would actually live or die in a horror film.
The Hex Room opened on January 15th, 2016. Unlike traditional escape rooms, The Hex Room takes immersion to the next step and makes players live out a real-life horror movie. Before your game begins, each player takes a quiz to determine which stereotypical horror movie victim they are. You can be cast as the Jock, Rebel, Prom Queen, Virgin, Nerd, or Detective. Once in costume, players are placed in a room by themselves. Their goal is to overcome their individual challenges and still work together as a team, although physically divided. If they are successful, they can rejoin their friends and escape. If not, they can be left behind to die.
CREATING THE FUN HOUSE
The Hex Room became a revolutionary game, but maybe a bit too advanced for its time. When we opened, Escape Rooms were still such a new concept; only a handful of people knew what they were, even fewer played one before. People loved The Hex Room, but we knew that it was a bit overwhelming to a new player, so we also created The Fun House.
The Fun House is the necessary introductory that people needed to escape rooms. People were together for the experience instead of being divided at the start. If someone felt uncomfortable doing something “scary,” we had The Fun House to offer instead. Although the gameplay is more of a traditional escape room, we still had a lot of new ideas to offer. The game became self-aware with lots of fun tricks and jokes along the way, not to mention the amazing Zoltar. Have you met him yet?
The Fun House also allowed us to introduce kids to the world of Escape Rooms. When Fun House opened in April of 2016, it was the only game that allowed players of any age to attend. The following year, we modified the game to change out challenging puzzles to a “KIDS” version, allowing groups of kids to play and succeed on their own.
CREATING THE PSYCH WARD
We are determined to always bring the next level of interactive entertainment, and we went all-in on The Psych Ward, which opened in December of 2018. Being inspired by immersive theatre experiences like Delusion and getting hooked on social deduction games like Werewolf and Secret Hitler, we decided to combine immersive theatre, competitive board games, and escape rooms into one fully automated game.
Because of its complexity, The Psych Ward took about 18 months to complete. We worked with the amazing technical team, Diablo Sound, which helped us program all the puzzles, scoring, and theatrical effects. The game took a few revisions, but we are very proud of the new elements we added and challenging ourselves with the unique design and automation. The Psych Ward is a game-changer that you must play!
WHAT’S NEXT
We revisited our theatre roots and wrote, directed, designed, and produced The Séance, which had a limited run in 2019. This show was an immersive theatre piece with some escape room elements. We had plans to bring back the show to a new location, which sadly got canceled due to the pandemic. There is still a chance it might happen; we are just waiting for the right venue and the right time.
We also announced a revamped Hex Room for 2020, which got postponed. We had everything ordered, contractors scheduled, and then the world shut down. Orders were pushed back, contractors had to cancel, and the whole project was put on hold. I am glad that it did though, these past years, we have been able to use the money we would have spent on the revamp towards keeping our doors open and our employees paid. It has also given me more time to think of even better puzzles and effects! The revamp will still happen as soon as the funds are restored. I am so excited to show you what we have planned!
We have also used all of 2021 to work on a new project that is bigger and totally different from anything we have done before! If all goes according to plan, we will have a big announcement for you in a few months. Stay tuned!
THANK YOU for being amazing and supportive fans. I read every single review that comes our way on google and yelp, and hearing about your fun experience is why we do what we do. I know it has been a long time since we have brought you something new, but big things are in the works. Thank you for being patient and understanding. It will be worth the wait!
Madison Rhoades CEO and Co-owner Cross Roads Escape Games
After 4 weeks of voting, the results are finally in! Cross Roads Escape Games is a winner in the 2021 USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice travel award contest for best escape room in the nation! We are also the top-ranking escape room for all of Southern California!
This has been our 3rd nomination and our 3rd win!
We want to thank our friends, family, and fans for voting every day and helping us stay in the top 10. Your support means so much to us, and we appreciated the outpour of love and how many of you shared the contest with your friends. YOU. ARE. THE. BEST.
Now to wait for that sweet sweet trophy to come in the mail…
The top ten winners in this category are as follows:
Clue Carre- New Orleans, LA
Boxaroo- Boston, MA
The Official SAW Escape Room- Las Vegas, NV
Enchambered- Sacramento, CA
Mind Trap Escape Rooms- Montgomery, IL
Decode Detroit- Ann Arbor, MI
Escape Artist Greenville- Greenville, SC
Cross Roads Escape Games- Anaheim, CA
60 to Escape- Chicago, IL
The Escape Room USA – Indianapolis, IN
About USA TODAY 10Best Reader Choice Awards:
“10Best.com provides users with original, unbiased, and experiential travel content of top attractions, things to see and do, and restaurants for top destinations in the U.S. and around the world. The core of the site’s uniqueness is its team of local travel experts: a well-traveled and well-educated group who are not only experts in their fields – and their cities – but discriminating in their tastes. These local experts live in the city they write about so the content is constantly updated. 10Best.com averages 5 million visitors per month. It was acquired by USA TODAY in January of 2013.
“USA TODAY is a multi-platform news and information media company. Founded in 1982, USA TODAY’s mission is to serve as a forum for better understanding and unity to help make the USA truly one nation. Through its unique visual storytelling, USA TODAY delivers high-quality and engaging content across print, digital, social and video platforms. An innovator of news and information, USA TODAY reflects the pulse of the nation and serves as the host of the American conversation — today, tomorrow and for decades to follow. USA TODAY, the nation’s number one newspaper in print circulation with an average of more than 1.6 million daily, and USATODAY.com, an award-winning newspaper website launched in 1995, reach a combined 6.6 million readers daily. USA TODAY is a leader in mobile applications with more than 16 million downloads on mobile devices. USA TODAY is owned by Gannett Co., Inc. (NYSE: GCI).”
USA Today has gathered the top 20 highest reviewed escape rooms in America and wants you to vote for your favorite!
We have been nominated the 2nd year in a row for this award. Thanks to the votes of our amazing fans we were able to rank 3rd best escape room in the nation and #1 in SoCal in 2017!
Voting only takes a few seconds. No sign up or email required! You can vote once a day until the contest ends on Tuesday, Oct. 2ndat noon.
Six teams of escape room reviewers were chosen to nominate their favorite escape rooms of the hundreds they have played across America. Cross Roads Escape Games has been played by all of them and highly praised in their reviews.
Escape Authority ranked The Hex Room 6 out of 5 keys and ranked The Fun House 5 out of 5 keys.
Room Escape Artist awarded The Hex Room their Golden Lock-In Award in 2016.
The Haunt Girl awarded The Hex Room the Skeleton Key Award in 2016.
Escape Room Tips ranks The Hex Room as one of the top 10 games in Los Angles (and we aren’t even in Los Angles!).
Escape Rumors awarded The Hex Room their Achievement Unlocked Medal in 2017 for best puzzle design.
We want to thank each of these review teams for the kind words and recommendations they gave us!
We also want to thank YOU for your support and your help in the past with this contest! Keep voting, it means the world to us to see how much you enjoy our games! We can’t wait to show you what we have been up to in The Psych Ward… We think it will be well worth the wait!
Madison Rhoades
CEO and Creative Director
Cross Roads Escape Games
Greetings and salutations dear reader! Tis I again, Zoltar the Great, Seer of secrets, and your guide to celebrating the Fun House’s 2ndbirthday! In honor of the 2nd birthday of the Fun House I figured it would be fun to take a moment to reflect on how our lives were before The Fun House opened its doors and be grateful that we no longer live in the desolate wastelands that existed during that time.
I know that many of you were sad, lost, and (dare I say) despondent in the days before the Fun House, as was I dear reader… as was I. But then, like a shining beacon of hope, the Fun House manifested and… and… well… it just seemed to lack something. It needed something big; something new and intelligent; something with well-groomed eyebrows and a chin that don’t quit; it needed, of course, me!
Yes, I remember the day that the Great Cross Roads Circus found me in an old self storage unit. I had been left for all eternity behind a slowly fading painting of Madonna. One of the Rhoades ringleaders heard my cries of help and, doing what any half decent ringleader would do, came to the rescue of the crying Madonna painting! It wasn’t until she had already taken the Madonna painting and had turned to leave that she realized that it was, in fact, MY painting that was talking. Sorry Madonna. You may have the looks, but I have the looks and the voice!
In the dust and darkness of the storage unit, I met the great ring leaders of the Cross Roads Circus for the first time. It was there that the great ringleader recognized my talent and did the only sensible thing to do … placed me right in the center of attention in the Fun House!
What has been the best part of living in The Fun House for these two years? Without a doubt, it has been acting as a mentor, muse, and supportive shoulder on which to cry (metaphorically of course, for I was not painted with shoulders) for many hopeful apprentices. Each day I help these aspiring souls to think more creatively, to believe more profoundly, to laugh, share, joke, play, and enjoy life to the fullest. I don’t want to put understate just how intensely moving a game in The Fun House can be. Each game I help people discover whether they are truly Magnificent Magicians or Clueless Clowns and each one of us is better for it.
Ah yes. It has been two great years filled with many amazing magicians and clowns of all age! Our circus has grown quite large in the last couple years and continues to grow every day. I sure do look forward to even more wonderful years of magic, mystery, and perhaps a few jokes along the way.
If you haven’t had the chance to test your wits in our topsy-turvy Fun House yet, then I suggest you come on down as soon as possible and find out if you have what it takes to be a worthy magician or if you are simply a clueless clown.
That sounds like an important bit of personal discovery if you ask me.
Zoltar The Great
The Seer of Secrets and your guide into the future.
Escape rooms have been gaining popularity in America for the past couple years. As they become more popular, they evolve to be more eye-catching, more state-of-the-art, and more immersive. One of the simplest ways to make an escape room immersive is with an integrated hint system.
I have played quite a few escape rooms and in doing so, I have encountered many different types of hint systems. From television screens to notes slipped under a door, each hint system brings its own thing to the experience. What I believe is the most important element to the hint system, is how well it fits into the room.
There are plenty of small ways to take common hint systems and make them fit into a room of any theme. Aging paper instantly makes a note slipped under the door a more interesting and impressive. A picture frame around a television screen transforms modern technology into something more believably vintage. A coat of paint and some spare clock parts suddenly turns a walkie-talkie into a steampunk communication device.
With an integrated hint system, there is no need to break the willful suspension of disbelief. The players can continue to exist in the world of the escape room for the entire game. One of the things that sets Cross Roads Escape Games apart from other escape room companies is its commitment to immersion. Our rooms employ hints systems designed to fit seamlessly into the world of the game. The Fun House utilizes a silly and mischievous enchanted painting that will offer help in exchange for compliments or amusing tricks. The Hex Room incorporates a literal game of telephone where one character must pass along help to the other characters in the game.
If you are planning on building an escape room, don’t forget to take these small details into account. Figure out a hint system that works for your story, your theme, and your staff. There are many different types of hint systems that I’ve encountered, and perhaps you can even find a new way to keep your players completely immersed in the world of the escape room.
Geoff Durham
Manager, Game Master
Cross Roads Escape Games
Welcome back to Confessions of a Game Master. As game masters, we have seen many groups attempt our games and have noticed some traits that the most successful groups have in common. In this month’s edition of Confessions, our game masters explain some of the things that can help make your team more successful (as well as some examples of what not to do.)
Support each other.
Under the pressure of a ticking clock, many people can fall victim to the stress. This can lead to harsh words, hurt feelings, and not escaping. The easiest way to alleviate some of the stress is to support the rest of your team. Offering help to friends who are stuck, re-explaining a puzzle, or just offering words of encouragement can make all the difference. Keeping morale high will keep everyone engaged and having fun.
Successful groups are willing to listen to everyone in their team.
In escape rooms, you cannot do everything on your own. Even the most brilliant puzzle-solvers will occasionally over-think a puzzle or find themselves stumped on something. The most successful groups are the ones that will listen to an idea from anyone in their group and give it a try. From first-timers to seasoned veterans, everyone has input on the game, which leads to more ideas, which leads to the right idea.
Successful groups pay attention.
From the very beginning to the very end of the game, it pays to pay attention. If someone mentions that they’ve noticed something that could be important, then the group will remember when it becomes important later on in the game. Listening to the instructions before the game can often times be the difference between escape and certain death.
Successful groups will accept help.
Even though it feels great to solve a room on your own, sometimes the group just cannot make heads-or-tails of a certain puzzle. The most successful groups will know when it’s time to accept that help is needed so they can move on to the next puzzle. Whether it’s asking another player for help, or using the game’s hint system, sometimes all you need is a little push to get right back on track. This is a great thing to keep in mind for The Hex Room, where players are separated into different rooms. It’s not always easy to know when someone is stuck when you are physically separated. If a player is stuck on a puzzle in their room, I find they often get to the solution after they ask other players for help. If everyone on your team is stumped, there’s no shame in asking for a hint. At Cross Roads Escape Games, we have integrated hint systems that provide a seamless and immersive way to receive help within the games.
What are some things that make a successful escape room team? Let us know your tips in the comments, or tell us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram! Make sure you stay up to date on our Confessions Of A Game Master by subscribing on YouTube!
Geoff Durham
Manager, Game Master
Cross Roads Escape Games
Want to make your escape room photos EPIC? Most groups, when it comes to picture time, tend to stand in a line shoulder to shoulder. Make your pictures instantly better by creating layers and having some people couched in the front and others standing in the back. Or create some action and interesting composition by using some of these great poses below!
2 Person Group
Escape Rooms are great date night ideas! Spice up your picture with this lovely heart pose to show your Instagram followers how hip and in love you are. Or maybe try this Xtreme pose to show how in sync the two of you are.
3 Person Group
Out with the girls and decided to add a little excitement to the night with an escape room? The Charlie’s Angeles pose is perfect to show the world just how dangerous the 3 of you are together. Or maybe you and the guys went out for a night of laughs, what better pose then the classic 3 stooges!
4 Person Group
Got the core four squad together for a night out? Add some sass to your photo with these great 4 person poses.
5 Person Group
Escape with flying colors? Show the world that your team is a STAR with these great group poses! Or maybe you feel like you just saved the world? We have a few perfect super hero poses for that too!
6 Person Group
Is your team ready for some ’Morphin Time’? This iconic Power Ranger pose is perfect for your group of 6!
4 Or More…
Keep the train going and see how long you can make this link of squats go!
Was one of your players truly the star of the show? Show them your appreciation with this Lucky Cat pose!
Continue the spiral with this classic pose!
Use your bodies to create giant numbers and pose as the amazing time you escaped with!
If you are an acrobat, you might find these number poisons helpful…. we found them mostly impossible.
Last, but not least, don’t forget the classic midair jump pose! Just make sure you communicate beforehand what the ‘go’ word is.
We hope this helps inspire some great after game photos! If you need help creating a great pose with your friends, please to ask one of our game masters because they would love to help. We will be collecting some of our favorite poses our players come up with, and we will share them all with you in a later blog post. Check back soon to see if your photo makes the list and make sure to share this post with your friends to inspire some great team photos!
Madison Rhoades
CEO and Co- Owner
Cross Roads Escape Games
If you’ve played The Hex Room before, you’re probably aware that it was designed to be replay-able. Due to its unique design, we are able to cast return players as a new horror movie character and place them in a different horror film to try and escape. Because each character is separated into individual rooms in the game, a player will not experience everything The Hex Room has to offer in one game.
In this episode of Confessions of a Game Master, our Game Masters offer tips on how to best approach a return trip to The Hex Room.
We have seen many return players attempt the Hex Room and, in this video, we will address a few ways to ensure your team gets the best experience.
Don’t reveal too much to your teammates. Part of the fun of a horror film is when something unexpected happens. If you tell your group what’s going to happen before it happens, you ruin some of the excitement. Let your friends have the same experience you did when you first played. If you tell people what is going to happen in their room it can feel like spoiling the end of a good horror movie. Nobody likes that person, don’t be that person.
Keep in mind that we are constantly working on The Hex Room and puzzles will change often. Assuming that everything will be the same is one of the most common mistakes return players make. This can be particularly hard for your teammates if you start telling other people how to solve puzzles in their room without actually being in their room. You may start leading your team towards a solution that no longer exists! We’ve seen many instances where return players are so insistent that they know the answer to a puzzle that they end up wasting their team mates’ valuable time! To avoid this, it is always best to approach each puzzle as if it is the first time you’ve seen it.
Don’t skip ahead. Skipping ahead to a part you remember may bypass puzzles and confuse your team. This is something I saw one time when a player came to replay The Fun House. They entered the code for a lock they remembered and skipped a handful of puzzles. They utterly confused the rest of their team and affected the experience. In the Hex Room, I’ve seen a player convince the rest of their team they needed to find something specific and waste time searching for items that were no longer in the game.
To put it simply, treat your return game as a new game. Having played before will help because you have experience with the mechanics and flow of the game but relying on what you remember about the puzzles will only hamper your game.
Don’t forget about your Hex Box! If you were unable to survive during your first play, the second time may be the best time to try for your Survivor Medallion! The Hex Box is an extra puzzle put into the game to further challenge yourself and is not necessary in order to escape. Just be sure you can escape, because the medallion only counts if you have it by the time your team opens the final door.
Have you replayed The Hex Room? Comment with some tips of your own here, on our Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Be sure to watch the rest of our Confessions videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel!
Geoff Durham
Manager and Game Master
Cross Roads Escape Games
So, you’ve been thinking about doing an escape room for a while now and you’ve looked around at all the different themes they have to offer. They look like fun, but you’re not sure if you and your group will like them or not, right? After all, how can you really know unless you jump right in and do one. Well, in this blog I will do my best to explain the different things that escape rooms have to offer and the kinds of people that enjoy them!
1. Puzzle People
The largest group of people drawn to escape rooms are the puzzle enthusiasts. These people enjoy exercising their mind and love solving riddles, puzzles, or brain teasers. If you fit into this category, you will love escape rooms. Escape rooms are centered around searching for clues and solving puzzles in order to advance. So, for all you Nancy Drew enthusiasts, Myst lovers, and Shivers maniacs we say, “Welcome to the wonderful world of escape rooms… what took you so long!”
2. Friend Squads
Then next most common type of person we see is the event organizer, aka the hangout enthusiast. These people are constantly on the lookout for new and exciting things to do with their group of friends. Escape rooms are perfect for people looking new things to try. Each escape room that you play is unique, with tons of themes to choose from and many different difficulty levels. You could play 10 different escape rooms and have 10 completely different experiences. And if you find a company that makes a room that you really like, or you find one that is conveniently located, perfect! Most companies have multiple rooms already open with more to come; so, you and your team can play several rooms before needing to look for a new company to try!
3. Co-workers
Another amazing thing about escape rooms is that they are incredible for team building! Be it sports teams, sales teams, or just for corporate events, escape rooms provide the perfect environment for team building and bonding! In most escape rooms the puzzles are designed to emphasize creative brainstorming, effective communication, and of course teamwork! So, whether you are trying to figure out how your sales team reacts under pressure or are looking for which of your team members might have what it takes to be a leader, escape rooms are a fun and innovative way to challenge your team.
4. Thrill Seekers
Of course, no list of escape room enthusiasts would be complete without mentioning the thrill seekers! If you and your friends are always on the prowl for new thrills, then escape rooms are a dream come true. Escape rooms are fully immersive experiences. Many games tend to increase their level of immersion by putting their players in an exciting, tense, or thrilling environment. Horror themed escape rooms are a great way to get both a steady fix of adrenaline throughout the game and the rush of escaping the room!
5. Cool Parents
And last but certainly not least, are the cool parents. Have you been trying to find ways to be the cool mom or dad? Are you trying to find a fun way to get your kids to disconnect from their phones for a while? Let me tell you, escape rooms are the way to go for both! Escape rooms are exciting and trendy, both challenging kids and giving them a memorable experience that they will want to tell all their friends about. Many escape room companies are now designing rooms for players of all ages making room accessibility for young enthusiasts better now than ever before! So, grab the kids, lock up their iPad, and plan your escape soon!
As you can see, there are many different aspects of an escape room that people connect with. Whether it’s the puzzle-solving, the immersion, or the connecting as a family away from phones and video screens, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. If you were on the fence about whether or not to do an escape room, hopefully this post has helped you get the confidence to dive in feet-first and book your escape room experience now!
Jason Sakal
Game Master, Manager
Cross Roads Escape Games
