A very late New Year message!
How is it nearly spring already!?
I'm excited to tell you about the new blooms coming up at VR Escape this summer! We haven't got one new room for you this year… We've got TWO NEW ROOMS! More on those in moment.
Firstly though, a quick thank you to all the players that took on our virtual reality escape rooms last year. Every one arrives happy and excited, and then laugh so much as they play that it's infectious. Some people go out of their way to make us laugh, or apologise if they say something a bit naughty. There's nothing we haven't heard before and you keep us happy. Your reviews always say nice things about the team here, but it's very much a two way transaction, so thank you for making our job so much fun!
On the subject of great reviews, we got our 200th five star review just after new year! Good reviews have several effects. In 2023 it led to us recieving the Startup Business of the Year award. In 2024 we got our first TripAdvisor Travellers Choice award. Good reviews obviously help others trust that booking a game here is worth their time and money. They also help the search engines rank us as active and worthwhile showing in relevant searches. (We're finally showing as an Escape Room near Southend, and an Escape Room near Chelmsford. We've been here over two years now - thank you for helping them notice us! Finally, it lets us know what we're doing right or wrong. The games masters pay close attention to reviews, and if one of us gets a positive comment for a particular reason, that good practice gets copied across the team.
And talking of the team, there are five of us now!
Dylan had to leave us in last summer as his day (night) job made him Artistic Director actually working within VR. How cool is that?! His commute is instantaneous, just donning a headset! We wish him all the best.
Sophie and Harry have joined Lauren as games masters. Sophie has GMd physical escape rooms before and is completely taken with our virtual reality experience. Harry is fresh to escape rooms but is proving to be excellent at both running and playing them.
Lauren remains the calmest games master. Having lived through the great Meta update scandal of March24 - that broke everything and had the GMs here questioning their sanity - very little bothers Lauren any more. Ten minutes before a game and none of the headsets will connect? No big deal. A calm ten minutes later everything's up and running, and she's opening the door smiling as if nothing has happened! (You didn't really think a tech based business had no gremlins behind the curtain did you? :) )
Matt and I are still working behind the scenes. He keeps the physical room in good shape and handles everything to do with graphics and signage. I handle the business side of things. You'll also find me running a game now and again just because I enjoy it so much. Best of all, I get to work on what's coming next. What can we introduce that you'll want to play.
So what have I got lined up for you in 2025?
As I mentioned… I'm not bringing you a new escape room this year. I'm bringing you two!
The first will be The Parvus Box, in which you'll find yourself as miniatures in everyday environments... (Think Micromachines or Honey I Shrunk The Kids.)
The second will be Alien Infection. All I can tell you is that you'll be helping an old lady find her cat. And her husband who went looking for the cat. In the woods... At night... (Think John Hurt and Blair Witch.)
Both will be available before the school summer holiday I hope. Keep your eyes on the Facebook page… not long now.
What else?
Well, we regularly get asked about games for younger players, so I'm hoping to have something else ready for the summer. These will likely be more arcade style than our complex escape rooms.
Right then. There's no reason at all that you should have read all the way to here but I'm very grateful if you have. Keep your eyes out for The Parvus Box… coming VERY soon indeed. :) Oh, and keep an eye out for the VR EscapeMobile. If you see it out and about, give us a beep. :)
