Articles by Brian Gondek

Impromptu Detroit Getaway

August 4, 2019 Brian Gondek 0

Talk about an unexpected journey.  For more than a week Christina and I had planned to go to Traverse City, Michigan again, staying at the bed & breakfast aboard the SS City of Milwaukee, an old 1930s ferry which now stays in one location as a museum.  Unfortunately for us, the rest of the world must have also decided this was a good weekend for northern Michigan, as the SS City of Milwaukee was booked completely and all other hotel options were in the $350 a night range.

Beta Testing with Enthusiasts: Dos and Dont’s

July 31, 2019 Brian Gondek 0

You’re opening a new escape room and you only have one opportunity to beta test it.  You can either bring in a team of family and friends who generally like the idea and enjoy puzzles, or you can bring out a hardcore escape room enthusiast, say one who solved an escape room in every state in under a year.  What do you do?

The Anatomy of a Bad Experience

July 21, 2019 Brian Gondek 1

Christina and I recently completed a negative experience at a nearby escape room, Panic Escape Room.  I don’t like speaking negatively about escape rooms regarding subjective elements that I personally didn’t like, but Panic had enough objective issues that make it a perfect case study for simple things to avoid in room design.

50 States, Pictured

July 18, 2019 Brian Gondek 0

I finally got around to plotting on a map the locations of where I’ve solved escape rooms. Now I’m interested in taking trips to plug some of the biggest geographical gaps.

Fort Collins, CO: ConTRAPtions – Plight of the Margo Part 1

July 13, 2019 Brian Gondek 0

May 11, 2019 – On our most recent trip to Denver, Christina and I wanted to hike a little. There’s no shortage of options around Denver for this, but we had heard from Brian at Rabbit Hole Recreation Services that the Fort Collins area had some great escape rooms in addition to its natural wonders, so we headed in that direction.

Escape Room Prizes

July 4, 2019 Brian Gondek 0

Many escape room businesses offer some kind of prize for winning.  Whether it be a small prize like a sticker or a big prize like a T-shirt, or even proof of victory like a digital leaderboard or a stamp on a “passport,” there are a lot of prizes out there right now.  So what makes a good prize? I’ll break down my thoughts on a few of the prizes I’ve encountered:

Marietta, GA: ZEscape – The Cells

June 30, 2019 Brian Gondek 0

June 9, 2019 – We visited ZEscape as a last minute stop on the way back to Atlanta after visiting family in North Carolina.  Though I didn’t have much time to read up on the place, their website showed a few clever details that suggested the overall quality of the business.  ZEscape had both a 75 minute room and an asymmetrical versus room in which a British room and a Pirates room compete against each other to be the first out, with different but complementary puzzles in both rooms.  Both of these details suggested ZEscape didn’t follow a typical formula, […]

Aquatic Atlanta Adventure

June 24, 2019 Brian Gondek 0

Christina and I had a brutal time getting to Atlanta and arrived late on Friday, June 7.  We left straight from work and came dangerously close to missing our plane due to an already-late Uber driver stopping for Starbucks on the way.  So of course our reaction was to seek out an escape room immediately upon landing.

Puzzle #47: Accidental Creation

June 22, 2019 Brian Gondek 0

I’ve had a busy few weeks. The last two weekends involved a trip to Georgia and North Carolina as well as significant wedding planning. I feel remiss to not have even mentioned my trip to Atlanta yet, which had some pretty neat escape room experiences despite a relatively short trip.