How much does it cost to build an escape room?

The honest answer

We do not publish a range. Not out of commercial caution, but because a generic range helps nobody: the gap between a restrained room in a sound unit and a heavily technical room in a unit needing works exceeds a factor of four. An average between the two describes neither.

What is useful is knowing what the budget is made of. You can then read a quote and spot what is missing.

The budget lines

The unit. Compliance works, partitioning, electrics, ventilation and fire safety. The most variable line, and the one discovered too late when the unit was not surveyed before the lease was signed.

Design. World, story, game sequence, mechanism drawings, dimensioned drawings, art direction. The cheapest line in the project, and the one that determines the value of all the others.

Sets. Structure, second fix, finishes, scenic furniture. The price per square metre varies with the finish level and the intended lifespan. A set built to last five years is not built like a film set.

Technology. Automation, sensors, locks, scenic lighting, sound, supervision. This line decides your future running cost: every fragile mechanism is a recurring breakdown.

Furniture and front of house. Counter, waiting room, toilets, lockers. Systematically underestimated, though it is the first and last space the customer sees.

Launch. Website, online booking, photography, signage, opening. A venue that opens without a booking channel sells over the phone, during the hours when the team is running games.

How to get a figure that concerns you

Three things are needed: the real usable floor area, the condition of the unit and the intended finish level. With those three, a costing holds. Without them, any figure is decorative.

That is exactly what the feasibility study is for.