PanIQ Escape Room

PanIQ Escape Room also known as PanIQ Room is an escape room franchise created by PanIQ Entertainment. Conceived in Hungary and developed in the United States in 2014, PanIQ Room became the first international escape room chain with franchise disclosure documentation. As of November 2019, it had eighteen locations in the United States, Europe and Pakistan.

PanIQ Escape Room
IndustryLive amusement • Escape rooms
Founded2014
Headquarters
Los Angeles
Number of locations
20
Area served
USA • Europe • Asia
Key people
Ákos Gábossy (CEO)
ProductsEscape rooms • Drink bars
Websitepaniqescaperoom.com

History

After a couple of isolated precedents across the world, a significant number of escape rooms first appeared in Budapest in early 2011. They soon became the top-ranked tourist attraction of the city.[1] One of them was Pániq Szoba, opened in March 2012 by Balázs Koltai and managed by him and Balázs Ureczky.[2]

In order to turn the concept of Pániq Szoba into an international undertaking, several Hungarian entrepreneurs, including Ákos Gábossy, Patrik Horváth, Gábor Péteri and Patrik Strausz, partnered with the owners of Pániq Szoba to found PanIQ Escape Room in 2014. The company entered the U.S. market as PanIQ Entertainment with two themes in Hollywood. When the rooms turned out to be a success, they opened their second U.S. location in San Francisco with three rooms: The Prison, Psycho and Geek.[3][4] In 2017, PanIQ Escape Room officially became the first international escape room franchise in the world. The company is still responsible for the project design of all the rooms.[5][6]

In February 2016, a family-oriented MagIQ Room was opened in Beverly Hills, with three themes: Secrets of Wizardry, Pirate’s Den and Curse of the Mummy.[7]

As of April 2022, PanIQ Escape Room has 17 escape room locations worldwide. In the U.S.: Atlanta (GA), Austin (TX), Boston (MA), 2 locations in Chicago (IL) - Logan Square and Fulton Market, Dallas (TX), Houston (TX), Las Vegas (NV),Miami (FL) in Wynwood and Miami Beach; NYC (NY); San Francisco (CA); and San Jose (CA).[8][9][10] PanIQ Room’s flagship location on the Las Vegas Strip was opened in August, 2020.[11] In Europe: Budapest (Hungary) as Neverland Bar & Escape Room; PanIQ Room Marseille (France); PanIQ Room Stockholm (Sweden). In Asia: PanIQ Room Islamabad (Pakistan) and PanIQ Room Lahore (Pakistan).[12]

As of April 2022, the following PanIQ Escape Room venues are under construction: Atlantic City (NJ); Indianapolis (IN); Los Angeles (CA); Miami Beach (FL); Sacramento (CA); San Diego (CA); Seattle (WA). The original Pániq Szoba is still in operation, but they are no longer part of the franchise, along with an affiliate location in Sydney, Australia.[13]

Recent expansion and development has been the result of a Series A venture capital investment from Hiventures in the amount of US$875,000 in August 2018.[14][15]

PanIQ Escape Room is a member of the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA), International Franchise Professionals Group (IFPG), and International Franchise Association (IFA).[16]

PanIQ Room acquired 40% of Indestroom in 2022, which is the biggest escape room prop and puzzle manufacturer in the world.[17]

Rooms

The general objective of participants in each room is the same: to find a way to get out before the time runs out.

In the Geek Room in Silicon Valley, startup employees are physically trapped in a room, with one hour to solve the puzzles. In 2016, the Geek Room was updated to add more drama, with players having to avoid explosives laid by their coked up boss.[4][18] The San Francisco location also includes "Wizards" and "Medieval" rooms..[19][20] Other popular themes are The Wild West in Phoenix, The Mob in Chicago and The Perfect Crime in Washington D.C.[21]

Role players, game designers, electrical engineers, carpenters, physicists, chemists and magicians take part in the designing and manufacturing of the games.[3]

Experimentation which is needed to get out of the rooms promotes teamwork.[22] Google, Cisco Systems, Hewlett-Packard and other Fortune 500 companies have used PanIQ rooms as a team building exercise.[23]

PanIQ's recently built rooms include: The Haunted Manor, The Time Machine, Zombie Outbreak, Atlantis Rising, Casino Heist, Cartel Crackdown, Wizard Trials. One of the first escape rooms in the US, their Insane Asylum room was first built in 2014, and its newer iterations opened in 2022.[24][25]

In the US, PanIQ started with building first generation escape rooms in 2014, and in 2022, most of their rooms are GEN3.[26] Also, the company has been working on a fourth generation room since 2020.[27]

References
  1. Sean Williams (10 January 2014). "Claustrophilia: how a live-action game became Budapest's top tourist activity". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  2. Sean Williams (10 January 2014). "Paniq Entertainment". LinkedIn. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  3. Pamela Sosnowski. "PanIQ Escape Room Provides A Thrilling, In-Person Experience". Bay Area For Sale. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  4. Zara Stone (17 January 2017). "Escape The Startup Is A Terrifying Twist On Silicon Valley Culture". Forbes. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  5. "Paniq Room". We Love Budapest. Archived from the original on 5 August 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  6. Iren Hermann (17 January 2017). "Pánik és siker: magyar szabadulószobák lepik el Amerikát" (in Hungarian). Forbes.hu. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  7. "About Us". PanIQ Escape Room. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  8. admin. "Two Bit Circus Micro-Amusement Park Tour". Bionic Buzz. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  9. D'Ambrosio, Daniel. "Hungarian Entrepreneur Bets Big On Escape Rooms. Can You Say Vegas Strip?". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  10. Martin, Bradley (2019-08-28). "Dine and Drink After You Flee the Palazzo's PanIQ Escape Rooms". Eater Vegas. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  11. "PanIQ escape room open on Las Vegas Strip". MSN. Retrieved 2022-03-10.
  12. Irén, Hermann (2019-02-10). "Melyik amerikai megy be egy pincébe, hogy kiszabaduljon onnan?". index.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  13. Irén, Hermann (2019-02-10). "Melyik amerikai megy be egy pincébe, hogy kiszabaduljon onnan?". index.hu (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  14. "Hiventures PanIQ Room - Ne pánikolj, a szabadulószoba remek üzlet!". PanIQ Room - Ne pánikolj, a szabadulószoba remek üzlet! (in Hungarian). Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  15. "Paniq Franchising Receives A Series A Investment « MarketersMEDIA – Press Release Distribution Services – News Release Distribution Services". marketersmedia.com. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  16. "PanIQ Escape Room - Escape Room Franchise United States". PanIQ Escape Room. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  17. "Partnership of Paniq Room and Indestroom". INDESTROOM. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  18. Penny Warner (10 March 2017). "Valley Life: Escape attempt from room surprisingly fun". East Bay Times. Retrieved 3 April 2017.
  19. Juliet Bennett Rylah (18 December 2014). "Get Locked In A Room For Fun: 6 Real-Life Escape Games In Los Angeles". Laist. Archived from the original on 8 May 2017. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  20. Alex Stone (30 September 2014). "Escaping the Paniq Room". ABC News. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  21. Jason (18 March 2017). "Crime Doesn't Pay - Room: Perfect Crime - March 16, 2017". The Escape Room Guys. Retrieved 5 April 2017.
  22. Lindsay Adams (13 April 2015). "The PanIQ Room: Experimentation is the Key Out". Antedote. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  23. Betty Yu (19 May 2015). "Escape From A Locked Room Becomes Bay Area's Newest Attraction". CBS. Retrieved 4 April 2017.
  24. "Use your powers of deduction at PanIQ Escape Room & Lounge in Las Vegas". Las Vegas Magazine. Retrieved 2022-03-31.
  25. "PanIQ Escape Room (Logan Square) | Attractions in Logan Square, Chicago". Time Out Chicago. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  26. "Hungary-Based PanIQ Escape Rooms Expanding to Atlanta - What Now Atlanta". whatnowatlanta. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  27. Team, Startup Info (2020-09-27). "Akos Gabossy of PanIQ Tells Us How Generation 4 Escape Room is Expected Bring Joy to Many People". Retrieved 2022-05-02.
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