Puzzle Break on Royal Caribbean, Part 2

This is a part two of a series on the history of the first escape rooms at sea by Puzzle Break and Royal Caribbean. Part one is here.

Harmony of the Seas, on the Seas

Escape from the Future was an instant hit. We deliberately designed the experience to be large by contemporary escape room standards: recommended for 6-12 people. Lots of content, lots of collaboration, and lots of new life-long friends made on your cruise!

One quirk of Escape from the Future is that it’s a pop-up room. We designed and produced the components such that the entire operation could be taken down and the space reclaimed for a nightclub. This was an efficient use of real estate, but Royal Caribbean was ready to go bigger for our next projects.

While Escape from the Future was first deployed to Anthem of the Seas, Royal Caribbean secured a dedicated venue for Puzzle Break aboard the upcoming Harmony of the Seas (the largest cruise ship in the world). At the same time, we partnered with veteran LA based production company ShowFX to ensure our next game, Escape the Rubicon by Puzzle Break would blow the world away.

With a large dedicated venue for a permanent build, the most experienced escape room designers in the world, and a budget to realize a Hollywood-level vision, we got to work. We again set out to create a large game, but with a focus on theatrical elements, unforgettable moments, and technology-driven puzzles.

The end result was stunning.

Do you think you have what it takes to Escape the Rubicon?

Our first Escape the Rubicon game on Harmony of the Seas was nothing short of revolutionary.

From the industrial materials to the puzzle integration to the blockbuster special effects, Escape the Rubicon raised the bar for not only escape rooms, but immersive entertainment everywhere.

Quaid, start the reactor!

Making history is never easy. We learned (and continue to learn!) a lot of lessons about material choice, puzzle design in a unique environment, maintenance, quality control, and everything in between.

Fortunately reception to Escape the Rubicon was off-the-charts positive, and we immediately got to work on several new projects. Armed with our newfound learnings, we were poised to continue to shape the direction of entertainment.

Next up: Great to More Great

-Nate

Puzzle Break on Royal Caribbean, Part 1

As many of our fans are well aware, Puzzle Break has had a close partnership with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line since 2014. Less common knowledge is the history of the partnership, the evolution of our offerings, and the current Puzzle Break escape rooms and games available on the Royal fleet. In this first part of a series, I’m going to discuss how it all began.

Actual in-game photo of Puzzle Break: Observatorium aboard Independence of the Seas. A magnum opus, until the next one.

Not only is Puzzle Break the first American escape room company, we also have the proud distinction of being the first escape games on the high seas! In 2014, there were fewer than 10 escape room locations in the U.S., and two of them were Puzzle Breaks. As we were figuring out our next move as a business, I had coffee with San Francisco based game designer Rebecca Power.  She designed The Racket, a famous experiential/social/gamified event for large groups. We were discussing how we could further expand immersive entertainment to unlikely markets, and cruise ships came up in the conversation. I *love* cruising, and immediately seized on the idea that escape rooms could be the next entertainment revolution in that industry.

Not only are escape games the the most fun that anyone can have doing anything, they are a fantastic way to both share an unforgettable time with family and the perfect activity to make new lifelong friends. Instant cruise hit, for sure. I just had to make it happen. Nowhere to start but at the beginning, I started cold calling. With the almighty power of dumb luck on my side, I almost immediately found the perfect partner in Royal Caribbean with newly minted Vice President of Entertainment Nick Weir. He immediately grasped the limitless potential of the concept, but he understandably needed to see it in action first.

We hatched a plan to quickly convert one of our Puzzle Break escape rooms into a portable experience and run a pilot-by-fire for the toughest audience in the world: Ship Captains. These CEOs-of-the-sea have countless responsibilities of paramount importance, are fully responsible for teams of thousands, and might not take too kindly to surrendering their absolute authority in an escape room environment.

In late 2014 while the newly minted (and impossibly gorgeous) Quantum of the Seas was docked in Bayonne, New Jersey, Puzzle Break descended onto a rare conference of Royal Caribbean Ship Captains. We were nervous. The context:

• Nick Weir repeatedly told that this would be the toughest audience we’d ever encounter, and we suspected he might be right.
• The activity was scheduled at the end of the day. We were the last thing standing between folks after a long day at a conference and their dinner/drinks/sleep. Never a comfortable spot.
• Designing the perfect escape room experience is an art. For this event, we Frankenstein’d some of our designs into a new portable experience that didn’t have an established pedigree of balanced perfection.
• The stakes were high. I saw a future where Puzzle Break was on every ship in the Royal Caribbean fleet and a household name enjoyed by millions…
• …But that’d be a tough sell if we didn’t nail the two pilot games.

I’ll never forget the first 5 minutes of the first pilot game. Mine and Nick Weir’s team were crammed into an observation booth as the team of captains filed into our makeshift Puzzle Break room. Silently, they began circulating the space and observing our setup. After what felt like an eternity (but was probably closer to 2 minutes), a few of the captains excitedly made a connection on a puzzle. They loudly and clearly explained what they did, how they did it, and what they recommended the team focus on. The excitement in the room exploded, and they were off!

The two pilot groups of captains both successfully escaped the room with about 5 minutes left on the clock and they had an absolute blast. As they headed to the elevators, I heard some of them discussing how they hoped they could get the game on their ship.

In the observation booth, everyone was elated. Instantly, our vision was validated. We had literally witnessed the birth of a new chapter in the entertainment industry, and we all knew it. My team headed home and immediately began executing plans to open the first escape room on a cruise ship.

Escape from the Future by Puzzle Break made history as the first escape room aboard a ship.

Just a few short months later, a modified version of the very game played by the Royal Caribbean ship captains made its public debut: Escape from the Future on Anthem of the Seas.

Next up: Good to Great.

-Nate

Packing.

Hello!

My name is Nate Martin. I am the co-founder and CEO of Puzzle Break. And tonight, I am packing. More accurately, I am preparing to pack, which is at least 50% of the process. For what am I packing? Good question.

Back in late 2014, I entered discussions with the folks at Royal Caribbean Cruise Line about putting our games on their ships. To my mind, it was a great fit. Having cruised several times in the past, I knew first hand how hard it can be to meet like-minded folks on a floating cityscape. Escape rooms and team puzzle games are enormously fun group activities and a great way to meet new friends. The Royal folks wanted to take our stuff for a test drive before they made any decisions, so we packed up an entire escape room in a few boxes and flew to beautiful, exotic, and tropical New Jersey to do a demo game for their Captain and Cruise Director conference.

This was a real trial-by-fire. You see, each captain and cruise director are effectively CEOs of massive organizations. They answer to no one, and generally have extremely strong personalities.

EDUCATIONAL ASIDE: You might call them "Type A" personalities, but I hate this term. True fact: Type A and Type B personalities were invented by doctors hired by the tobacco industry as a way to demonstrate people who smoked a whole bunch were having heart attacks because of their personality, rather than, you know, smoking a whole bunch.

ANYWAY: Strong bullheaded audience. This is particularly relevant because a successful and entertaining room escape experience is almost always hallmarked by prodigious teamwork facilitated by the willingness to take orders. These folks were not in the habit of taking orders, and their having a great time was going to matter a great deal; Royal wouldn't want our games on their ships if we couldn't demonstrate how amazingly fun they are (which, as it happens, they are).

My team and I schlepped our escape-room-in-a-crate all the way from Seattle to the deck of Quantum of the Seas, docked in Bayonne, New Jersey. After some confusion with the security checkpoint (we brought a lot of metal with us). We set up the game in one of the dance halls, and after a not-terribly-long wait, the first group of captains arrived. They were grumpy. This was not unexpected; spending all day at a conference can often rate "Kafkaesque nightmare" on the fun-on-a-bun scale. And let's not forget: We were in New Jersey.

After a quick intro, they trudged into the room, reasonably determined to not have fun. I was starting to get nervous, but I had failed to make a critical assumption. You see, playing an escape room with your peers is a stupendous opportunity to demonstrate how smart you are. The captains instantly latched onto this fact, and immediately bought in to the experience. They tore into the game with a fervor, exhibited amazing teamwork, and escaped the room with a healthy margin.

Our game was a hit, and we shortly inked a deal with Royal Caribbean to offer Puzzle Break: Escape from the Future on their Anthem of the Seas ship. We launched in early 2015. I type this on an uncharacteristically warm evening in April 2016, as I pack. Or rather, am preparing to pack. In two days, I am flying to Germany, where I will be overseeing the installation and training for Puzzle Break: Escape from the Future and Puzzle Break: The Mansfield Museum Mystery, coming soon to Royal Caribbean's Ovation of the Seas (not to be confused with Harmony of the Seas' Puzzle Break: Escape the Rubicon, which rates several blog posts by itself).