Best Services and Suppliers for Escape Rooms
Turn-key Escape Rooms and Puzzles:
1. Indestroom - The largest provider of puzzles and turn-key escape rooms worldwide. Pros: Reliable like Swiss watches, strong support team, can create anything to your design, and all puzzles are easily repairable. Cons: You’re almost certain to have escape rooms built by Indestroom in your state/city, and if you choose a turn-key setup, chances are players may have encountered it elsewhere. Not cheap, but still significantly more affordable than U.S.-based manufacturers. I have five escape rooms from them (customized to fit my needs) and about ten puzzles in my other rooms.
2. Time Quest - A smaller, more budget-friendly company with unique technologies and puzzles. Cons: Smaller selection of rooms and puzzles, with slightly more complex puzzle technology, but with plenty of original solutions. I’d recommend Tesla and Train as their top turn-key rooms. I have one turn-key room and a few puzzles from them. I like their attention to fine details in puzzles and decor.
3. EcoDecor - A tiny team, likely 1-2 people. The puzzles are simple but practically indestructible. I have puzzles from them that haven’t needed repairs in 5-6 years. They build slowly but with quality. Great for a budget update to your room.
4. ProducED Studio - Played The Room? They create puzzle boxes like the ones in The Room. Very high-tech and engaging. Based on these boxes, I had two two-player escape rooms with excellent ROI. Cons: Repairs are challenging due to unique parts and limited durability, as the boxes are designed for supervised, offsite events rather than daily, high-stress use in escape rooms. After three years, we retired both rooms due to wear and chose to preserve the boxes for posterity. They also offer some unique puzzles, especially the Hogwarts staircase puzzle—worth a look.
5. Escape Room Shop - A one-man shop. Interesting but delicate puzzles that sometimes need adjustment. However, once adjusted, they run smoothly for years. I have 5-6 puzzles from him that have been running for over four years.
6. Cryptex by Justin Navin - If you own escape rooms, you have to support Cryptex genius Justin Navin by owning at least one, if not two, of his cryptexes. It’s an unspoken code among escape room owners. These are the highest quality, most reliable, and masterfully crafted cryptexes around. Trust me, you’ll spend far more on unreliable Amazon cryptexes than on even the priciest from Justin.
7. PuzzleMaster.ca - A standard store for small puzzle components, secret boxes, and combination locks. They have everything mechanical, though no electronics.
8. Brainrace.app - This team provides software for creating your own outdoor escape game/scavenger hunt in your city, but best of all, they can handle it remotely, turnkey style. We’ve worked with them for years, selling a scavenger hunt in a box as our own product.
9. EscapeRoomsPPC - The agency handling my advertising. Based on my experience running a similar agency, I can say they do a good job for the price. I don’t have time to manage ads myself, but I can review reports and give recommendations monthly. Mention you’re referred by Aleksei if you get in touch to get special rates.
General Business Services:
Below, I’ve included referral links. If you use any, we both get discounts and bonuses, so why not?
11. Bookeo - Industry standard for online bookings and customer management for escape rooms. Never let us down; we’ve used it for 10 years. Affordable.
12. Gusto - Hiring, payroll, paperwork, tax forms—if you’re not using this, I’d be surprised; it’s hard to find comparable quality.
13. Bench.com - Bookkeeping, with a clear display of your debits and credits. They handle everything, so you can just log in and monitor your finances. It’s easier for us than doing it manually in QuickBooks. Cons: Staff turnover, which is disappointing after spending time explaining your business setup to ensure accurate categorization, only for a new manager to come in.
14. Telzio.io - A smart auto-attendant so only important calls reach the manager. Allows for a button-menu system, which is more efficient than explaining everything verbally. Call us at Conundroom Escape Rooms to hear how it works. Someday we’ll switch to AI-driven calls, but this works for now.
15. Slack - Free team communication service. If you’re still using WhatsApp or Messenger, I highly recommend switching. Conversations can be categorized by topic, and notifications are work-specific.
16. Chase Business Credit Card - The best for business, with high cashback and sign-up bonus.