ESCAPE ROOMS IN IDAHO

- A Group Exercise on Perception

Confundrum: A Glance
The idea of escape rooms was a new one to our group. When we
were first directed towards the website of Confundrum, we were
amused by the possibility that the excitement we get by watching
thrillers, horror flicks, and by playing board games, can be
experienced in physical reality.

 First impression of the website: When we saw the website,

at first, we felt like a board game came to life. After reading
the description (which is a tad bit large), we felt that it was a
good adventure activity that caters to families, friends, office
colleagues etc. We felt that interesting.
 Another interesting fact was the name which is a pun made
on the word ‘Conundrum’ which means a difficult problem.
The spin they made on the word makes it mean a fun
problem.
 Room themes: The posters of the escape rooms did not
mention much info about the rooms. But, the description
helped understand the themes and generate interest. It
would have helped if the video covered more stuff about the
themes covered in the rooms.
 Price: Nice idea that college students get a discount and
veterans too. Children get a free pass, so they will keep
visiting again. Other than that, we felt that the pricing was
reasonable.
 Reviews: The reviews seem like the visitors have enjoyed
these very much. And the FAQs were extensive and
answered pretty much everything people need to know to
visit.
Overall, we liked the website design. And their rooms are intriguing.
Pricing is somewhat reasonable. So, this can be said to be a good
company, that will give its visitors a good time.

A peek on the competitors

Confundrum has a good number of competitors. The list includes
 Idaho Escape Falls: This website has more interesting themes
for their 4 escape games, even lesser pricing per person. The
website needs some improvement, because it is somewhat
ugly. Also, some of their rooms aren’t suitable for younger
persons. So, not mostly family friendly.

 Main Street Mysteries: This company takes the mystery of

these rooms to another level. It removes the rooms and makes
it a treasure hunt across a city, which also serves as a city tour
and a scavenger hunt. It has a very friendly website and 2
videos that summarize their FAQs. Their pricing is a
competition, given their novelty. But unfortunately, has only
one theme to go with.

 Gnarly Escapes: Their 2 escape room themes are intense and

slightly creepy. Not very family friendly. Their pricing is pretty
huge, which isn’t a good sign. Website is pretty bland.

 World of Escapes: This website is the aggregator of all the

websites we have seen so far except Main Street Mysteries. So
definitely has the most diverse choice among the group. It has a
mix of adult oriented and family friendly themes. It also offers
reasonable price for rooms. Has customer reviews and ratings
to compare among the rooms. This one is a tough competitor
to Confundrum because it offers nice alternatives to their
rooms.
Perceptual Map

This map is prepared on the basis of the following semantic-

differentials:
1. Choice of themes for rooms:
Main Street Mysteries has one theme, Gnarly Escapes provides
two. Confundrum and Idaho Escape Rooms gives 4, and World
of Escapes offers 14 .

2. Affordability:
Gnarly Escapes cost very high ranging from $16-$22 per person.
Idaho Escape Rooms cost $15 per person. Main Street costs $45
for 6 people. Confundrum operates at $15-$25 per person but
 provides discount for students, children, senior citizens and war
veterans. World of Escapes covers the range of all the above-
mentioned price and some extra for themselves.

3. Generating Interest:
This is the combination of adult oriented vs family friendly and
interesting themes. So, this was somewhat tricky to make, since
interest is subjective. But somehow, we landed on some rating
scores and decided that Main Street Mysteries and World of
Escapes are more interesting than Confundrum.

Repositioning Strategies
After reviewing all websites, we have some suggestions to develop
Confundrum into a more entertaining company:
 Using a gallery along with their blog.
 Make more interesting, intense rooms, thereby offering diverse
choice.
 Show how their puzzles work by teasing with samples in their
websites.
 Expand their social media presence by putting more posts. They
could also use more original memes!
These ideas can be used to expand the customer base of escape
room visitors in Idaho Falls.