VR venue or escape game: what to choose?

Virtual reality rooms (or Location-Based Entertainment VR, abbreviated LBE VR or LBVR) were born thanks to the evolution of virtual reality. Virtual reality has been around for several decades, but it is its accessibility to developers and studios, in particular thanks to the takeover of Oculus by Facebook and their first development kits, then to the marketing of the first headsets from various large manufacturers ( Valve, Samsung, HTC, Sony…) which allowed the general public and professionals to discover the virtual reality.

Despite the various releases, virtual reality has struggled to make it into people's homes, in part because of an excessively high purchase price and the lack of game licenses produced by major studios. It is therefore natural that professionals, and in particular those in leisure and entertainment, have gradually decided to open places dedicated to this new immersive hobby. Various studios and companies then produced solutions and experiences dedicated to immersive entertainment in LBE VR.

As an entrepreneur, do you want to enter the leisure market but are hesitating between virtual reality and escape games? The two are not incompatible and there are even virtual reality-only escape games today.

Escape games promise players to be transported to a world or situations that are out of the ordinary (prison, submarine, haunted house ...), sometimes with actors and fantastic settings. All the scenarios can be imagined in an escape game room and many escape game enthusiasts travel to different places in the same city, country or even continent to discover them.

As for the LBVRs, they use virtual reality to immerse and transport participants in a totally virtual universe, alone or with others, thanks to virtual reality headsets. There are different types of virtual reality (360 °, VR arcades, free-roaming, XXL free-roaming arena ...) with different degrees of immersion, different equipment, different content. ou non

VR venue and escape game: decor and premises

The locals, the residents

One of the main expenses of indoor recreation players is land. Entrepreneurs will therefore seek to make profitable and modulate the spaces in which their activities take place. And this is where virtual reality is interesting for professionals. The space required per player, the modularity of these and the renewal of their experiences in them is much simpler and less expensive than for an escape game.

Although escape games provide great entertainment for fans of puzzles and mechanics, they immerse participants in original worlds and often stressful situations where cooperation is the key. With the arrival of virtual reality, more and more rooms are supplementing their offerings with virtual reality (to meet their customer demands but also to optimize the available space).

Virtual reality offers escape game fans the opportunity to offer them a new type of experience: visitors do not enter a closed room to find the exit in less than an hour, but escape using helmets. virtual reality.

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The decorations

Escape games offer the opportunity to manipulate sometimes complex mechanisms, to search rooms and discover others, to live new experiences, sometimes sublime, sometimes frightening or stressful, without putting oneself in danger.

Often, the key to escape games is the ability of players to rack their brains to unlock a situation and cooperate as a team to complete the scenario. Unlike virtual reality games which can be played in a single room (and which therefore make it possible to optimize surface area and operating costs), traditional escape games require a large surface area (on average three rooms) because they require 'have one play per scenario.

In addition, to meet the expectations of escape game players, it is necessary to set up (sometimes expensive) sets, find objects, set up mechanisms, find original and differentiating scenarios, recruit and train capable game masters. to put the players in a situation, etc.

So that these elements are not damaged, it is necessary to do important maintenance work which very often requires a high cost. It happens regularly that the mechanics and the game elements are worn or broken and consequently hamper the players in continuing the game.

Indeed, players are very sensitive to the scenery since it is often an essential part of the game (puzzles can be hidden there). That it is believable and consistent with the puzzles is a differentiator for escape game enthusiasts, and it is often overlooked.

The difference to virtual reality escape games lies in the variety of possible settings. Technology makes it possible to create a multitude of different, highly detailed universes. For example, they allow players to travel through time or through eras. Virtual reality, therefore, offers a real advantage in the maintenance and handling of sets.

In a single room, players can travel through a multitude of universes, without having to change or risk damaging the scenery. The studios and developers are full of ideas to immerse players in various worlds, universes, situations where they can be the heroes of their own adventures. VR venue and escape game: equipment side and player experience The player experience of an escape game depends on their ability to immerse themselves (physically and mentally) in the proposed scenario, as a team. To do this, many investments are necessary (purchase of the set, the scenario, manufacture, materials, mechanisms, software, game master, training, maintenance ...) and the maintenance of an escape game (and the quality of the customer experience) can be expensive and time-consuming.

In a virtual reality escape game, the player's avatar mimics all of their body movements. It is endowed with extraordinary abilities allowing players to have experiences that they could not have in a classic escape game. Another element differentiating a “classic” escape game from a VR escape game: in a virtual reality game, players can be equipped with accessories that reinforce the feeling of immersion: in addition to the virtual reality headset you can add in your VR room mats to allow players to run, 3D printed objects or olfactory sensors.

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VR venue and escape game: operators side

In a classic escape game, after each game, the operator must take time to tidy up the room and put everything back in place afterward, significantly reducing the number of customers per hour. A VR escape game, therefore, increases the profitability of a VR room, since it allows easier operation and requires less tedious storage work.

The advantages of virtual reality escape games

The principle of the escape game has tended to be taken up in recent years by virtual reality. Like classic escape games, virtual reality allows players to immerse themselves in a specific universe in order to solve puzzles. It is again a collaborative experience where different players communicate with each other using the audio system built into the headsets. VR escape games, therefore, provide solutions to the problems of decor and storage. Virtual reality easily overcomes the constraint of storage and the wear and tear of mechanisms. Instead of the sad plywood backdrops of the traditional laser game, players move through a fantastic virtual world.

In a VR escape game, it is also easier to immerse the players in a story or in a historical environment, adding as much detail as possible. And if the player loses a tactile and haptic side in virtual reality, he can easily gain in extraordinary, putting himself in situations impossible in reality. Finally, virtual reality escape games offer an original and unprecedented experience that requires reflection and ingenuity, by mastering new mechanisms!

Another advantage of virtual reality escape games will be the replayability of the game. Indeed, some VR games spaces offer to separate participants into 2 teams, allowing participants to come back to test the other version of the escape in VR. Finally, the last advantage of virtual reality escapes games: they are more ecological. Classic escape games use a lot of props that cannot be recycled. Once their usage time has passed, they are thrown away.

Which audience for escape games in VR?

Unlike arcades, which often saw participants come to play on their own, VR or escape game players tend to be in groups. VR escape games are played in teams, so they will be a real added value for your VR room. This kind of experience helps to strengthen the bonds between participants, so it is perfectly suited to team building activities. Likewise, for individuals in groups (friends or family), virtual reality escape games are perfectly suited.

Conclusion

Virtual reality escape games, therefore, have many advantages. Indeed, they combine the advantages of virtual reality (immersion in new universes, travel through many settings and eras, ease of use) and the advantages of escape games (cooperation between players, solving complicated puzzles, setting in complex situations). Adding such experiences to the catalog is therefore almost essential for your VR room. Many studios have developed their escape games in virtual reality, do not hesitate to turn to them for more information on these games.

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