IAAPA Expo 2025, the premier trade show for all things related to commercial amusements, is only a week away. For today’s focus on new arcade entertainment to be found there, we have newcomers Dark Escape Games. They will debut two “5-minute escape rooms” that are in a relatively small, arcade-sized footprint there, and they are potentially the most innovative producer that we’ll see at the event. Located at the AVS Companies booth (#1918, Games & Arcade Pavilion), those two games are called Clown Around and Pyramid Scheme. Thanks to Sean Tyler of DEG for providing the info.
Interview: Sean Tyler of Dark Escape Games
Arcade Heroes: How did the company start and how long has it been around for?
Sean Tyler: I’ve had an art studio creating occasional projects for twenty years, and our game room lighting company has manufactured custom billiard table lights for about fifteen years. DEG is an upstart, taking the creative energy of the art studio and the manufacturing chops of the lighting business and spinning it into something new. I’ve been developing, prototyping and market testing our two initial offerings for the past twelve months.
AH: What brought about this idea of these mini escape rooms?
ST: My first love has always been Halloween, and haunted attractions, and I wanted to create a “dark ride” that was a truly immersive 45 minute experience where you were really a character in a horror story. Alas, my vision would have taken 50,000 sq ft. and several years to fabricate, so I decided to put all the same goals into a much more manageable space, and basically push myself to see just how much of an experience I could create in twenty square feet. Using the escape room concept was just a natural fit to give the experience structure.
[Editor’s note: these are of a similar size to environmental deluxe arcade cabinets, like Jurassic Park, House of the Dead Scarlet Dawn or indeed Dark Escape 4D; below is a photo showing the inside of the Pyramid Scheme and Clown Around, respectively]
AH: How do they work?
ST: Both games offer a very different style of game play, especially compared to what else is out there right now. The goal is the same as any other escape room, but we have adjusted things to fit with the timing and throughput needs of an amusement venue.
Clown Around
ST: In the Clown Around a voice comes over the radio telling of the grisly scene at the local circus, and while authorities believe the culprit to be one of the famous circus clowns, they are unsure which clown is the killer. So you must sort thru the evidence and determine which clowns are victims and which is actually the killer. Whether you win or lose, the killer makes an appearance in a classic jump scare.
[Editor’s note: Clown Around is up for an IAAPA Brass Ring Award. This one carries a little bit of a CarnEvil vibe for me]
Pyramid Scheme
In the Pyramid Scheme you’ve stumbled upon the tomb of an ancient pharaoh who is about to rise and cover the lands with darkness, unless you return his vital organs back to the sacred jars. So you’ll need to decipher the hieroglyphs, solve the puzzles, and then reach into the mummy’s chest and remove his organs and return them to the proper jars. Again, whether you win or lose the mummy snaps to life and gives you an ear full.
Inside the cabinets we try to engage as many of your senses as possible, and while you’re locked inside, you can end the game and leave at anytime by pressing the EXIT/END GAME button(pictured from inside Clown Around). Without doing this, the games last for about five minutes.
AH: Are there any variables about the gameplay that changes from play-to-play or does it always stay the same?
ST: Each “Scenario” has one correct answer. New “Expansion Scenarios” are scheduled to come out annually for each Cabinet, so owners may swap out all of the puzzles and props with an entirely new adventure in just 2-3 hours.
AH: With them being unattended, is there a way to prevent the theft of any of the items inside?
ST: We designed these games with the absolute worst case scenario in mind, whether because a venue happens to serve alcohol, or just due to the general mischievous and destructive nature of society at large. Every prop and puzzle is either bolted thru or secured with aircraft cable or the like. Of course nothing is indestructible, so all parts and props have plug and play replacements, but I can say that the Clown Around just finished a ten week trial at a major FEC and did not a suffer single issue of damage or theft.
AH: What kind of operator options are built into these?
ST: Only the ability to change the internal and external audio volumes. Due to the nature of the puzzles and gameplay we simply couldn’t allow for variables to be randomly changed like length of game, or difficulty level.
Our thanks to Sean for taking the time to answer our questions, and to provide media. I have little experience with full-sized escape rooms, but have always appreciated their unique way of offering up a custom experience that can be more difficult to replicate at home (although I know there are home versions out there too). This certainly falls into the ‘unique’ category for what is usually offered in our industry, as they are essentially mini-haunted houses. It will be interesting to see how they perform on location, especially with content updates.
As a reminder, you won’t find them listed on the IAAPA map as they are at the AVS Companies booth (#1918).
