Why Do People Like Escape Rooms?

Being trapped in a room and having to solve a series of puzzles in order to find a way out under a strict time limit, would for some people, be their idea of a living hell. And yet the popularity of escape rooms has risen dramatically in the past few years, even despite films such as Escape Room and SAW depicting the terrifying possibility that they could be used for more sinister means. So why, despite going against many of our natural instincts, are people so in love with escape rooms?

Well, firstly we need to look into the fact that escape rooms are a full body, immersive, game experience and a chance for a person to become someone else for the duration of the game. Escape rooms provide their participants with a real life gaming experience, an opportunity to engage with and simulate a popular gaming scenario. Just as video games have been dubbed as ā€˜addictiveā€™ due to their stimulation of adrenaline, so are escape rooms, people love a challenge and quickly get hooked on the feeling of winning and outcompeting their escape room environment. Just as we used to enjoy playing hide and seek as a child, escape rooms appeal to adults looking for fun and adventure, with the ticking time limit and background fear of being locked in adding to the excitement.

The variety of escape rooms available also play into their success, ensuring that their is a game to suit any player. You can travel back to ancient Rome, fight off zombies in an apocalypse or visit a royal palace, the escape room provides the player with the option to be a part of any number of different worlds and to form their own character within it. From fairy fantasies to zombie nightmares thereā€™s a style of game for all age groups and any number or players, making them appealing to a wide range of people. There are even games such as tiki palace escape room, where the objective is to earn more time in room by completing the hidden puzzles. People get a buzz out of different things, for some people the fear of being in the escape room in a horror style scenario adds to their adrenaline hit and the game is no longer simply about beating the tasks or the timer but about staying alive, for others, itā€™s all about the mental challenge, and the complexity of the puzzles themselves.

Another important reason why escape rooms may remain so popular is their ability to be played by a group of people, encouraging a feeling of bonding and teamwork as the challenges are overcome. As a social activity with a focus on teamwork and communication they seem perfect for group activities such as a hen or stag do, birthday parties or even work based team building days, companies love them as a way to view how their employees work in high pressure situations.

In essence escape rooms are a very clever activity that taps into a human desire for social, varied, immersive games that release regular hits of adrenaline and offer a feeling of satisfaction and pleasure. No wonder theyā€™re so popular. Have you ever tried one?

Some Bizzarre Animal Reproduction Facts

Banana slugs are huge, theyĀ eat your garden, and they leave a slimy trail as they squirm across the ground. Their method of reproduction is no more pleasant than their appearance: The scientific name for one species of banana slug isĀ Ariolimax dolichophallus, the second part of which means ā€œlong penis,ā€ and itā€™s apt. The invertebrates’Ā penisesĀ can be 6 to 8 inches longā€”the entire length of the slug’s body. When it’s time to get down, the penises grow out of pores in the head. It isnā€™t unusual for the penis of one slug to get stuck inside the other during copulation; to solve this uncomfortable situation, the slug on the receiving end will eat the penis that’s stuck inside it.

The elephant penis is so huge that males can rest on it like itā€™s a leg. When erect, it can weigh in at 66 pounds and can be more than 3 feet long. Itā€™s also prehensile, which means that an elephant can move it around and even use it to scratch hard to reach places. Meanwhile, female elephants have a very long reproductive tract ā€”nearly 10 feet from start to finishā€”and the vagina doesnā€™t begin until about 4.27 feet in, so the elephant penis doesn’t enter the vagina. So male elephants have evolved to produce more but smaller sperm to combat the risk of dilution. To follow the reproductive strategy of mice sperm, elephant sperm would need to be scaled up enormously to make a difference.

Neotrogla, a fly-like insect that lives in a caveĀ in Brazil, is the first-ever species found that has ā€œoppositeā€ genitalia. The females are equipped with spiny, penis-like genitalia called gynosomes, which they use to penetrate the male; then, the insects get it on for up to 70 hours as the male transfers sperm and nutrients to the female. If the two are separated during copulation, the maleā€™s insides will be ripped out while the female remains intact.