The mysterious “generations” of Rooms, everybody seems to have their own definition of this obscure term.
What really are Escape Room generations?
There is not (and will never be) an official definition for generations of Escape Rooms.
The general perception of said generations, what they are referring to and the most popular division among them are the following.
1st generation – most of the puzzles are mechanical, next to no electronics, there is not much focus on the theme and decorations;
2nd generation – there are some electronic puzzles, coherent decorations in the chosen theme, can include some special (light/sound) effects;
3rd generation – heavy use of electronics, strongly relies on the chosen theme, can include special effects and live actors.
Anything beyond that (all kinds of “4th gens”, “next-gens”, etc.) are used very lightly and may indicate fully-automated Escape Rooms, Virtual Reality games… or just empty words of an owner who thinks that his or her ER is somehow special and better than others.
Remember what’s important
All in all, what counts is the happiness of players.
Players don’t really care if the Escape Room is of the 2nd or 3rd gen, they just want to have a memorable experience.
Of course, it’s good to have some idea about the generations of Escape Rooms but arguing about the definitions helps no one.
