APAC Insider- Business Awards 2025 | 21 Widely regarded as offering Australia’s most immersive escape rooms, Escape This operates venues in both Perth and Sydney, with each of its locations pursuing the same goal across every experience delivered: total immersion. Seamlessly blending theatre, cinema, and puzzles across each of the 30 escape rooms it offers, Escape This has more than solidified itself as a fitting recipient of the award for Escape Room Operator of the Year 2025 – Australia. On the back of its acclaim in this programme, we caught up with Founder and CEO Bernie Janes for more on this immersive entertainment. Starting out as two brothers creating stories in a small basement in Perth, Escape This was founded in 2020 to build worlds that people do not just step into, but that they really believe in. Even now, more than five years later, this goal remains unchanged, the only thing that is different is that this has been realised in a number of locations across Australia. The four awardwinning venues the brand has built have welcomed a combined total of more than 400,000 guests – with more locations and visitors planned for 2026 and beyond. Catering to everyone from couples and families to workplaces, friendship groups, and those on events such as Christmas get-togethers and hen nights, Escape This welcomes anyone looking for an authentic experience. Whether this is a lifelong fan of horror stepping into Dracula’s lair or a business using one of Escape This’ corporate programmes as a teambuilding experience, every adventure had at one of these locations is about bringing people together through the kind of unique atmosphere only an escape room can deliver. The love that Bernie and the team behind Escape This have for these spaces is clear to see, and everything from the stories to the sets are designed and built by these in-house experts from the ground up. What follows is a level of heart and authenticity that few escape rooms can match. As Bernie told us: “Because we design and build our experiences in-house, we control every element; from the set design and sound to the lighting and puzzles.” This allows the team to ensure that every guest feels like the hero in their very own movie. “From the moment guests step through the door, we’re not just providing customer service – we’re providing an experience. Every Games Master, every sound cue, every piece of lighting has one goal: to pull people completely into the world we’ve built for them.” What is so special about Escape This is the recognition that the total immersion they strive for is actually an impossible goal. For Bernie and the team, this is incredibly exciting, as it means they work tirelessly in pursuit of this aim, constantly tweaking and refining every detail to inch one step closer to perfection within every space. Such an initiative not only continues to elevate guest experiences; it also keeps the team’s creativity alive. It is this perfect blend of creativity and professionalism that keeps things moving. Exploring this further, Bernie explained: “We’ve got three main crews that make the magic happen. First, there’s our backstage team, who design, build, install, and maintain our worlds. Many of them are arts graduates and bring theatre and design skills to the table. Then there’s our front-of-house crew, the ones who deliver the experience and bring the stories to life for our players. Finally, we have our box-office team, who market our worlds, keep bookings running, and make sure people are excited about what’s behind that door!” Thanks to this well-oiled machine, Bernie is proud to report that the future for Escape This is bigger, bolder, and more ambitious than he could ever have imagined when they first started it five years ago. Having proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that story-driven escape rooms can work at scale in Australia – this through their awardwinning escape room experiences in Perth and Sydney – the team are excited to go nationwide with this model. The first two stops are Melbourne and Brisbane, which Escape This is gearing up to open in 2026. As for 2026 and beyond, the plan for Escape This is to push immersive entertainment to a whole new level, taking all it has learned over the last five years to hopefully bring its signature experiences to every major city in Australia. However, as Bernie shared: “It’s not just about opening more venues, it’s about continuing to evolve what an escape room can be. Bigger stories. More technology. More emotion.” With Escape This just getting started, we can only imagine what the future holds for the best escape rooms in Australia. Contact: Bernie Janes Company: Escape This Web Address https://www.escapethis.com.au/ Escape Room Operator of the Year 2025 – Australia
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