2026/01/02 by Erik Champion, Susannah Emery · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Health Professions · Psychology · #Artistic and Creative Research #Creativity in Education and Neuroscience #Digital Storytelling and Education
paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/14626268.2026.2656147
openalex publication_date 2026/01/02 · openalex created_date 2026/05/05 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/14
Cultural geographer Yi Fu Tuan once described culture as a form of escape, an escape from reality [Tuan, Yi-fu. 1998. Escapism. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press]. As a form of escape, culture is creative: thematic and adventurous attempts to escape the uncertainties of life and dangers of nature via a wide range of strategies, media, roles, and settings. If escape rooms are an escape from culture, they are then an escape from an escape. However, their success depends on the ability and drive of the players to understand the cultural themes and affordances of other times, places, people, and genres. Sometimes, the players’ default cultural and practical expectations are deliberately played with, teased, or challenged. And exactly what ‘escape’ means is complicated. Players willingly locked themselves into what would otherwise be undesirable situations. Their captivity is complicit, typically challenging, ideally addictive, and sometimes worried or terrified. To extend the flexible definition of the word ‘escape,’ sometimes escape rooms are used to keep things out, not hold the players prisoner. Whether analogue, digital, or hybrid, mechanical or paper-based, or room-based or field-based, escape rooms have an interesting relationship with culture and creativity. Although structured around recognizable genres and conventions, escape rooms rely on mystery, challenge, and problem-solving, demanding active interpretation and engagement from players. Their appeal to players lies in their complex relationship to social bonds and culture and their multiple aspects of creativity: the aesthetic design of the environment, the unfolding of the challenges, and the innovative investigations of the players.