Inside The World’s First Escape Room
Budapest is obsessed with escaping. No really—there are over 80 escape rooms scattered throughout the city. So, what’s behind Hungary’s acute fascination with this type of puzzle game? Meet Attila Gyurkovics, the genius credited with opening the world’s first escape room in Budapest in 2010. After working with hidden object computer games, Gyurkovics decided to create a real-life version. Eight years later and his idea has taken off, inspiring countless others to open escape rooms around the world. This Great Big Story was made in partnership with the Hungarian Tourism Agency: ****** SUBSCRIBE: ****** This story is a part of our Human Condition series. Come along and let us connect you to some of the most peculiar, stirring, extraordinary, and distinctive people in the world. Got a story idea for us? Shoot us an email at hey [at] GreatBigStory [dot] com Follow us behind the scenes on Instagram: ****** Make our acquaintance on Facebook: ****** Give us a shout on Twitter: ****** Come hang with us on Vimeo: ****** Visit our world directly: ******
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- [Narrator] The world's most famous escape artist,
Harry Houdini.
He thrilled audiences with dazzling illusions
and death-defying stunts.
This mastermind was from here, Budapest, Hungary.
A city obsessed with escaping
and the escape legacy still continues, thanks to this guy.
- Welcome to ParaPark.
Escape rooms, find the clue,
solve the riddle, crack the code.
These team building puzzles are popping up
all over the planet.
In fact, here in Budapest, there are over 80 of them.
But back in 2010, escape rooms didn't exist.
It was only ’til this man thought up the idea.
- His speciality was playing problem solving computer games
but then.
- So within three months, Attila had quit his job,
found a space in Budapest
and opened the world's first escape room.
- An escape room works like this:
You and your friends are locked in a room for 60 minutes.
You are then tasked with finding clues
and solving puzzles to unlock the door,
and thus escape that room.
- So if you ever find yourself in Budapest,
and you're stuck inside one of its many escape rooms, like,
let's say the Mob House or a jail cell,
just remember to thank Attila.
One of the latest in this cities launch edition
of Getting out of Hairy Situations.
(bright music)
