February 13, 2017

Meet Akos Gabossy of Magiq Room and Paniq Room in Beverlywood and Hollywood

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Akos Gabossy.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Akos. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I was the co-founder of Budapest’s premier family entertainment facilities, called KACKAC and Millipop. I was deeply involved in the entertainment industry since the age of 18, so when the original live escape games became popular in Budapest in 2014, I started to work on bringing this unique concept to America. The first PANIQ ROOM opened up in Hollywood with the Bunker and the Insane Asylum. Each theme was very popular from day one, so it was quite obvious to start a rapid expansion, 6 PANIQ ROOMS with more than 20 themes popped up in the past 2 years in America. The newest unit is very close to the Georgetown University in Washington DC, and we’ve just started to work on our most professional venues in Dallas and Houston.

After seeing the exceptional customer feedbacks and the continuous demand for birthday parties and corporate events, Me and my father, Lajos came up with a new family-friendly escape room concept, called MAGIQ ROOM. Beverlywood seemed to be a perfect location since it’s very easy to reach from several neighborhoods of Los Angeles. I’m very happy, that the message went through, and people understood, that MAGIQ ROOM is designed for families and even a 6-year-old kid can have fun with Pharaohs, Wizards, and Pirates,

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Escape rooms are very popular in Budapest, this is one of the most anticipated tourist attractions in the city. Me and my friends were on a vacation in the USA in early 2014, when we realized that this game is almost non-existing in the US, while it worth a try on the market.

It was a principal that the founders envisioned a higher quality service than it is represented in Hungary. One of the biggest challenges was to implement and transform the game and servicing reaching the US standards and expectations. We have developed own online reservation system, operational platforms/applications and invested a lot into online marketing and unique game innovation.

It is a huge challenge to manage a business from another continent with more than 6000 miles distance, while we are constantly expanding our network.

The European employee culture is totally different from the American one and also the administrative, legal and cultural differences are huge. Since we’re not a tech company, I have to be familiar with negotiating with Landlords, with the permitting office, with general contractors, with customers, and with several other stakeholders.

I also had to sacrifice a lot in the past 2 years in order to help the conscious growth and trying to catch US investors attention with a spontaneously expanding, exciting and profitable industry. It is also a great responsibility to entertain children, we’re trying to educate and entertain at the same time…

So, as you know, we’re impressed with MAGIQ ROOM and PANIQ ROOM – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Room escape is a game emerged from the well-known 90’s point-and-click adventure PC games, where searching, puzzle solving and excitement remain, but what makes it the ultimate experience is that you are physically participating in the story.

The goal is to find and use objects that help players through a range of logic and skill tasks, thereby progressively guiding them to the final puzzle, which ultimately gives them the key to escape. You are locked in a thematic environment for an hour, where your primal survival and problem-solving instincts are fully utilized. You need to work in teams and use all your senses: keep your eyes on every detail in the environment searching for hints that will allow you to accomplish the mission and escape from the room!

The biggest innovation with MagIQ Room is that every room is designed with different difficulty levels, so with the involvement of a game master even kids can have fun Since we do not want to lock kids in rooms, we’d rather guide them through an adventure, where they will have to help each other to solve the puzzles!

The goal is not to escape but rather to solve a mystery. MagIQ Room is specialized in hosting birthday parties and family events. These activities are intimate and interactive, making every event hosted at MagIQ Room a unique experience.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
As Magiq Room’s big brother, PANIQ ROOM is currently working on it’s franchise book. Our plan is to open 20 big-time entertainment and room escape adventure centers with the involvement of private investors and franchise partners in America in the next 3 years.

According to MAGIQ ROOM, my father’s plan is to add a small playground structure to each MAGIQ ROOM we open, and we would also like to add multiple themes to a location, normally we’re fully booked for the weekends, so we need to expand our peak time capacity. We have a lot of new spectacular theme and puzzle ideas, our newest rooms are mainly computer controlled and we do not really use any locks or keys.

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