The escape room industry is moving fast. Consumer attention spans are shrinking, new entertainment concepts are popping up everywhere, and owners are scrambling to keep their bookings full. If you want to survive and grow in this environment, having a solid escape room marketing strategy is just the beginning. You need bulletproof operations to back it up.

In a recent episode of the Attractions Insights Podcast, Benito Suppa, the owner and “Fungineer” at Durham Escape Rooms, shared the exact systems he uses to run a highly successful ten-game facility. His approach to staffing, game design, and daily management reveals exactly what separates thriving venues from those that struggle to stay open.

Why Standard Operating Procedures Save Businesses

Running a single game is easy. Running ten games simultaneously is pure chaos if you lack structure. When facility sizes increase, owners often realize their escape room digital marketing efforts are bringing in more people than their staff can comfortably handle. This is a challenge shared across the broader family entertainment center industry as well.

To fix this, Benito staggers his game times. He splits his facility in half and assigns dedicated staff to each side. Games do not all start at the top of the hour. This simple operational shift ensures lobbies do not get overcrowded and game masters are not talking over each other during introductions.

But the real secret weapon is documentation. Benito insists that every single task must be written down.

“If you don’t have a standard operating procedure, create one… Having a standard operating procedure and outlining every element of your business so that when you do get to the point that you’ve hired staff… there’s no ambiguity. There’s no questions.”

Benito Suppa, Durham Escape Rooms

He warns owners never to assume common knowledge. You have to document everything from how to make bookings in the software to how to scrub a toilet. When your procedures are crystal clear, your staff can execute flawlessly, leaving you free to focus on growing the business.

A Better Way to Train Your Staff

Your game masters are the face of your escape room marketing. If they deliver a bad experience, no amount of escape room ads will save your reputation. Benito boasts an incredible staff retention rate, with some employees staying for nine years. His secret is a phased training program and a deep respect for his team.

Before a new hire ever speaks to a customer, they spend their entire first month just tearing down and resetting rooms using checklists. This builds muscle memory. Only in month two do they begin shadowing introductions and giving hints.

A crucial part of this training involves making the staff play the games completely alone.

“I urge everyone if they’re an owner to go play an escape game solo… By playing a game solo, you’re eliminating all the noise from other people talking over you… and you’re literally placing yourself in the figurative mind of each of your guests.”

Benito Suppa, Durham Escape Rooms

When you treat your staff as partners rather than line items, they stay longer and perform better. Pay them well, give them real breaks, and get in the trenches with them when things get busy.

Game Design and Knowing When to Pivot

A common mistake new owners make is over-investing in aesthetics while neglecting the actual gameplay. You can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a visually stunning set, but if the puzzles are not fun, guests will leave disappointed.

Benito approaches game design as an “engineer of fun.” He ensures every room includes a mix of tactile, logic, searching, and sensory puzzles. This guarantees that every player in a group finds at least one moment that resonates with them, even if they struggle with other parts of the game.

You also have to be willing to kill ideas that are not working. Benito built a dedicated party room, but it only booked four times in two years. Instead of letting it sit empty, he tore it down and built another escape game in that space to generate real revenue. If you need help identifying which parts of your facility are actually driving profit, a strong SEO strategy combined with working with an escape room marketing agency can provide the data insights you need to make those tough calls.

Protect Your Time and Mental Health

The most important advice Benito shared has nothing to do with puzzles or marketing. It is about protecting yourself as an owner.

“The biggest mistake an owner makes… is to value their time. The amount of time that you spend on your business… needs to be compensated. And owners need to understand that your sweat equity has a dollar value attached to it.”

Benito Suppa, Durham Escape Rooms

Running an entertainment venue is stressful. It is completely normal to feel overwhelmed. You have to give yourself grace, step away when you need a break, and never stop playing other people’s games to keep your passion for the industry alive. When you are ready to take your digital marketing to the next level, our team is here to help you fill those rooms consistently.

Based on the Attractions Insights Podcast episode featuring Benito Suppa of Durham Escape Rooms. Watch the full video here.