About us
Hey Runaways!
If you're curious about who Útěkáři are and who is behind the scenes creating outdoor escape games, we've tried to summarize our story here...
What are outdoor escape games?
We assume that most of you have probably already tried an escape game or at least heard about them.
The term "escape game" usually makes people think of classic, i.e., indoor, escape rooms, where the main goal is to escape from a room within a given time.
Our games are actually close relatives, but they take place under the open sky.
Who is behind Útěkáři.cz?
Útěkáři are two very good and long-time friends, Pavel and Martin, who refused to grow up a little bit. It might seem that Útěkáři is a form of escape from routine, but we would rather say that neither of us has lost the desire to play.
If you feel similarly, we are glad for you and dare to say that our escape games are designed for you!
How did we get together?
We have known each other since childhood, from elementary school, and we have been connected by a passion for all kinds of games since we were kids. Although we spent a lot of time together hiking in the mountains, climbing rocks, and even making a student film together, it was board games and later the discovery of the world of escape games that brought us here.
Professional and other experiences
Our professions sent us in different directions for a while; I became a civil engineer, and Martin became a programmer, but our friendship remained. Among other things, we owe it to unforgettable shared experiences, including those playing escape games.
When we both moved to Prague for work years later, shared experiences and ideas for new adventures quickly began to multiply.
And since we had some minor experience with making our own board games, the idea of creating our own escape game didn't take long to surface.
It came so naturally that we were surprised we hadn't thought of it sooner!
Initial idea
But what led us to the idea of creating an outdoor escape game?
We probably wouldn't find a single original reason. The combination of an escape game with outdoor movement simply appealed to us from the start. Moreover, at that time, which was the end of 2019, we thought we were at the birth of something absolutely unique and groundbreaking! We have to admit that this bubble burst quite quickly when we found out that similar games already existed and had somehow mysteriously bypassed us until then.
Well, no matter, back to reality, we tried three of them that very month!
Some were better, others, in our opinion, were very hastily put together. In any case, we agreed that there was untapped potential in this small pond and we could do it better!
Full of enthusiasm, we immediately set to work!
We didn't know then that the first test launch of the escape game would take almost two years, and we would fight for almost another year to establish the company and set up the website and e-shop. In short, everything involved much more work and obstacles than we could have imagined (more in our blog).
On the other hand, we didn't want to rush the creation of our first game, look for shortcuts, or make compromises.
But it was worth it!
At least, we are convinced of that.
If we have convinced you too, try our first game, Vyšehrad Fortress.
Share your immediate impressions with us. We welcome every opinion.
Whether positive, helping us persevere in our efforts to develop more games, or negative, helping us move forward.
Thank you, runaways, for playing with us.
Pavel and Martin for the Útěkáři.cz team
