Breakout KC gains popularity throughout the community
CEO Matt Baysinger continues to find ways to make Breakout KC unique against copycat businesses
Over winter break juniors Bailey Wagoner and Will Morris went to Breakout KC on Sunday, Dec. 30, but were unable to escape.
February 4, 2017
With only one lock remaining before breaking free, time runs out, leaving junior Will Morris’ group unsuccessful in their attempt to break out.
Located in the River Market, Breakout KC is a top-rated escape room experience created by Matt Baysinger and Ryan Henrich.
In this game, players are locked into one of the company’s many themed rooms and must find clues to help them get out in 60 minutes.
While this idea is not necessarily original, Baysinger and Henrich have found ways to make their version unique
“People love new experiences and more importantly, people love shared experiences,” Baysinger said. “The cool thing is that you’re not going to do it by yourself. We see folks walk out and go to dinner and they won’t check their phones because they’re still talking about it.”
People love new experiences and more importantly, people love shared experiences. — CEO Matt Baysinger
Although Breakout began less than two years ago, the company has opened four locations, two in Kansas, one in Missouri and one in Hawaii. For the pair, Hawaii was an ideal location as it was the largest place in the U.S. without any competitors.
“When we were expanding, we [looked] at large markets that didn’t have competition, because when we first opened in Kansas City, within months we had four or five copycat businesses,” Baysinger said. “So, we were like alright, are there any places we can expand to that have no competition?”
Since opening in Hawaii, Breakout has had high profile clients, including former President Barack Obama.
On Christmas Eve of 2016, the Hawaii branch of the company was booked out by what they believed was a celebrity client.
“About 30 minutes before their game was to start, the Secret Service showed up and said ‘we told you it was a celebrity client, but it’s actually the President and we need to sweep your entire facility to be able to bring him in.’” Baysinger said.
With only 13 seconds remaining, the former president and his daughters escaped.
Here at home, several Mill Valley students have taken part in this experience, including Morris, who visited Breakout KC over winter break but did not break out.
“I was invited to go, so I thought it would be fun,” Morris said. “It would have been better if we’d broken out, but I had fun.”
Whether it’s the president or the typical client like Morris, Baysinger believes Breakout appeals to all.
“Even though it’s an hour long, the shared experiences bring you back and give you something to talk about,” Baysinger said.
