Bottom line
- Total investment $356K – $663K including a $40K franchise fee.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated CAUTION with a risk score of 69/100.
- Auditor disclosed a going-concern note — flagged doubt about the franchisor's ability to continue operations. Verify against the latest FDD.
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Yale framework · single-unit ROIC
Returns Analysis
Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.
The model · Yale framework
What would one Escape Hunt unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
19%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Overview
About
Escape Hunt franchisees operate physical escape room venues where customers pay $25-$50+ per person to solve puzzles and escape themed locked rooms within 60 minutes. Day-to-day operations include managing multi-session daily schedules, customer check-ins, room resets between groups, staff supervision, marketing/booking management, and ongoing puzzle/narrative updates to maintain customer novelty.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 7 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
No SBA loan data available for this brand.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Escape Hunt presents elevated risk due to extreme system immaturity (2 units only), absent financial disclosures, high investment requirement, and a mature/declining industry segment with no clear competitive differentiation.
Score breakdown · what drove the 69 / 100 rating
- 01MEDOnly 2 existing units suggest extremely limited system validation and unproven scalability of the escape room concept
- 02MEDNo Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — impossible to assess realistic ROI on $356K-$663K investment
- 03MINORMandatory $2,000/month minimum royalty (8% or $2K floor) creates cash flow pressure even during low-revenue periods
- 04MEDHigh initial investment range ($356K-$663K) with no disclosed average unit volumes increases downside risk significantly
- 05MINOREscape room industry faces secular headwinds from oversaturation and declining novelty appeal since peak 2016-2018
- 06MINORUnknown growth trajectory with only 2 units and no multi-year unit history raises questions about franchisee retention and profitability
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
Item 20
Franchisee Contacts
Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.
Franchisee contacts
9 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Escape Hunt · FDD (2022) PDF