Excellent point!

Could escape rooms go on tour like theatrical productions? Producers swap escape room teams/spaces between cities? Professional roadies who are expert in setup/teardown?

They do! There's a few companies (SCRAP, PanIQ, The Escape Game) in SF already that are set up that way. They have a ton of locations, and host games for 1.5-2 years, and then swap them with other locations around the world. SCRAP also has some deals with media companies to do touring escape rooms; I've played a Zelda one and a Pacific Rim one.

There's also many companies that sell escape room plans. So rather than creating your own, you'd spend $5-10k to "buy" one and then build it yourself. They usually guarantee a X-mile radius that you'll be unique, so that you aren't competing against the same game.

Zero replayability is such an issue. So often you want to share the joy with others. Surely some escape rooms can apply what puzzle video games do: same puzzles, different variables.

Reminds me the movie The Game with Michael Douglas.

Did you even click on the article? That exact movie was mentioned at least twice.

>Since Escape Rooms have 0 replay-ability, you're not really competing for "regulars".

The escape room in my town reconfigures every once in a while, I've done about 5 different "rooms" there that have all been very different. Sometimes the theme requires you to know something about the topic to solve the room (examples: star wars room, comic book room). To be honest they probably rotate the rooms.

I would imagine that the various companies mix it up. Change the room every now and then

Sounds like an opportunity for "pop-up" rooms, Escape from Santa.