Jenny Truax
About & Contact

Escape Rooms

My small business St. Louis Fantasy Maps celebrated nerdy mashups, connected social justice with sci-fi, and created hilarious, collaborative games for people to gather around.

During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, I pivoted to create downloadable game kits. that worked both for virtual Zoom gatherings and for people sheltering in place with family or pods.

Joining the lineup with my in-person Scavenger Hunts, Escape the Empire and Escape from Goblin Grove brought immersive adventures directly into people’s homes.

About

Escape the Empire featured custom puzzles, a ridiculous thumb war competition, and challenges from a galaxy far, far away. Escape from Goblin Grove used a choose-your-own-adventure format where teams navigated a fantasy quest using ciphers and hilarious clues. Both kits combined digital puzzles with physical cut-out components, plus curated playlists and party setup ideas.

Escape the Empire Gallery

Escape Room map
A clue from the Escape Room. Note the “Space Espresso” room in the map
Family doing the escape room
Adored by board game aficionados
Lockdown message
Escape room clues - so creative, wow!
Clues were quirky, creative, and engaging for all ages
Lightsaber thumb war participant
People loved the Lightsaber Thumb War challenge
Family in lockdown smiling with game
The game was a bright spot during a difficult lockdown for many families
Escape the roomers
Enthusiastic review from Escape the Roomers

Escape the Empire Trailer

Campy trailer for Escape the Empire

Escape from Goblin Grove Gallery

Kids doing the escape room
Even siblings got along while playing Goblin Grove
Escape room clue page
This was a choose your own adventure-style game which evoked my 80s childhood
Family sits in front of escape room materials
The kit included a huge printable map to guide Escapers
Mom and kiddo beating the game
Success photos abounded after the release
Escape room dice
The warm-up activity instructed Escapers to create a “Magical Dice Avatar” for movement on the map. Each side had an individual answer to an icebreaker questions for people to share about. Categories included “most cuddly magical creature” (see answer above – Uni-panda?), and “favorite game food” (see answer above – magical omelet)

Escape from Goblin Grove Trailer:

Cutie pie kiddo at the beginning of this one!

Testimonials – Hunts and Escape Rooms

“I don’t know how anybody figures out how to make such cool things!” – Amanda D.

A St. Louis family, recently returned from the Great St. Louis Treasure Hunt, *gushes*.

“Puzzles were really clever, the story was easy to follow, and the map was beautiful – we had lots of fun!” –Melissa T.

Closing the Shop

In late 2023, I wound down the shop, holding a massive closing sale and donating 100% of proceeds to St. Louis Queer Support & Healing. A great way to end an era!