A gift voucher for a shared adventure: for couples, families and friends

You can buy a gift voucher for an escape room or a city game in Krakow online from two operators: Gamescape and EscapeCity. With both, the voucher arrives by email within 24 hours at the latest, and it can be used for 90 days from purchase. Before you choose, check three things: whether the voucher is for a specific game or for an amount, how many people can play, and whether the people you’re giving it to will manage to book a date while it’s still valid.

One gift can bring several people together. A couple, a family with children and a group of work friends have different practical needs, though. Think not only about the story, but also about who will play with whom and when they’ll be able to use the gift.

What exactly are you buying?

• A Gamescape voucher. On the Gamescape voucher page you choose a voucher for an amount, which covers this operator’s escape rooms and city games. You can pick a specific scenario or leave the choice to the recipient. A printable voucher arrives by email within 24 hours, and instead of printing it you can ask for a voucher in an envelope to collect at the venue. The recipient chooses the scenario and the date, and can add extra players if needed.
• An EscapeCity voucher. According to the EscapeCity terms and conditions, it’s a bearer voucher for a set amount that you use to pay for this operator’s games. You can order the voucher through the EscapeCity contact page. The file with the voucher and an invitation to play arrives by email as soon as you’ve paid, within 24 hours at the latest. When you book a date, you enter the voucher code in the form. The voucher can’t be exchanged for cash, and consumers can withdraw from the purchase within 14 days.
• Krakow Legends in the app. The Krakow Legends game site doesn’t offer a separate gift voucher. You buy access once for the whole group playing on one phone, it’s valid for 365 days, and the game has no time limit or fixed start time. It’s a good idea if you’re planning the outing yourself and don’t need a voucher to hand over.

Voucher amounts and game prices change, so check them directly with the operator before you buy.

Validity and booking are two separate things

A voucher isn’t automatically a booking for a convenient Saturday. The 90 days of validity count from the purchase, not from when you hand it over. So a voucher bought on 20 December has to be used by around 20 March. If you give it later, say for a birthday a month away, the recipients will have that much less time.

The recipient should know how to book the game and that the date has to be booked separately. Find out the rules on changing the date and any extra charges before the whole team’s plan is set. If in doubt, ask the operator before you pay.

If you know the group’s plans and when everyone is free, you can book a specific date straight away instead of buying a voucher. A voucher works better when the recipients need freedom to choose the date and who’s coming.

For a couple: a shared date and theme

Every Gamescape escape room listed on the voucher page takes two people, so a couple doesn’t need to find a third player. The theme should appeal to both of you. If one person doesn’t like dark stories, there’s no need to pick one just because the other is a crime fan. If you don’t know their preferences, a voucher without a set scenario leaves the choice to the recipients. If you do want to pick a scenario, discreetly ask about their favourite books, films and the games they’ve played before. Don’t buy a horror for someone who doesn’t like being scared, and make sure they haven’t already played the story you’ve chosen.

For a family: age matters

A shared adventure is easier to organise when it suits the youngest player and doesn’t bore the older ones. At Gamescape, a child under 14 plays together with an adult guardian who is also taking part in the game. For teenagers aged 14 to 18, the game rules (in Polish) also allow, in the escape rooms, a guardian who waits on the premises, or written consent from the parents.

Dead Man’s Chest, a pirate adventure the operator describes as a child-friendly room, has a gentler style. For children aged 7 to 12 there’s also Magic Portal, a city game on a tablet. A family gift shouldn’t come with unexpected extra charges or leave some of the children out of the game, so before you buy, give the operator the exact make-up of the family.

For friends: who gets the team together?

With a bigger group, check the player limit. On the Gamescape voucher page, the largest rooms, Enchanted Amulets and Anatomy of Crime 2, take up to 8 and up to 7 people respectively. For an even bigger group, the operator asks you to get in touch about a voucher for more people.

The hardest part is often agreeing on a date, though. With the gift you can offer to help organise it: collecting everyone’s availability, booking once the team is confirmed or sorting out getting there together. It’s a practical gesture that makes it less likely the voucher will go unused. Just don’t promise you’ll sort everything out without knowing everyone’s calendars.

A room or a route through the city?

An escape room gives you a prepared space and doesn’t depend on the weather. A city game combines tasks with walking around Krakow. EscapeCity says that in light rain the game goes ahead as normal, and in a gale, a downpour or a storm another date is agreed together. For someone coming from out of town, factor in the journey and the voucher’s validity, and for an outdoor game, how much walking they can manage.

A last-minute gift still needs checking

Both operators email the voucher within 24 hours, so just before Christmas don’t assume the file will arrive the moment you’ve paid. Check the address it’s going to. If you’re printing the voucher, make sure the details are easy to read.

Treat the voucher code as part of the gift that isn’t shown in public. The EscapeCity voucher is a bearer voucher, and the code is entered when booking, so don’t post it in a photo of the gift. You can add your own message without covering up the information needed for booking.

The memory starts when you hand it over

A short note on why you chose this gift will make it personal. Instead of a generic “have fun”, you could write, for example: “I remember how long we argued over that puzzle. I’d love to do another one with you.” It’s a sample message, so adapt it to your own shared story. If you really are going to get the team together, you could add: “Pick a date and I’ll organise an afternoon for us.” Another idea is a simple puzzle of your own that leads to the envelope with the voucher. You can invite them on a shared adventure, but leave the recipients a say in the date and the mood.

A voucher won’t guarantee a better relationship. What it does give is a real chance to spend time together, as long as its terms suit the people who receive it.