Tommy Wallach, co-owner of Hatch Escapes in Los Angeles, is raising the bar for what immersive gameplay can be. With collaborator Terry Pettigrew-Rolapp, he’s elevating the escape room genre by bringing a filmmaker's eye and a novelist's narrative depth to every clue, corridor, and character. “The Ladder,” a six-year epic with nine possible endings, uses custom-built tech to guide players through a fully branching story that feels more like a playable prestige series than an escape room game. It won a 2025 THEA Award, earned praise from the LA Times for redefining the medium, and currently holds the top spot on TERPECA’s LA leaderboard. Their first game, “Lab Rat,” hasn’t budged from its top-tier status either, thanks to cinematic design and smart pacing that still hooks players seven years in. By fusing theatrical structure with interactive play, Tommy is reshaping the escape room industry into something bigger, smarter, and far more satisfying.
