We were lucky to catch up with John Casey recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, John thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea

My girlfriend Ali (who also happens to be the other mastermind behind Goat Escape Rooms) and I stumbled into our very first escape room back in 2019: Tesla’s Vault. We had no idea what we were in for—just the two of us, locked in a room, racing against that relentless one-hour countdown. It was thrilling, stressful, hilarious… and completely addicting. By the end we looked at each other and thought, “We could totally do this.”

Naturally, curiosity got the better of me. I built my very first puzzle: a 4’x4′ board where players had to fit oversized Tetris pieces together. It was rough, scrappy, and simple—but it worked. That was it. I was hooked.

From then on, Ali and I became escape-room treasure hunters. For the next five years we scoured thrift stores like archaeologists on a mission, searching for bizarre and unusual props. It got so ridiculous that whenever I’d buy a creepy doll, Ali would grin at the cashier and say, “Oh, John has a doll obsession. He collects them.” And I’d just laugh, because there I was—a grown man stockpiling dolls for our (appropriately terrifying) creepy-doll room. Eventually, the obsession spread to old telephones too. At one point, I had more than 20 vintage phones just lying around.

Our collection of puzzles and props snowballed until we had to stash everything in a barn, waiting for the right moment—and the right place—to bring our vision to life. That moment finally came when Ali, ever the fearless investigator, crossed paths with Ben Wagner. He owned a building for rent, he was a proud Westsider (which, if you’re from Evansville, you know is a badge of honor), and the stars seemed to align.

So in August of 2023, Goat Escape Rooms officially opened its doors. What started as a wild idea in a Tesla-themed escape room has turned into a dream that Ali and I get to share with every group who dares to take it on.

John, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

With a name like GOAT Escape Rooms, we don’t just want to be the Greatest Of All Time—we fully intend to live up to it. Our mission is simple: to create unforgettable experiences for every single person who walks through our doors.

Sure, a lot of escape rooms are focused on the bottom line (just our opinion), but for us, it’s about something bigger—memories. We believe you shouldn’t have to break the bank to have an amazing time, and we want your adventure to be one you’ll still be laughing about weeks later.

Since most of our players are locals, we love getting to know everyone. In fact, when we walk into certain restaurants, we’ll hear people shout, “Goat in the house!” And honestly, that’s the best feeling in the world.

We’re proud to be a small business with a big personal touch. Every puzzle, every design, every piece of art—you guessed it—was created by us. Even the shirts we wear are homemade! So when you come to play, we hope you feel like you’re stepping into a place built with heart, creativity, and a little bit of hometown pride.

Because at the end of the day, our motto says it best:
“We’re in the memory-making business.”

Can you talk to us about how you funded your business?

When I first started digging into the costs of opening an escape room, the numbers I found were all over the place—some sources said $10,000, others claimed as high as $200,000. Talk about a rollercoaster. Honestly, I had no idea what to expect when it came to calculating our startup costs.

But once I rolled up my sleeves, built a few test puzzles, and dragged Ali through more thrift stores than either of us care to admit, the picture became clearer: this dream could actually be built on the low end of the spectrum. By buying secondhand treasures and crafting puzzles myself, the costs dropped dramatically.

Sure, you can buy ready-made puzzles or even entire escape room packages for $20,000–$50,000. But through a whole lot of trial and error (and maybe a little stubbornness), I figured out how to build an electronic puzzle for about $100. That meant we could design an entire, fully functional escape room for roughly $2,000—way below what I’d seen online.

It also helped that our obsession was spread out over five years. Piece by piece, prop by prop, puzzle by puzzle, the collection grew without it ever feeling like we were spending a fortune. The only real “big-ticket” items we had to splurge on were camera systems and business insurance—the glamorous side of running an escape room.

In the end, what started as a “this might cost $200,000” panic turned into a scrappy, creative, and surprisingly affordable adventure that made Goat Escape Rooms possible.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

Building a social media presence is kind of like solving an escape room—it takes creativity, patience, and the occasional wild idea. When we first started, it was just us posting on Facebook to a handful of followers, tossing in the occasional ad whenever the budget allowed (read: rarely). Two years later, our reach has grown… but we’re still chasing that big breakout moment.

Enter Ali. She recently discovered TikTok and, let’s just say, she’s become a video-making wizard. Our new mission? Build a following that captures all the ridiculous, hilarious, and unexpected moments that happen inside our rooms.

Some of our games even feature music—and when the tunes kick in, people can’t help but dance. We’ve started recording these impromptu jam sessions, and the moves we’ve seen are legendary. Our dream? To spark the next viral trend: The Escape Room Dance Party.

So if you want a laugh, check out our video—and maybe brush up on your own dance skills before you come visit. You never know when the music might drop.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://evansvillegoatescaperoom.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/goat.escape.rooms
• Other: goatescaperooms @ TikTok