HackRoom: A Pop Up Cyber Security Escape Room for Interactive Learning

We present HackRoom, a physical cybersecurity escape room designed to enhance engagement and learning through interactive, narrative-driven challenges. This study evaluates educational effectiveness through three research questions examining narrative engagement, escape room format impact, and hands-on learning benefits. HackRoom features 11 cybersecurity challenges spanning human factors and technical vulnerabilities across themed rooms. Teams of up to six participants complete 60–90 min sessions using a custom mobile application, VR environments, and embedded hardware simulations. We collected data from 23 survey participants and 6 follow-up interviews during March-May 2025 deployments. Participants were primarily cybersecurity/IT students and researchers (17/23), with 13 reporting high familiarity with cybersecurity concepts. Results demonstrate strong engagement: 87.5% rated the experience as “Good” or “Excellent,” and 65% described engagement as “Excellent.” Learning outcomes showed 75% reinforced existing knowledge and 25% acquired new concepts. Confidence in identifying cybersecurity risks increased for 60% of participants. Qualitative analysis revealed that narrative integration improved challenge contextualization and focus. The escape room format significantly increased engagement compared to traditional training, described as more “hands-on” and “memorable.” However, learning effectiveness varied by prior experience: participants with existing knowledge reported improved conceptual understanding, while novices struggled with concept retention despite reporting enjoyment. HackRoom successfully increases cybersecurity training engagement through immersive experiences. Learning outcomes depend significantly on baseline knowledge, suggesting escape room formats effectively complement traditional education for reinforcing knowledge while requiring additional scaffolding for novice learners.