HEPScape: an escape room about high energy physics

Escape rooms are more and more popular nowadays. They have the challenges of a treasure hunt and represent a pleasant way to encourage team building. In addition they are a fun way to discover a new subject, a key point that can be exploited for science outreach. In 2021 a team from INFN has built an escape room about high energy physics, called HEPScape. The visitors have the impression of visiting the Large Hadron Collider at CERN and of entering one of the experimental control rooms. It makes use of projectors and posters which replicate the control room environment. Through some clues, that are hidden in the room, the visitors discover the purpose of particle accelerators and high energy physics experiments. The games can be tuned to the age group, resulting in a fun experience for all. HEPScape is made of portable equipment that can be transported and assembled in less than two hours. This allows to use it in science fairs and exhibitions. In addition it can be brought on demand to high schools in remote provinces. The material and the format of the games are simple and it is possible to replicate and translate the games in other languages. Feedback and experience from two science fairs will be presented in the talk.