There are so many haunts every Halloween, with ~3k in the US this year, and each claims to be the scariest. How do you find out for sure? And how do you decide which friend will hold your hand in the super dark parts?
Enter Morty: the Netflix of finding cool, geeky stuff to do.
Morty launched…
… in 2020 as an app for escape room enthusiasts to find and rate rooms, plan outings with friends, and track their escape times.
It’s since expanded to include haunted attractions, with 36.2k listings across the US, Canada, and Europe, and 15k-20k monthly users.
Of those, ~8k are hardcore enthusiasts, who help drive ~$1m/month in bookings, CEO Andy Bauch told The Hustle.
Why Morty?
People who review immersive attractions on Yelp and Tripadvisor often have little experience with them, sometimes resulting in overly positive or negative reviews.
“Morty is powered by the brilliance of communities of people who know what’s what, and not by the people who leave a one-star review because the waiter was slow,” Bauch said.
Morty also answers more specific questions — e.g., Is the VIP fast pass worth it? What’s the bathroom situation? How scary is this thing?
“We’re trying to make Morty the ultimate co-pilot to help you and your friends figure out what to do and get you together,” Bauch said.
What’s next?
Morty completed a ~$2.2m funding round in April and plans to expand to include tiki bars, murder mystery events, immersive theater, and other location-based entertainment attractions.
The app will also later monetize by earning a small commission via bookings, and add features that allow users to connect with new friends — especially useful if you, like me, love to do escape rooms while traveling but, uh, not alone.
