When the South Portland Planning Board meets on Tuesday it will take up a proposal that would allow a second escape-room business to operate in the city.

The escape-room craze has reached Maine after first becoming popular in Asia in the early 2000s with Takao Kato opening the earliest known escape room in Japan in 2007.

The concept involves locking a group of people in a room and giving them limited time to find clues and solve a series of problems that will reveal the code to unlock the door.

Maine Escape Games opened on John Roberts Road last summer and now Joseph Wojcik, who owns an office building at 650 Main St., is seeking permission to open the GTFO Escape Room.

The Planning Board is scheduled to meet after the Current’s print deadline, but prior to this week’s meeting Wojcik said the goal would be to open the new escape room as soon as possible, assuming the board grants approval for the project.

A tenant of his would actually operate the escape room, but Wojcik said it seemed like a “good business decision” and that it would be a use that’s compatible with an office building.

The proposal requires special exception review from the Planning Board under the new Main Street Community Commercial rules, according to a memo provided to the board by Stephen Puleo, South Portland’s community planner.

Wojcik has been to Maine Escape Games “a couple times and it seems to be working well,” he said about the overall concept.

The plan is for GTFO Escape Room to operate between noon and 9 p.m. daily. The company plans to have two employees on site and for the contents and furniture in the escape room to be changed periodically in order to keep things fresh, Puleo’s memo said.

Rene Letourneau, co-founder and chief operating officer for Maine Escape Games, told the Current last summer that, “We have tried several escape rooms in other cities and thought Mainers would really love it. In addition, we hope to appeal to tourists, as well.”

In terms of what players can expect from the experience, he said, they can expect to “have a fun, challenging, engaging hour as they work through the puzzles and games in the room.”

The fun part of the escape-room experience is that anything could be a clue, including paintings, sticky notes, lamps or playing cards, which provides players with intellectual stimulation and a bit of a thrill.

In general, players can request up to three hints throughout the course of the game. In addition, the game monitor may also choose to offer hints that could help solve the puzzle.

And, to keep players honest, most escape-room operators do not permit them to take cell phones or other electronic devices into the room. In addition, in most such places, no photos are allowed.