An escape room is a physical adventure game in which players are locked in a room and have to use elements of the room to solve a series of puzzles and escape within a set time limit.
Normally there is a host who guides you through the game. This is the Game Master. He or She will give you the rules. Maybe some helpful hints. And they may start you off with a riddle or a clue. In this game, let’s say we tell you something like “Find The White Rabbit.”
As soon as you enter the room you see alot of oddites, curious things, possible clues. Here you see question marks in picture frames lining the walls. Some big, some small. There’s a table with wine bottles. You see book cases, a safe, 2 safes, 3 safes actually.
You see the clock in the corner. It’s ready to countdown from 60 minutes.
You have that much time to find all the clues, solve all the riddles, and escape the room.
We tell you: You have 60 minutes. Search the room. “Find The White Rabbit.”
Your time starts now.
You and your team scatter. You immediately look everything over. Look through things, through books, under tables. You notice locks. Alot of them. If you’re good at this you should be calling things out as you see them. I see several question marks on the wall. 3 number combination lock safes. I see a cabinet with a ley pad lock, 1 4 digit combo lock in the corner, here’s a treasure chest that has a key lock, etc.
You observe everything, what’s locked and not locked, what can be opened, what you see. You search with your eyes and your hands. Feel across the top of door frames, check behind picture frames, count things, how many picture frames are there, how many bottles are on the table, is there anything inside the bottles that you can see?
You check the dresser in the corner. You open each drawer. All of them empty. Except the bottom one. Inside you find it. It’s a card with a white rabbit on it. On the back of it you see two sets of numbers. One’s a 4 digit, the other is a 3 digit.
Check the room for locks. You try the 4 digits on all the visible 4 digit locks. None of them work. But the 3 digit numbers do work.
They open a lock on a wooden box in the corner that one of your teammates has found. Inside is a deck of cards. You count the cards in the deck.
Step 1: Pay Attention.
Listen to what the Game Master is telling you. If there is a Game Master. Listen to the rules. Pay attention to any first clues they may tell you. We put you in this room to play the game and we want you to get started right.
We’ll normally give you a starting point or a clue. We may say something like. “Look for the white rabbit.”
Step 2: Search Thoroughly and Collect Data
Check sides, tops, underneath, in between cracks. If there are picture frames or books on shelves that can be moved, look them over, look behind them, look through them. As your searching make note of the specifics. What is locked? What isn’t? How is it locked? Do you see cabinets with key locks. Means you may need to find keys. Do you see combination locks? Do they use words, numbers, symbols? If you find a 4 digit combination lock then you’re on the lookout for 4 numbers somewhere in the room or numbers that may be revealed to you in a puzzle.
Step 3: Communicate Out loud
Report to your team outloud. I found a 4 digit combination lock! I see key locks! I see a 5 letter combination lock! This puts it out to your team what to look for as they are also searching and collecting data. You say 4 digit combo lock, that may click at that moment or later in the game with someone else when they find 4 numbers somewhere or solve it from a puzzle. If it looks like a clue, or something out of the ordinary, say it outloud.
PRO TIP: DON’T WASTE TIME
We see it all the time. Instead of looking and solving, some folks like to pick one lock and just try combinations. They burn time hoping they’ll get lucky trying to open a lock. And you might get lucky and open a lock that way. But it may not help you. It might actually hinder you. Understand that an escape room tells a story. We put elements in place that follow a specific path. You solve one puzzle that leads you to the next and the next and so on. If you happen to open a lock out of turn it may reveal a puzzle or clue that won’t make sense because you skipped a few steps in the game. It confuses things and makes you frustrated because now you have this new info you don’t know what to do with and you end up wasting time.
Also, it is a game, but we’re also trying to take you on a journey. Take you on a fun ride. I remember designing this really awesome puzzle that everyone really enjoyed solving. One team skipped right over it because they got lucky opening a lock. They jump the game, wasted time doing so, and totally missed that awesome puzzle. They missed out on the fun. They also lost.
Step 4: STAY ORGANIZED
You wanna search thoroughly. You wanna tear the room apart searching. But organization helps. If you’re tearing through a bookcase full of books. Keep those books organized, making a stack as you search through them. You find papers, place them in order, and someplace accessible. Don’t throw a bunch of books on them. You start making a mess, next thing you know you totally lose those papers you may need to reference for a puzzle later in the game. You can easily lose a clue or forget about something because it gets lost somewhere.
NEXT CHAPTER 2
