WHAT IS AN ESCAPE ROOM AND HOW DO YOU BEAT ONE?
An escape room is a challenge involving puzzles, ciphers and mysteries which is usually set within a confined space or room. People enter the space, usually in teams of around 4 players, and attempt to solve the problems in series to ultimately unravel a final mystery which opens the room - allowing them to escape. But there’s more! All of this is done against the clock. To beat the room, the players must comprehensively complete every task that is set them inside and get out before the countdown, which usually starts at 60 minutes, hits zero.
For a leisure activity, it sounds a bit stressful - but that’s where the fun comes from it! Everyone loves a challenge, and there’s nothing like the feeling of satisfaction that comes from finding the answer to a riddle or unravelling a real knot of a mystery. On top of that, escape rooms often feature themes and designs that come straight from the world of cinema, such as the sci-fi, horror, mystery and historical genres. Finally, working as a team is known to have a positive impact on our moods. Before we start, we want to make two things clear:
- We’re not telling you how to cheat: There’s nothing wrong with going into an escape room with a strategy, and you won’t get in trouble with the gamesmaster for using these tips.
- This article doesn’t contain spoilers! Following our advice won’t take the fun out of the game, it will just help you to get right into it, stay focused, and see the story through to its conclusion.
1. LOOK FOR SIMPLE SOLUTIONS
When faced with a challenge, our instinct can tell us to think outside the box. While you have to think creatively to complete an escape room, you should limit your investigations to things you can see around you. Say, for example, you’re attempting an escape room set in ancient Egypt - don’t try to remember details of pharaohs and high priests that you learnt in school, focus on any information in the room that could be related to the immediate problem that you’re trying to solve.
2. DIVIDE AND CONQUER
As we’ve mentioned, these are team games, so pool your powers of observation and reasoning as a group! Splitting up as soon as you enter the room to investigate different areas is a good idea, as you’ll build up an idea of what you’re working with much more quickly than if you all focus on the same speck of dust at the same time. A word of warning here - communication is key. Seeing something significant is no use if you keep it to yourself. Likewise, if your teammate shouts out something that could help you make a connection with what you’re looking at - listen!
3. TAKE TURNS
This one is especially important when dealing with physical clues or devices. A key in a padlock, a combination lock, even a puzzle that tests your coordination, all of these could feature in an escape room. In each case, you might need to have the knack in order to make it work. If the person who tries it first doesn’t succeed, we recommend taking turns to see if someone in the group has a natural affinity for the task at hand.
4. GET ORGANISED
Completing a stage in an escape room often involves collecting objects or matching up one set of objects with another. In situations like this, it’s crucial that you know what you have and, potentially, what you need to be able to complete the set. It can be a good idea to designate an area to place your props so that everyone can see and count them. This is particularly useful when the objects are component parts of something that has to be built or put together.
5. WORK BACKWARDS
So, you’ve scoured the room, you’ve collected your props, what now? Instead of asking yourself what you need to do next, you might do better asking yourself what you’ll have to do last. This will help you identify the missing keys, the incomplete steps that are stopping you from progressing to the end of the game. If you know you need to press a button, but the button is inside a case with a code, then you need to find clues to what the code might be, for example.
So far we’ve given you tips for your in-room strategy which should help you make the most of your time. If you want to know what you can do before arriving, keep reading.
6. LEARN ABOUT LOCKS
It’s no surprise that an activity that simulates breaking free on an enclosed space will often feature locks. Seeing a lock can help direct your efforts, as you know you’ll need a key. But wait - not all locks have keys! Some need a code or combination in order to open. What’s more, some locks can be picked! What do they look like? And what can you use to pick a lock? Knowing a bit about the different types of locks and how they work can give you an advantage that other players won’t have.
7. CODES, CIPHERS AND CRYPTIC PATTERNS
Another favourite of escape room designers is a hidden message. As we’ve mentioned, this could be a code that releases a lock, but it could also be a clue in plain sight that’s only visible to those who know how to look. A classic example is a cryptic text that appears to say one thing, but might hide another meaning. Try looking at the first letter of each word or line, reading every second or third word or starting at the end and reading backwards. You’ll be surprised by how much can start jumping out at you! If you want to know more, try reading up about ciphers and encryption, it could just be the difference between success and failure.
8. THINK LIKE AN ESCAPE ROOM DESIGNER
The cunning characters who come up with escape room challenges are, at the end of the day, people just like you. They have to come up with a series of puzzles somehow and that’s something that you can emulate. Inventing your own mini escape rooms or dreaming up inventive ways to hide information, even watching detective shows or reading mystery novels, all of these can help you get a feel for the science of encryption and decryption - cryptography. All of that’s going to help you spot the tell-tale signs that someone’s trying to deceive you!
If there was a number 9, we’d tell you to remember to enjoy yourself! After all, this is your hard-earned leisure time and you want to leave with a smile on your face whether you beat the room or not. We’re pretty confident, though, that these tips are going to help you finish within the time limit - and maybe get onto the leaderboard for fastest finishers!
