Time is ticking, you’re locked in a finite space and there’s only one way out: decipher the main combination on the door, or else… YOU LOSE!
Where do you even begin?
How in the world are you supposed to know which items are part of the puzzle?
Who should you bring into the room with you?
Below are some helpful tips for escape rooms that will expedite the process and shave precious minutes off your decision making.
The Smaller the Team, the Better
One of the best escape room strategies is to book a private team and keep it to as close as 6-10 people as possible.
It’s best to surround yourself with friends, coworkers, or those of your employees that you have an instilled teamwork mindset with.
This will make it easier to divide and conquer, as you can separate by those in your group that enjoy solving the puzzles and those that enjoy pacing around looking for more clues.
Knowing who fits in which of those two groups beforehand saves having to figure that out while the clock is running.
Also, make sure the ones searching for clues announce anything they find to the entire group.
Move Past the Last Number or Letter of the Combo
There will come a point where you’ll get fed up with the redundancy of combination locks and won’t want to dwell on them too long before moving on.
If you find yourself at a point where only one number is remaining on a lock combination, cut time off the clock by trying all the number options on the last number before looking for more clues to determine it.
As for short word combinations: try figuring out the first and last letters of the word and make educated guesses from there.
For example, if there’s a five letter word that starts with an “F” and ends with an “E”, give “Frame” a shot!
Small, Loose Items Are Your Friend
Don’t waste your time trying to move that heavy bookshelf to look behind it, I promise you there’s nothing there. Fixate on the small, protruding items as those are more likely to contribute to the game.
Most rooms will try to trick you by placing a shiny gold key in a drawer when it might be the tiny wrench that opens something up instead, better to play it safe and grab both!
Make room in the middle of the floor from the very beginning that you can lay out any items you find.
This will help when filtering down on what objects pair with which puzzle.
Don’t Be Afraid to Use Your Game Master
Most rooms will allow a certain number of times you can ask the Game Master for a hint, BUT even if you’ve used them all, don’t let the time penalty scare you.
Most of the time the penalty is only shaving a minute off your time remaining. If that’s the case, it’s better to have an answer in a minute than waste three minutes staring at the same object.
My recommendation, if the room starts to go quiet, that’s the perfect time to turn to your game master for a hint.
Follow These Tips for Escape Rooms
Hopefully, these tips for escape rooms serve you well. Remember: even if you don’t figure out how to escape the room, it’s important to enjoy yourself.
Escape rooms are an amazing team bonding experience and will be a memory you all will share for the rest of your lives on https://escapeops.ca/
For other morale-boosting event ideas, be sure to check out my special events articles.
