Make good on your escape.
Escape rooms are one of America’s fastest-growing sensations. Every metropolitan area has at least a few. They’re affordable, fun, and challenging.
Some escape rooms have a failure rate of ninety percent or higher. Some escape room connoisseurs have never escaped from one. Once you understand some basic escape room tips, you can start escaping in no time.
Here are five escape room tips for beginners.
1. Be Thorough
As soon as you enter the venue, get ready to play. There may be clues in the waiting room or around the front desk. Take note of the description and graphics used to promote your room.
Listen to everything your guide tells you. The stories behind the rooms always contain hints. You should also listen to safety instructions, especially as they relate to fire safety.
Once you enter a room, search the room from ceiling to floor, wall to wall. Divide the room into sections amongst the members of your party. Look over bookshelves, behind cabinets, and under furniture.
Take note of the time. You are not allowed to bring phones into escape rooms, but you can bring watches. Pace yourself so you don’t waste too much time.
2. Be Organized
There are a lot of things in your room. Most rooms have keys, papers, or other objects you need on you. Collect the objects you can take in one centralized location.
Stay organized by ignoring certain things. You can ignore power outlets, ceiling tiles, and immovable objects. You will never need excessive force to move objects.
Most rooms feature a whiteboard or a pen with paper. Use that to write hints and combinations down. If you have three digits on a four-digit lock, put in the three digits and start guessing the fourth.
Use coat hangers and lockers to store personal belongings. If you take in something you don’t need, you can make a discard pile in the room.
Most escape rooms use more than one room. Clues are often dispersed amongst multiple rooms, so you can move back and forth amongst them. Appoint one area of one room as a discard area for objects you no longer use.
Nearly all escape rooms use keys, but you don’t need those keys more than once. Leave the keys in the locks once you’ve opened them.
3. Work With Your Team
Escape rooms are a terrific team-bonding activity. But escape rooms require strong teamwork and cooperation. No one can solve an escape room single-handedly.
Though most rooms allow children, you should avoid having them on your team. They lose focus and lack puzzle-solving abilities. Select adults you know and trust to play.
If you are on a team with strangers, introduce yourself. Get to know them as much as possible before playing. Delegate responsibilities with them.
Everyone should arrive at the room sober. You may get kicked out if you’re too drunk. You may lose focus on puzzles and tasks if you’re drunk.
Communicate with everyone on your team. When you find something, call it out. If you’re struggling with a task, ask for help.
Don’t group around one puzzle or task. Work on something that no one else is working on. Every person should keep busy without spectating.
Your team usually receives three hints that you can use whenever you want. If you all are stuck, use one of your hints. Your guide may give you unsolicited advice, so keep an ear out just in case.
4. Understand Some Common Codes and Puzzles
You don’t need prior knowledge to win an escape room. Yet many rooms use similar codes and puzzles as other rooms. Familiarizing yourself with common codes certainly gives you an advantage.
The Morse code is an auditory code of beeps. Short beeps are dots, and long beeps are dashes. Dots and beeps make up letters, which spell out words.
Number substitution ciphers swap letters for numbers. A equals 1, B equals 2, and so on. Many escape rooms use substitution to hide codes.
An “x-y-z” book cipher uses a book to point to certain words. X refers to the page number, Y refers to the sentence number on that page, and Z refers to the word number in the sentence.
An Anagram is a word formed by rearranging letters of a different word. When you arrange the letters in the word, “tear,” you can spell the word, “rate.” Some escape rooms use anagrams to conceal important character names.
Many escape rooms use color-coding. The color of an object signifies something important about that object. Look for clues within your room that may suggest this.
Many escape rooms also utilize historical and scientific facts. Understand some basic history and science for an added advantage.
5. Stay Positive in Your Escape Room
You do not get a cash prize for solving an escape room. Escape rooms are meant to be fun diversions. There’s no pressure on you.
Allow yourself to get immersed in the story. This lets you have fun, and it encourages you to look out for clues. There’s a lot to explore, so go exploring.
Don’t feel cocky. Most rooms do not require prior knowledge. Beginners can do escape rooms and many of them win.
Many escape room veterans overthink things, causing them to spend too much time on one task. Think things through, but stay modest about what a task asks of you. Use basic logic and puzzle-solving skills.
Explore the different themes of escape rooms. You can go to a funny or scary escape room. This escape room involves you being framed for murder.
Learn from your mistakes. Practice makes perfect, and you will perfect your puzzle-solving skills in time. Go to escape rooms with different themes and hone your abilities.
Tips to Solve Escape Rooms
With the right tips, you can escape by the skin of your teeth. Be thorough and organized, looking through an escape room for all essential clues.
Form a good group, in which you divide tasks and communicate with each other. Understand some common escape room codes and ciphers. Stay positive to accomplish all of your tasks.
Have fun whenever you can. Follow our coverage for more information on popular diversions.