escape room expert tips
The very first escape room opened in Japan in 2007. Since then, escape rooms have taken the world by force. There are now over 2300 different locations in the U.S. alone!
But how do you escape an escape room? Are there tactics or tricks you can use to help your team get out?
As it turns out, yes. Some common mistakes can eat up your time and keep you trapped. Here are the best escape room expert tips from escape room pros.
1. Don’t Fixate on One Puzzle 🧩
As you go through the room, you’ll find a lot of different things that you can tell will be important to the game somehow, but you just don’t know why yet.
Why are there so many playing cards? How do we make this puzzle work?
Until you feel confident you have all the pieces to any particular puzzle, keep looking. You’ll usually find directions that tell you how a puzzle works together.
2. Keep Exploring 👀
Three are a lot of different clues and puzzle pieces throughout an escape room. You usually can’t move forward until you find them all.
Look under tables and furniture. Look on the tops of lids when you feel inclined to just look inside. Is that thing actually locked, or do you just expect it to be locked? Try to open it anyway.
In escape rooms, people tend to miss the most obvious things because they expect it to be difficult. That’s why kids can be good at escape rooms – they see the obvious stuff and don’t ignore it.
So retrace your steps, and retrace your teammates’ steps. You might catch something they missed or vice versa.
3. Communicate With Your Team 🗣
One of the biggest issues teams encounter is they simply don’t talk to each other. You might be walking around holding one piece of a puzzle, and a teammate might be walking around with the other. If you don’t talk about it, neither of you will ever know.
Never find anything in secret. Find something that looks off? Bring it up. Have a piece to a puzzle? Make sure no one is carrying around other vital pieces.
4. Stay Organized ✅
If there’s a designated space, like a whiteboard, write down your codes and locks as you come across them. Did you use a code? Don’t erase it, just cross it off or give it a checkmark.
Most likely, someone will find that code again later and will ask if it’s already been used. You won’t remember unless it’s written down.
Same thing with puzzle pieces. You likely won’t find the entire puzzle all in the same location. Keep a place in the room designated to collect items as you come across them. Designate a separate place for puzzles you already solved.
These tactics will keep you from stumbling over things that you’ve already solved, and thus won’t help you again in the future.
5. Stuck? Retrace Your Steps 🤔
Are you stuck? Go back to the last thing you found. Maybe you missed something there. Often, escape rooms have a general order where one step leads to another.
If you get stuck, go back to the last thing you found. Reread directions, look more closely at a drawer you unlocked, check the space out with a black light, look underneath objects.
But you also might have just missed something else in the room. After you’ve retraced your steps back a bit, don’t fixate on that. Keep exploring.
6. Use Your Clues Wisely 🗝
Most escape rooms will provide you with a few clues, where when you get stuck, you can ask for help to point you in the right direction.
Don’t hoard your clues, especially at the beginning. You’ll probably have a natural inclination that you’ll probably need your clues later, and you just might.
But if you’re struggling, asking for a clue straight out of the gate can help you learn to identify what in the room is important.
Asking for a clue early on can get your gears turning, and help you on the right track.
7. Pay Attention to the Rules 🤓
Your game master might start your game with a starting speel. They explain locks in the room or different parts of the room that are or aren’t off-limits.
Pay close attention to these rules, because your game master might low key be dropping hints throughout the room.
Do they point out something strange, as a particular chair reclines? That’s probably important. Do they say nothing comes off the walls, but feel free to touch things on the walls? You might have something hidden behind things on the walls, or under a black light.
On top of that, it’s just a good idea to stay on your game master’s good side. They’re your most valuable asset when it comes to getting out of the game. They might even drop you an extra clue or two if you need it.
8. Keep Calm and Don’t Argue 😡
You’re here to have fun. Arguing makes everyone around you uncomfortable, and frankly, you don’t have the time for it. Just because you think someone else is doing it wrong, doesn’t mean your way is necessarily better.
You’ll need to try different tactics to figure things out, and everyone’s opinion is valuable.
9. Play Often 🙌
The more often you participate in escape rooms, the better you’ll learn to recognize what’s important, and what’s fluff. So play often, because you’ll get better every time.
Final Thoughts 💭
Escape rooms are a fantastic way to challenge yourself, whether on a date, with friends, or as a team-building event. With these expert tips, you’re well on your way to escaping successfully. Looking to take your teamwork to the next level? Check out our blog on how escape rooms are perfect for team building and see how they can benefit your group! Ready to put your skills to the test? Book your escape room today!