Escape Room Tips for Beginners

Escape room tips are hard to come by! Owners are very tight lipped about solving escape room puzzles. However, if you are reading this, it means that a friend, relative, or species has turned you on to the awesomeness that is Escape Rooms! I am also guessing that you want to nurture your new found passion and possibly turn it into a skill. Well today you are in luck, my friend! We are here to discuss some of the most important escape room tips in the industry that will hopefully lead you and your group to break records inside of your favorite escape rooms!

Escape Room Tips #1

Communication is Key!

Communication is probably the single most important tip any one could give you during your escape room visit. However, what type of communication is important to increase your chances of escaping? If you find something inside an escape room, no matter how unimportant you may think it is, communicate your find to the group. Keep a list of what you have found so you can come back to it later. Do not ever keep your thoughts to yourself. This is a confidence issue. If you have an idea, speak up, speak clearly and speak confidently. If anyone on your team tells you that your idea is wrong, or is not relevant to the game, make sure you tell them that 95% of the reason groups do not escape is because a person in the group keeps telling everyone that their idea is wrong or means nothing. Nine times out of ten, the person afraid to speak up is the one who has the right idea.

Escape Room Tips #2

Make an Mental Inventory!

As soon as the timer starts, make a mad dash to make a mental inventory of how many locks are inside the room. Also, are there any 3,4, or 5 digit locks in the room? Are there any letter locks or directional locks in the room? Are there any drawers, doors, cabinets or chests that have no locks, but they are just not opening? Another real huge mistake groups make is not trying the code they have figured out on all of the locks. Either they do not see the lock, or they think someone else tried it so they move on. Which brings me to my next suggestion regarding locks. Do not assume that your teammate has tried the combination already! Often a member of the group does not know how to line up the lock correctly. Also, a lot of groups enter the correct code, but they do not pull on the lock, so they waste precious time! Always check and recheck your teammates work.

Escape Room Tips #3

Use the Clues!

I can’t tell you how many times I have encountered a group who has never done an escape room before and they are confident that they are going to escape the room in 5 minutes or less. First, let me just say that escaping in 5 minutes or less is virtually impossible. I would like to follow up on that by saying it is great for a group to be confident, but proud and stubborn is a different subject entirely. Escape room staff are being paid to help create an enjoyable and exciting experience for every group that walks through the door and part of their job is to assist your group when you are stuck on a puzzle. However, the staff will not give you a clue unless someone in the group asks for one. If you are stuck on a puzzle and time is whizzing by, chances are, there is much more to go and we want you to experience as much as possible before the time runs out. Eat your pride and ask for the clue! You will not regret it and there are more puzzles for you to solve. I once had a group come in and say we don’t want any clues. As any good business owner would do, I said “I would advise against that, but you are more than welcome to try!” This group got stuck on the first puzzle and the leader of the group refused to get a clue for the entire hour! This is exactly how to ruin a potentially awesome experience. Once your group has a few escape rooms under their belt, a no clue approach is okay if you feel that your group is up to it. However, as a beginner, the mistake to top all mistakes players make in escape rooms is to walk in the door and refuse to take a clue when you are stuck.

Escape Room Tips #4

Be Organized!

Have you ever had that roommate or boy/girlfriend who is constantly forgetting where they put their car keys? Maybe that’s you LOL! It’s definitely me, I can tell you that right now! Anyway, being organized during your escape room visit will help your group succeed. Sort out the items you have found in two categories; SOLVED/NOT SOLVED. Keep your keys organized as well by USED/NOT USED. I promise that your escape rate will increase significantly by following this very simple tip. I can’t tell you how many times groups have left an unsolved item underneath an already solved item and they just forgot about it completely. Out of sight, out of mind is a very true statement in the escape room industry, so keep all your unused puzzles in sight at all times!

Escape Room Tips #5

Keep Calm and Escape!

It’s down to the last minutes. Your heart is racing, and you have just unlocked the last puzzle. It’s a hard one, and everyone begins to panic! STOP! BREATHE! Look at the puzzle and try to see what it is trying to tell you. Recently I had a group that got to the last puzzle with a few minutes left. They had a partial understanding of how to solve the puzzle and began to shout out ideas. As the seconds began to dwindle, the idea shouting got louder and included jumping. However, puzzle solving ceased because everyone was too excited. As the buzzer sounded, the group calmed down enough to solve the puzzle in about 20 seconds or less. It is okay to be high energy and enthusiastic. That is what we encourage, but if you want to win, you need to be able to focus when the pressure is on!

Closing Thoughts,

I hope that while reading this article you have gained some insightful tips on how to successfully escape the theme you have chosen. Remember, the Escape Room Industry is all about having fun! We are here to entertain you, reconnect you with loved ones and create a stronger corporate bond. The age of computers have disconnected us socially from the outside world. It is time to reclaim some of that sociability that is in every one of us, craving to be let out. To have companions, to be heard, to communicate and be understood. To be accepted into a group is okay, and it is healthy. No need to go at it alone, be a part of a team and try an escape room adventure!