12 Escape Room Tips To Conquer Any Room Like A Pro

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Originally created as a game show concept for the TV show Now Get Out of That (1981-1984), escape rooms evolved to video games, and then into physical rooms that grew in popularity across the United States and Japan. Today, there are an estimated 50,000 escape rooms located around the world.

Escape rooms are usually family friendly, mentally stimulating, and a ton of fun. But if you’ve already done a few escape rooms before, then you’ve probably gotten stuck on a puzzle. These escape room tips will help both newbies and experiences escape room attendees maximize their efforts and solve puzzles faster.

Guide to Winning Escape Rooms: Proven Tips for Success

Let’s unlock some proven escape room strategies that’ll have you dancing in celebration as that final lock opens the exit door.

Establish Team Roles

Designate specific roles within your team to ensure that each member contributes effectively. Communication breakdown is a common reason for failure, so having a project manager who oversees and coordinates activities can significantly help your team’s performance. Here’s a short list of recommended roles for your escape room team. Smaller groups will need to double up on roles.

• Project Manager: Doesn’t actively try to solve clues, but assigns resources, and tries to figure out how all of the individual clues fit together in the bigger picture. The project manager should also try to cycle members between roles. This can help sustain mental stamina while preventing narrow perspectives.
• Analyzers: Puzzle solvers.
• Communicator: Someone who makes sure the rest of the group knows what the others are doing.
• Floater: Jumps between the analyzers and helps bring a fresh perspective to puzzles.

Think Simple

Overanalyzing can lead to wasted time and unnecessary complications. Remember that in a well-designed escape room, the clues and puzzles should be accessible to the average person and not require specialized knowledge.

However, sometimes that isn’t the case. Sometimes you’ll get a bad escape room designer. I got stuck in my first escape room because no one in our group knew how to play Sudoku. But if that happens, don’t be afraid to ask your escape room staff for a clue.

Stay Focused

A key strategy in dominating escape rooms is to stay focused on the task at hand. Most escape rooms give you one hour to solve the room. But as soon as the clock starts, don’t panic. Try to focus and tune out distractions.

Begin by identifying key obstacles impeding your escape (doors, locks, etc.), then breakdown challenges into bite-sized accomplishments. Progress will snowball with each small win.

Maximize Group Searching Efforts

Soon as you enter a room, split up and quickly search for clues and useful items. Familiarize yourself with common hiding spots such as under tables, rugs, in hollowed-out books, and behind doors.

Avoid wasting time by searching in improbable places like electrical outlets or lighting fixtures. Instead, keep an eye out for clues that align with the theme of the room.

Organize and Communicate

Effective organization and group communication are vital for success in escape rooms. Keep all clues and items in one central location to help everyone see what has been discovered by other players. Share information with your team, and ensure that each member understands the significance of each item. This helps prevent duplicative efforts and streamlines the search for solutions.

Use Your Senses

Sharp eyes, keen hearing, and even your sense of touch can uncover clues for cracking codes or revealing hidden caches. Flickering ceiling lights or LEDs may be flashing in a pattern like Morse Code. Turning off the lights (if you can) might reveal a laser beam or glow in the dark ink. Raised bumps on a table may be a message written Braille.

Focus on Obstacles

As you progress through the room, identify the key obstacles hindering your escape. It’s common to feel overwhelmed initially, but breaking down larger challenges into smaller pieces will help your group make progress. By focusing on core obstacles, you can avoid wasting time on irrelevant clues.

Familiarize Yourself with Common Escape Room Locks

Understanding common locks and their operation will give you an edge in any escape room. Whether it’s a standard key lock, combination lock, word lock, dial lock, or directional lock, knowing what to look for and how to manipulate each type of lock will save you valuable time.

Try searching YouTube for overviews on the types of escape room locks that you might encounter.

Deciphering Codes and Ciphers

Many escape rooms use codes and ciphers. Familiarize yourself with popular encoding schemes such as Morse Code, Pigpen Cipher, Braille, and alphabetical encoding. Recognizing these patterns can help you find and decode messages hidden within the room.

Recognizing Written Clues

Written clues will often contain hidden messages. Try to absorb text visually rather than relying solely on reading content to detect sneaky ciphers.

Scan for patterns in capital letters, symbols, fonts, or formatting that may reveal hidden words or instructions. Also note missing or substituted letters, as these could signal an anagram. If text seems senseless, try translating letters into numbers or rearranging words and phrases. Even tiny details like underlined passages, text orientation, or fonts could conceal clues.

Learn To Identify Patterns and Sequences

A common place to hide clues in an escape room, is in plain sight. For example, if you need 4-numbers to unlock a lock, then look around the room for a group of four similar items. Are there four paintings on the wall? How many people are in each painting? The number of people per painting might be the lock’s combination.

A keen eye for recognizing patterns can lead to breakthroughs when tackling complex challenges. Whether it’s counting the number of sides on shapes or people in paintings, pattern recognition is a crucial skill.

Don’t Be Afraid To Ask For A Clue

Don’t hesitate to get hints from your escape room guide. They may offer subtle hints and high-level guidance that can nudge your team in the right direction. At the end of the day, it’s a better escape room experience and more fun to solve a room with the help of a couple clues, than to get stuck and leave the room feeling deflated.

Essential Escape Room Tips

Beating an escape room isn’t just about puzzle solving; it’s about working together as a team, leveraging individual strengths, and enjoying the thrill of the game. By implementing these proven tips, you’ll maximize your chances of solving any escape room challenge. Who knows, you might even finish with a record-breaking time. Good luck!

Do you have any more escape room tips? Please let us know in the comments.