Escape Room Tips
How to beat any Room - Fast!
Our tips may seem simple, but they come from having played hundreds of escape rooms all over the world. They have been carefully chosen and re-written several times over the years. We are confident that these are the absolute best advices we can give any team about to get into an escape room.
Search thoroughly
Seems self evident but often overlooked. Be extremely thorough when looking and touching everywhere. Divide and conquer. Escape rooms are less about brains, and more about noticing things.
Work together
Having multiple people to look over a clue can help! If you’re stuck, let someone else try.
Yell out loudly what you find and listen to others
Chaotic, but very effective. Communication is key to a fast game progress.
Keep used keys in their lock
In most rooms, a key is never used more than once. Leave it in the lock for your own sanity.
Make a “discard pile”
Keeping neat and organized will save you a lot of time.
Listen to your host
Everything your game master says before or during the game is very important. Pay attention.
Ask for hints
No point in struggling with a puzzle for more than 10 min. If you’re not having fun, get a hint.
Don’t use force
Breaking things is both bad for the escape games and the players. Everything that is meant to move will do so nice and easy if you do the right thing.
Look at the broader picture
Have one member of your team keep track of the larger picture, objective, sequence.
Apply “Occam’s Razor”
Don’t overthink any of the puzzles. Go for the simpler solution. Usually escape room puzzles have a clear “Aha ” when you discover the right approach.
And don’t be afraid to lose
Some of our most satisfying escape rooms were ones we didn’t escape. Don’t rush chaotically to finish in time. Embrace the game and your friends, not the outcome..
Different types of rooms
Linear vs. Non-Linear
A question we always ask when attempting a new escape room is if the progression room is linear or not. Linear progression means that one puzzle will lead you to the next, and that one will need you to the next and so on. This means that there is at any given point only one thing you need to solve in order to advance. In contrast, a non-linear room will often have multiple things that need to be worked on / solved at the same time in order to advance. It is easy to see how your strategy would need to be different for the two styles.
Linear Rooms
Linear progression works really well for smaller groups and also allows the puzzles to be better immersed into the story or the plot of the room. If you are in a linear room and you feel stuck, go back to the last thing you opened and see what it is trying to get you to do.
Non- Linear Rooms
Non-lonear progression is good for large groups (over 5-6 players), because it allowes everyone ot be working on something, rather than all working on one puzzle at a time. If you are solving a non-linear room, divide the group into smaller teams and have each team work on something diferent. If you are stuck, switch with another team and let them try.
Which Generation is the technology of the Room
This is worth knowing before you even book, but it is certainly helpful before you start. Here is what you can expect in each of the different generations:
Gen 1
This is the traditional escape room. It generally will consist of lots of pad locks of different kind. You will need to figure out the codes for the different padlocks to advance. Figuring out the puzzles will give you the codes. Escape rooms will vary greatly in how the code is derived, but the puzzles in Gen 1 are all manual, meaning no electronics are involved.
Gen 2
Typically these rooms will still contain a good amount of pad locks, but 2nd generation adds some sensors, and typically some magnetic locks. When the correct action is performed (i.e. place a candlestick in the right location) a magnetic lock is triggered and it opens access to a compartment that was previously unaccessible.
Gen 3
At this level, rooms generally consist of mostly or exclusively sensor type puzzles and there are few or no padlocks. Additionally, 3rd generation rooms typically feature sound FX and light FX that enhance the experience and improve immersion.
Gen 4
This the most advanced level to date. Gen 4 rooms are all electronic, intuitive, and movie-like. You can expect advanced sound and light FX, adaptive background sounds, lasers, fog machines, advanced sensors, projection mapping and at this level you can expect motion as part of the trigger sequence as well.
It is important however to note that all 4 generations have rooms that are great, and rooms that are not so great. A higher generation does not mean a better room. We have done some Gen 1 rooms that are super creative and a lot more fun than many Gen 4 rooms. We just like knowing what we are walking into so that we know how to approach the puzzles. A question worth asking..