Escape Room Tips

Folks have asked me for strategies to succeed at Escape Rooms.  I recently wrote up an email to a friend and she said it helped.  Here is the summary of the strategies that my daughter and I use. 

Communication

If the team doesn't communicate, you will fail.

For example, someone may find something on one side of the room, and its complement may be on the other side or even in another room. Without communication, this may not be discovered until later.

Be Humble

The second thing is DON'T BE PROUD - be very humble, and try not to solve puzzles all by yourself. Yes, you probably can, BUT, it will take longer. Time is not your friend.

Questions for the GM

Before the game starts, ask these Questions of the Game Master (I always forget, but try to remember):

1.) Are clues used more than once? This is an important question because if something is solved, there's no reason to keep it around. Sometimes though, something like a periodic table might be used more than once. 

2.) How many hints do we get? Can we ask for nudges or tips? My daughter and I always try to recategorize it - most places give you only 3 to 5 hints. Also, we sometimes ask for further explanations on hints as not to waste them

3.) The game master will tell the team the usual - don't use force, don't climb, and don't touch anything that has a no-touch sticker, but do ask if you should look under rugs or under furniture. If you can, they will hedge their answer, thus look under those.

Respect

Be respectful to the Game Master AND the other players.  Game Masters are people too.  I usually compliment them at the end AND always give them a tip.  They generally just make a little above minimum wage and they shouldn't have to put up with your shit for that.  What you pay at the room goes to the room owner, not the Game Master.

Sometimes you are put with random folks.  It can be good and can be bad.  When I'm traveling solo, I welcome others.  I had a great experience in Seattle with "randos".  On the other hand, Rose and I encountered proper assholes a few times.  Being with really nice folks outnumber the times we had assholes, but one remembers the bad more. 

No matter what, be nice to others, whether the game master, randos, or your own folks.  Kindness goes a long way!

Stay Organized

Designate a place to put unsolved puzzles (if they are moveable) and where to put solved puzzles (discard pile). Do this for each room if there are multiple rooms.

Searching

Have EVERYBODY search first - look up, look down, have people go in different directions (clockwise, counter-clockwise). If you have enough people, go in teams of 2 and discuss possibilities. If puzzles can be moved, move them to the designated place. Announce - 3-number lock, 5-alpha lock, directional lock, magnetic lock, etc. Try to keep track of all locks and how many digits they need.

There is the urge to start solving puzzles right away.  Complete searching thoroughly BECAUSE engaging in trying to solve a puzzle will distract you from finding key things you need later.  Yes, ask me HOW I KNOW!

EVERYTHING is game unless it's off-limits, usually with stickers or if told to you by the Game Master.

Look at everything on the walls carefully. If there's a poster or picture, there's probably a reason for it. 

Sometimes there are red herrings - get over them and don't let them fester in your brain - on the other hand, don't forget them.

If you see a periodic table, you will probably either find element numbers or acronyms somewhere and have to look up a word OR a number based on it.

Brainstorming and Team Work

Try to brainstorm answers together. If there's a physical puzzle and one person fails, don't be proud and try it again. Ask someone else to try it. Same with a lock. If a 3-digit code doesn't work, have someone else try it - they are sometimes sticking.

If a puzzle takes over a minute to solve, ask for a nudge or hint. Some puzzles DO take longer. Make sure that others are doing things too. Don't all hang around one puzzle.

Divide and conquer works great with larger teams.  If teams are too large (more than 6), cohesion of ideas are lost.  Split into groups of 2 or 3 but make sure you have one person talking to the other groups.

If you are out of things to do, then you probably missed something. Ask the GM what to do next. 

More than one room!

Most likely, there will be more rooms because it's rare there's just one room but there are venues with just one.

Some rooms are just side quests - some are required to go into next. Take everything undone with you. Find a new place for unsolved puzzles and a new discard pile - sometimes we run discards back to the original room to get them out of our way.  That can also cause a problem if that item is still needed, so be careful.

What's frustrating is to spend the bulk of your time working on one or two rooms and then ANOTHER ROOM OPENS!  It really deflates the group.  Chin up and tackle it efficiently.  Sometimes the last rooms have less puzzles - sometimes, they require things from another room.  Keep track of your inventory.

Pay Attention

Sometimes, something opens and nobody is aware. For example, you complete a puzzle and a bookcase opens a wee bit. If you complete a puzzle and nothing obvious happens, look around to see if something changed. 

Progress Review

At some point, review what's still to do - out loud - have someone be the designated person to do this. I usually assume this role because I'm an extrovert. I say "Let's review - we have 2 locks over there, we have a puzzle here that needs..." By just saying it, the others can say "Oh, I saw this..."

Summary

Communication is the main thing. Stay humble, ask for lots of hints, and keep an eye on the clock.