Escape room strategies are tips and actions that help solve escape games. For example, searching everywhere, paying attention to details, and looking beyond eye level. Being locked up in a room with just an hour to solve the mystery and get yourself and your teammates out can be quite challenging. Without learning useful strategies that work for the game of escape room, you might end up not winning the game each time you play.
These strategies are similar to escape room tips.
This article includes:
- virtual escape room strategies
- escape room coping strategies
- escape room strategies for teams
- problem-solving strategies for escape rooms
Let’s get started!
General Escape Room Strategies
You do not have to be a genius to best an escape game. By knowing some escape room coping strategies, solving these puzzles no longer has to be dreary. The following general escape room strategies apply to physical and virtual escape rooms.
1. Bring A Watch
Participating in an escape room with a wristwatch is a good time-management strategy. Apart from relying on the standard game time, you can allocate specific times for certain actions. Watching the time helps you know what you should spend time on and what you should skip. Therefore, keep track of each minute to avoid time wastage.
2. Pay Attention to Details
Attention to even the most insignificant detail is a winning asset in escape room games. The trick behind escape rooms is hiding answers to the puzzle in secret areas. When you pay attention to everything in the room, you will be able to note strange symbols, letters, signs, and everything else that others may have overlooked.
When solving escape rooms, you have to put your visual and audio abilities to use. You can look around the room and go through every piece of furniture, decoration, or art piece in the room. There may be a clue or hidden message in any of the items. Also, listen carefully for out-of-place sounds.
3. Search Everywhere and Everything
Searching everywhere is as vital as paying attention during the game. One of the biggest tricks escape room facilitators play on players is hiding hidden messages or clues in places players are most likely to ignore.
Search the bookshelves if there are any in the room and pages of books that seem creased or folded. Make sure you check out the drawers and lockers, and even if you find them empty, look carefully for any encryption or hidden sign. Unless you have been strictly asked not to, you are free to move any adjustable item.
There is a high probability that your clue hides among or within these items. However, do not forcefully try to open the door, climb the wall, or continue using a key on a lock even after it is clear that it would not open. These acts can ruin the fun of the game and cause a security hazard for both you and your teammates. Every escape room is straightforward as long as you solve your puzzle. Forcefully trying to open the door signifies that you may have overlooked some clues.
4. Do Not Search at Just Eye Level
Many escape room players make a mistake by searching the room at eye level only. Although it seems convenient and natural to do so, you should look both up and down and back and forth when searching the room. You should ensure that your eyes are on every high and low point of the room. Some clues will most likely be hidden in points that the human eyes may not note unless players pay utmost attention.
5. Stay Persistent Even When You Find Something
One of the easiest ways to mismanage time when playing escape rooms is to stop at the first clue you find. It is natural to get excited and then make the mistake of stopping to gush or celebrate the accomplishment. Since you are working with time, you need to organize whatever you have found and keep searching. You can always celebrate at the end of the game, but you need to stay focused on beating the time while playing.
6. Analyze Everything You See
However insignificant the sign, symbol, or text you find seems, try to analyze these elements carefully before deciding if they are meaningful. You can critically look at items and texts to ascertain if they hold meaning. Do not overlook any text, even if it is just a date or random name.
If you come across a highlighted text in a book, ensure you read the lines repeatedly to decipher if it holds extra clues. One tip to deciphering hidden clues in a message, poem, or any text is reading the first letter of every line in the text. It is advisable to pay attention to rhyming words or letters, and if perhaps a word or letter appears multiple times, it may hold a password or hint.
7. Use Your Blacklight
If the game facilitators handed you blacklights at the start of the game, there is a high chance you will need to use them. Anything written with blacklight ink is invisible till you use a UV light on that spot. The blacklight was not a random accessory, so use it often.
It would be best if you did not only use your blacklight on walls, the floor, or visible surfaces. To ensure that you do not miss any hidden clue, use your blacklight on shelves, the insides and outer areas of drawers, lockers, furniture, and even the decorations. You can also use your blacklight to scan the room thoroughly after you must have completed your puzzles.
8. Use Your Hints
Some escape room facilitators are helpful enough to give players about two to three hints before starting the game. If you are a competitive player, then it is normal to want to solve your puzzle without using hints. However, you have to know when to use pointers.
If you and your teammates are stuck at a particular point for quite a while, then you can use any of the hints offered by the facilitators. Using your clues helps you piece certain information together and efficiently solve the puzzle. Wasting time at a particular puzzle when you can use a hint is not only needless but increases your chance of losing the game.
9. Do Not Put Anything in your Pocket or a Hidden Spot
It is easy to get so carried away in the game that you mistakenly keep some items in your pockets. Of course, this act is normal, but it is not advisable while in the escape room. Putting objects, no matter how irrelevant, in your pocket or where others cannot find them, may hinder your team’s progress. You never know if those items are instrumental to solving the puzzle and unlocking the door.
10. Look Out For Combination Locks
If you find a combination lock in the room, that could mean you have to discover several other clues to find the answer. You could note down the number on the combination immediately you find them. If the numbers do not directly provide solutions to a clue, then you can try to rearrange the combination and see if it represents anything significant. You can also try to analyze the numbers to see if they mean anything. The clue could be in the form of a word, date, serial number, or anything linked to the game.
Escape Room Strategies for Teams
Escape room games are a team activity, with each group working hard to ensure they solve their puzzles first before the time is up. Surprisingly, many people do not understand the importance of choosing the right team for the game, and that is where many start to miss it.
Other than choosing the right teammates, here are escape room strategies for teams to make your game easier.
11. Communicate
One thing most escape room players fail to realize is the importance of communication among teammates. If you ever want to beat the game on time, then you must speak to teammates about every situation and scenario. You should not hold back any helpful information or ideas just because you are shy or want to appear the smartest. With escape room puzzles, the saying that “two heads are better than one” is correct.
You should notify your teammates if you encounter any clue or puzzle that others seem to have missed. Also, if there is a particular puzzle that you seem not to understand, communicate to your teammates and switch so that others can try to solve it. You never can tell if another player can spot what you missed and help the team solve that puzzle. Communication is one of the most critical problem-solving strategies for escape rooms because silence or miscommunication can cost your team a win.
12. Assign Roles
The main idea of escape rooms is to solve the puzzle within a limited time of 60 minutes. As much as you would like to take your time to solve each puzzle, there is no time to waste. A useful escape room strategy for time management is assigning roles to teammates.
For instance, you can assign some teammates to solve the discovered puzzles while others try to seek more hints and clues. With each team member focused on their part of the room, you can quickly identify and solve clues faster than when everyone is just searching anywhere.
13. Reshuffle
Although assigning roles is a great way to manage time and fasten the gaming process, you want to ensure that your team does not miss any important detail in haste. To avoid such errors, you should reshuffle teammates by assigning different roles. Reshuffling allows teammates to notice what others might have missed while solving their puzzles. You will be surprised at how much ground you and your teammates will cover if you apply this strategy.
14. Organize Clues
It would be time-wasting to have teammates find the same clue that someone had earlier discovered. To prevent this situation, you can create a pile or specific area for both your solved and unsolved clues. Organizing clues ensures that no pointers get missed. If you find clues that appear related even in the slightest way, group them. Organizing your clues also helps you keep track of your team’s progress based on the increase of the pile.
15. Play with a Clear Head
Escape Rooms, no matter how challenging, are still a game. The game can get intense, especially when the time is ticking away and you have not solved your puzzles. Rather than let your emotions interrupt the game, try to concentrate with a clear head.
It is advisable to remain composed and confident regardless of how you may be feeling inside. Also, encourage your teammates to do their best without necessarily pushing them beyond their limits. Finally, as much as you would love to win, you should ensure that you do not lose your head in the game and let your feelings ruin the fun experience you were supposed to have.
Virtual Escape Room Strategies
Playing the virtual representation of an escape room is no different from playing the game in real life. Fortunately, the same strategies for physical escape rooms work just as well for the virtual version. However, there are still specific virtual escape room strategies to boost your chances of winning.
16. Set a Collective Timer
One strategy to help you and your team efficiently solve virtual puzzles is to set a collective timer. By setting a timer, every teammate can keep track of the time while working on their respective assignments.
However, you would want to regularly remind teammates to watch the clock because there is a high chance of getting too immersed in discovering and solving clues. It is very easy to lose track of time in such instances.
17. Use the 360-degree Scan Feature
Getting a full 360-degree scan before and during the game is one of the new amazing features included with many virtual escape rooms nowadays. This feature helps you get an idea of the room’s layout and visible items in the room. You can now pay attention to details that may eventually yield problem-solving clues with this information.
18. Split Screens
Contrary to what many players think, it is perfectly normal to split screens when playing a virtual escape room. This step does not necessarily mean you are cheating. One of the advantages is that you can have seamless communication with your teammates while still paying attention to the game dashboard. Also, splitting screens lets you open a new tab to use the internet in cases where you need help with a confusing clue.
Conclusion
There is no denying that escape rooms are one of the most thrilling games. With these escape room strategies, you can now play the storyline, beat the game, and come out of each room victorious. All you have to do is follow these strategies and your basic problem-solving skills, and you can leave each room within record time. Knowing these strategies is not just enough. You have to practice and improve your newfound skills by engaging in as many escape rooms as possible.
As insignificant as it seems, choosing the right team makes solving your puzzles and winning easier. In simpler terms, your choice of teammates can either make or break your game. It would be best if you did not choose your teammates based on superficial attributes or assumptions that they might be the right fit. You should have had a conversation with the team before the game to ascertain if you should team up with them or not.
While escape room games are just for fun, there is no denying the blissful feeling of winning. To successfully navigate and solve the puzzles at your next Escape room, you should have a strategy that puts you and your teammates in the lead. If you are eager to win your next escape room, you will need to take note of these helpful escape room strategies.
Next, check out this list of escape room board games and the best escape game movies.
FAQ: Escape room strategies
Here are some frequently asked questions about escape room strategies:
What are the best escape room strategies?
Some of the best escape room strategies include
- Choosing the right team
- Planning ahead
- Delegating roles to your teammates
- Searching everywhere
- Communicating effectively
- Analyzing every clue critically.
These are some of the best strategies that can guarantee you a win whenever you participate in escape rooms.
How do you come up with a strategy for an escape room?
If you desire to win the game, then coming up with a winning strategy becomes easy. You have to think like the facilitators. Strategizing gives you an idea of where facilitators may hide certain clues or messages. You can also check out winning strategies online and use the knowledge.