Join Scott Nicholson, game design professor at Wilfrid Laurier University in Brantford, Ontario, for an introductory talk on Escape Rooms! Find out more at escapeenthusiasts.com and see more of Scott's videos at / snicholson
0:01 escape rooms101 0:30 What is an Escape Room? 1:05 What makes Escape Rooms fun 2:24 What happens ahead of time 5:52 What happens inside the room? 13:47 What happens where the game is over?
Did an escape room for the first time a couple weeks ago. It was a blast! It was publicized as being one of the hardest rooms at the place and we escaped. We kept bragging to ourselves at how cool we are. I'll say I've prepared myself over the years playing the Room and the Room 2 on my tablet.
I did an escape room with a group of geocachers. We did well at the searching part, and most of us enjoy puzzle geocaches, so we did well solving the puzzles. But the communication and logistics roles were our weak points. Well, that and the way we would overthink things and create red herrings for ourselves...
+Darin McGrew Oh, I can't even start to list how many times I've overcomplicated something. That's one of the primary reasons I end up needing a hint in a room, as I've overcomplicated what I think I need to do to solve something. That's another place where kids shine - they can cut through your nonsense and help you see what needs to be done.
In hindsight, our biggest red herring seems obviously not a real clue, because it would have made resetting the room much harder. But at the time, it wasn't obvious at all.
You do not need to complicate simple things and work together more. We create escape rooms and test them on the players, and I can say with confidence that the people have different visions and it's several points of view that help to go through the game, as some of the points will turn out to be correct.
Fun is a subjective term even if that clause wasn't in the waiver the lawsuit wouldn't have much to back it and would likely lead in your loss in court.
I did one with my friends and we were all frustrated and not talking to eachother till one of my friends and I started singing let it go.... We worked together again but didn't get out because THEIR WHERE PUNS WE DIDN'T UNDERSTAND!!!
My friends and I did an Escape Room the other day and someone left trash (a plastic cup and a string) in the room and we thought it was part of the room. It confused us so much.
Thanks for the tips! Going to try one this weekend. I'm very interested in the pyramid shaped electronic game on the shelf behind you. My daughter had one in the 90's and I loved playing it. I have no idea what happened to it or what it is called. I would love to find one! Any ideas?
It’s called The Nemesis Factor by Hasbro-I think they were from around 2001 or so. I don’t know how available they are nowadays, but I wish you luck in finding it!! Also, if you see this, I’m wondering how your escape room went and if these tactics were helpful
Thank you so much for such a good explanation of the ""Escape Room"" My niece and Nephew had gone and I had never heard of them! That just may be an age thing..... but they sure sound intriguing!! I would be the searcher .... Thanks again!! :)
Do you have any thoughts on the "Escape Room in a Box" concepts that have popped up recently? Saw one on Kickstarter and a different version from ThinkFun that will be sold at Target. They're obviously not true Escape Rooms, but wondering how much of the experience you can get with something like that.
+Peter Schott It depends upon how it is built. Some of them will end up being more like puzzle hunts with a box of pen and paper puzzles. They could be made to give more physical puzzles. The challenge will be in replicating the team-based physical environment, so it's not just sitting at a table.
+Scott Nicholson Definitely not expecting the full experience from something "in a box", but if it can capture some of the feel for a reasonable price I was thinking that well-done ones could be fun. I really liked this video. I'm hoping to take a group of teens to a nearby escape room and will definitely show them this prior to going.
The Escape Room in a Box Werewolf Experiment and Flashback are most like a real escape room. The later Unlock ones are much better than the first three. Deckscape has lots of puzzles. The Escape the Room games from ThinkFun are great introductions for folks who have never played them before. Not super amazing for veteran escapees.
lol yes they are if you book a full group i'm doing one next year(i like to plan far ahead) and it would be like, 280$ for ten people(which is the max for the specific room i'm looking at)
Scott, what are your thoughts on Escape Room in a Box? I am wondering if you think it is worth investing in. Is it quality enough to warrant the cost? The idea really intrigues me, but money is tight, so I don't want to regret my purchase if it isn't all that good. Any thoughts on it?
I'm trying to create one for my biology class, in our lab. My goal is to use it as a midterm review.. I find the idea of assigning tasks to each person in the group so smart. I have 24 students. I was thinking about splitting the lab room and students in half and then split each half into three groups of 4 people. Once they're divided and begin, I was thinking about having the little groups do a tag team of sorts. The lab is not overly large and the only "free" space to walk around is the perimeter since the tables are in the middle. I figured having everyone wandering around at once might be too crowded? What does everyone think? I'd appreciate ideas, since this will be my first experience with this game. Thx.
I'm in the same boat trying to design an escape room theme for a conference. Won't have a full 60 minutes for the activity and will have larger groups. I like your idea of small groups and then assigning each group ordered task. So like group 1 might do task 1,2,3 (where task 1 requires moving and 2,3 table top work) and then group 2 might do 2, 1, 3 etc. this way only one group is moving at a time. it could be a competition where teams race to complete all tasks. Good luck and hope your students enjoy!
Yes exactly what I was thinking! a great idea to make it so one group is moving at a time. I'm going to work on it this weekend. Our lab is symmetrical so if I split it down the middle both larger groups will be working with the same materials. I'm trying to decide on the grading factor. Is it an all or nothing? points for trying? I'm thinking about it being a competition and those who finish first get an A and those on who finish second get a B. That way no one fails. A written midterm would have 50 multiple choice questions on them, but I think 50 tasks would be way too many. Thoughts? Good luck to you as well.
@@sherrialice So it's not even possible for both to score an A? That seems terrible. My opinion, but, also, your analytics may suffer if 50% score the worst possible mark. Kidding about the last part and unsure about what you mean regarding"grading". If it isn't for a certified qualification, ignore me quickly!
my tip is have some kind of moral support because you might need it at one point(dont count me on this i've never went to an escape room and i'm just giving role ideas)
I never signed a waiver nor did I remove my possessions but they did give us alcohol :) Too many red herrings in the one I did and told them so as meant we split the tasks up and half the people cracked codes which went nowhere. I know this because I asked them and they said later oh that was a red herring and meant that person's time was just wasted. I was definitely not frothing. It was good for team building as we all had a collective moan about this later over a meal :)
I was just going to comment saying that, well not the shenanigans part (I mean like harsh much)? ;] I was just thinking *ALERT: epic overuse of lab coat! *
I was really confused when I heard some asian friends talk about it (somehow this is something asians are seem very into) and I was thinking of panic rooms or safe rooms
James Leffel Same I felt pathetic doing a puzzle with a staff member watching over my shoulder and practically giving me the answers while my team went over the time.
My family did an escape room. One of the puzzle pieces was a computer, and my brother (who is a tech guy) hacked the computer and by passed some of the challenges.
I really want someone with the technical skills to crop this guy out of the video and superimpose it on a '90s Britpop music video. Otherwise, interesting video. Would love to start an escape room business!
