My first experience with a computer adventure game was Zork. I played Zork on a Commodore-64 back in the 80’s. It was already a classic. It only had a command line interface and originally was developed for midsize (DEC PDP) computers on college campuses.

You entered commands at the prompt, similar to a DOS command line prompt. It understood “go north”, “pick up knife”, “drink potion”, “open door”. It had all sorts of puzzles and mysteries that needed to be solved. Like a book, it left much of the visualization to your imagination.

Zork Map

           Figure 1-1 (A map of the Zork empire)

One puzzle I remember that many other games had copied in later years was the “slide the paper under the door and poke the key out from the opposite side of the keyhole.” Basically you are locked behind a door and can see something in the keyhole. You assume it is the key. You happen to find a newspaper and stick in under the opposite side of the door and poke loose the key so it drops on the paper so you can retrieve it by pulling it back to your side of the door. You then unlock the door using the key.

King's Quest was one of the first graphic adventure games that seemingly had an entire production crew of writers, illustrators, similar to a movie production.. It had an elaborate backstory and quest (mission). A lot of the game was inspired by fairy tales and many of the puzzle solutions were inspired by these tales. A player with prior knowledge of the tales would have an advantage. But if the player didn’t have any knowledge of them, they could figure things out with other clues within the game.

Kings Quest Clue Puzzle

           Figure 1-2 (a puzzle in King's Quest)

Video games have changed graphically over the years, but the basic components remain the same. A good backstory, the idea of mystery or secrets that need to be solved, challenging puzzles, and a feeling of accomplishment.

Escape Rooms add the element of time or urgency to the game play. Not everyone wins in a 60 minute time frame.

 

For those who have not experienced an escape room, here are some example puzzles that you may have seen or encountered that might resonate with you.

Remember the “Water Jug Riddle /Puzzle” from the movie Die Hard 3? It went something like

You've got to defuse a bomb by placing exactly 4 gallons of water on a sensor. The problem is, you only have a 5 gallon jug and a 3 gallon jug on hand. How do you accomplish this? The answer involves getting the right amount of water in the 5-gallon jug. Does this ring a bell? This is exactly the type of puzzle that you might need to solve in an escape room.

Die Hard Water Jug

          Figure 1-1 (Die Hard 3 water jug puzzle)

How about the Indiana Jones movies, there were lots of puzzles in the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Remember the staff scene, where the length of the staff with the head piece revealed the Well of Souls once the sun shined through it while in the map room?

Staff of Ra

          Figure 1-2 (Staff of Ra Puzzle)

The National Treasure movies were all about secrets and clues to solve puzzles left by the Knights Templar. These types of clues that lead to solving puzzles that lead to more clues and more puzzles. This is the kind of excitement and success that awaits you in a good escape room.

National Treasure Puzzle

          Figure 1-3 (National Treasure Puzzle)

The Da Vinci Code is another good movie to draw from. Century old conspiracy theories, spies, secret orders, all set up a good escape room correlation.

What’s keep you from the fun? Join us for an escape room experience!

Music, clothing, pop culture and entertainment trends seem to make it to the midwest last. We are influenced by the west and east coasts and a lot more these days by social media. Escape Rooms have been around for a while, the first one created in Japan in 2007.

Escape Rooms started in the US around 2012. The initial rooms starting in the west. The midwest is still waiting for Steam Punk to catch on. We are still waiting for the term escape room to be a commonly known term in Indiana.

When marketing an escape room, it seems like only a few know what it is. A good elevator speech is hard to come up with. People want to know if it is scarey, is it dangerous, does it requires physical strength and endurance. It is hard to get through to people that have no context on what an escape room and its purpose.

Simply put.

  • It is a game, real-life adventure game.
  • More mental effort is needed than physical.
  • There is a 60 minute time limit.
  • The object of the game is to escape (solve all of the puzzles in the allotted time).
  • You have help, your friends or other participants playing to reach the same goal.
  • 4-10 players (participants) is common.
  • You play with friends, co-workers, and/or strangers.
  • You are “pretend” locked in a room(s) and your objective is to unlock the lock, escaping.
  • The room contains clues. Clues in plain sight, clues hidden, clues locked away.
  • Using teamwork and problem solving, all of the participants solve puzzles to escape.
  • Clues can lead to solving puzzles that result in new clues that require more puzzle solving.
  • Some rooms have more than one room.
  • Many clues result in combination numbers or letters to open locks. Locks to doors, cabinets, briefcases, boxes, etc.
  • Puzzles include ciphers, decoder rings, maps, morse code, etc. Anything that can be solved or a tool to solve a puzzle.
    Fun.

key word cloud

I find myself locked in a room. It is imperative that I escape in 60 minutes. I’m with friends. We all have the desire to escape. In all honesty, we are paying to be locked away with the hope we are challenged with riddles that will lead to clues allowing us to solve puzzles that eventually lead to our escape. It is a team effort, riddled with interpersonal complexities. Can we communicate effectively? Can we lead and be led? Do we have good listening skills. Do we have real-life experiences to lean upon. All of these will help our task.

It feels like a mission. A challenge. It is competitive. Others have been challenged and won. We paid, we need to win.

The creators of the puzzles and overall design of the room have built a room that has several characteristics.

Backstory - the scenario that you and your friends find themselves in has a background story. One with mystery and suspense like an old Alfred Hitchcock movie.The backstory sets the mood and many of the clues are tied back to the story.

Detail - the look and feel of the room supports the backstory. All of the senses are targeted. Sight, sound, smell, touch.

Challenge - puzzles require different levels of experience or attention to detail or linkages to multiple clues. One puzzle might require some basic math, while another requires a cipher, while another requires some trial and error. Each and every puzzle can be solved with an already understood knowledge base or if that knowledge base hasn’t been learned, it can be learned in the room. For example. If you don’t understand Morse code, you should be able to find a “key card” in the room that demonstrates the basic workings of Morse code.

Entertainment - the entire experience should be fun, entertaining, enjoyable. There should be “ah ha” moments, There should be moments of laughter and adrenaline.

Surprise - Each room will have one or more surprises. Something unexpected. The surprise will separate the room from other rooms.

Overseer - Each room has a game master, someone that follows along with your team. They have eyes and ears, watching from above.The game master will intervene if your group strays to far from the path.