CLUE CHASE'S BEST ESCAPE ROOM WINNING TIPS

If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve played an escape room before. Maybe you’ve always done very well, and you’re reading this to yourself thinking “Ha, what do these game designing nerds think they can offer me?” or maybe you’ve found your escape room experiences to be very challenging, and you’re thinking “Sure hope this isn’t a waste of my time”. Either way, we think we can help – we’ve been building and operating escape rooms here in NYC since 2015, we’ve created eight unique escape rooms, as well as several other pop-up/temporary escape games for various special events and celebrations. We’ve seen tens-of-thousands of players attempt our games, and we’ve taken notes (Okay, not literally) on some of the habits of the most effective teams that we have seen. And now, we’re going to share some of those habits with you. 

The Habits of Highly Effective Escape Room Players

1. Communicate – Seriously, this is number one. This is the most important distinguishing characteristic between teams that crush an escape room and finish with time to spare, and teams that flounder and get stuck or confused. If you find a loose object that seems like it might be part of something else, tell your team. Maybe they’ve found the other parts. If you notice a weird pattern on a sign or door, tell your team. Really, if you see a detail that catches your attention – share that detail! Sometimes the best teams that we have seen won’t even start solving anything for the first five or six minutes of their game. Instead they are taking their time to case the room and figure out what they’re working with. If you find a specific type of lock, share that. For example, if you find a single lock that uses letters as its input, share that information! Someone else on your team may have uncovered a puzzle involving letters, and those two things are bound to go together. If you keep discoveries to yourself, you and a teammate may be walking around each other in circles, each aware of half a puzzle, and just missing the detail that their friend noticed. Share what you see!
2. Try Things – You would be surprised by how frequently we hear a team mention a possible solution to a puzzle, sometimes even the correct solution, and then they just keeping wandering the space or staring at whatever is impeding their progress without taking any action. If you have an idea, try it. Sometimes speaking up isn’t enough, and you’ve just got to act. It’s okay if you aren’t right, that just eliminates a possibility and brings your team closer to the correct solution. Trying and failing is better than having an idea and doing nothing with it. 
3. Share the Space – Sometimes it’s important to know when a puzzle has defeated you personally, and move away from it to allow someone else the chance to try their hand at it. If you feel as though you’ve been banging your head against a proverbial wall for five-ten minutes, let someone else have a chance to bang their head against that wall in your place. Maybe they’ve got a thicker skull than you and will make it through that wall, or maybe they’ll see a connection you missed, and they’ll get your team back on track. There’s no shame in not being the one to solve every puzzle, it’s a team game for a reason!
4. Remember What You’ve Done – Nothing can waste more time for a team than forgetting what puzzle pieces they’ve used already, that’s how you end up with teams trying to solve puzzles they’ve already completed – or trying to use puzzle pieces with entirely unrelated challenges. The vast majority of well-designed escape rooms  will only use a given puzzle piece/element one time. Once that element has been used to solve a puzzle it should be placed it the side. Ideally you designate a spot with your team to gather items you have successfully used already, so that they do not become a distraction down the road.
5. Relax –  Remember, it’s a game! No one is judging you, and while there is a pass/fail element with whether or not you beat the clock, we can promise that the clock does not gloat if it beats you. The fun of the game is in exploring and solving the puzzles – opening the end door after you’ve won, while certainly a highlight, isn’t really a particularly great bit of the experience. It just means your game is over, which we think is sad. Winners get a sense of pride and accomplishment, and teams that are unable to finish, well, they can also have a sense of pride and accomplishment for making it as far as they did, if they want.

We hope you’ve found our list of five of the best escape room winning tips helpful! If you think your ready to tackle a challenging escape room, check out one of our great games here at Clue Chase! Our rooms feature some of the best puzzle design in NYC – give us a shot! Click the Book Now button above to get started with your private NYC escape room.

Until Next Time,
Clue Chase