Choosing the right room for your group
Difficulty, group size and scare level: a simple guide to picking from our twelve rooms.
Your first escape room: what to expect
From the briefing to the final lock: what happens in the hour, and how to enjoy it as a first-timer.
If you have never done an escape room, the idea of being in a room against a clock can sound stressful. It is mostly fun, and the first visit is easier than people expect.
Arrive fifteen minutes early. A game host meets you in the lounge, takes your phones and bags into lockers, and explains the rules: what you can move, what you must not force, and how to ask for hints. The room’s story is read out, and then the door closes behind you.
Inside, start by searching everything. Open drawers, look under tables, read every piece of paper. Put anything that looks like a clue in one place, so the team can see it all. Most puzzles connect two or three items, a number from a calendar and a lock with four digits, for instance.
Talk constantly. The most common reason teams fail is that one person found the answer ten minutes ago and did not say it out loud. Ask for a hint when you have been stuck for five minutes; there is no penalty.
When the hour ends, the host comes in, walks you through anything you missed and takes a team photo. About a third of teams escape in time. Nearly everyone leaves arguing about the next room.
