Escape Room Secrets
I’ve worked for an escape room for a year and a half, and I’ve done around 60 rooms in the GTA, I’m going to share some of my knowledge with you.
If you’ve never done an escape room before, the premise of the game is you are trapped in a room with your group for around 45–60 minutes (sometimes more, sometimes less depending on location/room). You and your group need to find clues and solve puzzles in order to escape. Solving puzzles tend to lead to more puzzles, which will lead you to more, ultimately getting you out.
Some locations also split you up from your group, and you have to work to meet them (either separately or together) or sometimes you’re competing against your group.
Things to Consider
Arrive On Time
There is nothing worse than having a group stroll in 10 minutes late for their appointment and expecting the full time. We are on a schedule, and there is a group after you. If you get the whole time, the group after you gets in late. Sometimes they have plans after their room so they aren’t able to go in late. Leave early to give yourself enough time to arrive. If you don’t arrive on time, expect time to be cut.
Listen to your Game Master
Your game master will typically give you a few other instructions or rules before the game begins. Listen carefully, occasionally they have tips to help you escape. I can’t count the number of times I give a group a rule or tip and they ignore it. This could lead to a failed escape and then a group will yell because they didn’t know something that we explicitly stated. If we say don’t touch something and you touch it, the fault is on you, especially if you break it.
Leave Things When you are Done With Them
Most escape rooms have what’s called the “1 and done rule”. This means that once you’ve used something, be it a clue, key, lock, or whatever, you will likely never need it again. This means that once you’ve used it, leave it where it is. This helps the escape room reset their rooms quicker and prevents them from having to search for something. Also, don’t be one of those groups that intentionally hides something once you are done with it. You’re making our jobs harder, and you could be ruining the experience for future groups. Once the game is done, be sure to also check your pockets and make sure you didn’t take something by accident.
Things Can Go Wrong
Things don’t always go right. There are times where a flashlight may die in the middle of your game, or something that should open doesn’t. Technology isn’t always reliable and things may not always work according to plan. If you think something should be working but it’s not, call on the walkie-talkie and double check. Don’t get mad at a game-master for a puzzle failing. Also, sometimes during a reset, mistakes can happen too. In the rush of things, trying to get things ready for the next room, something may be missed. Give a call again to make sure everything is okay. It’s okay to be upset, but being rude will likely be less beneficial. You can ask for a discount off your next room and they’ll likely give it to you. Being nice can likely get you a bigger discount.
Technology of the Trade
MagLocks
Probably by far the most used tool in any escape room. These are used to keep things shut and require some sort of interaction to release the magnet. They are used to keep doors closed, boxes, latches, and panels in place. (Amazon)
Lights
These include blacklights and regular flashlight. Some locations don’t require handheld lights at all. These tend to be the best because it’s one less fail point for the customer and escape room.
Computers/Raspberry Pi/Arduino
Some escape rooms throw in a little technology using one of these devices. They use them to control inputs, like buttons or switches or something else to activate something like a maglock.
Sensors
Paired with raspberry pi and Arduino, sensors are used to activate something. There are light sensors which require you to shine a light to activate something, there are motion sensors which require no movement to activate, there are distance sensors you have to be near to activate, and there are so many more.
Take a look at some of these sensors to get an idea of what may be used in a room.
Tips to Escape
Communication
Probably one of the most important tips is to have good communication with your team. When you have a larger group, you are likely to split up and work on separate puzzles if possible. The worst feeling is finding out the other half of your group has something that would have helped you several minutes ago and you’ve been wasting time. Whenever you find something, be sure to tell your teammates even if it isn’t needed right then.
Guessing
This one can be helpful but it could cause issues later in the game. An example where you’d want to guess is with number or letter locks.
Let’s say there is 4 spaces on the lock and you have 3 of the characters you need. There are a limited number of choices for the last character, so just cycle through and you’ll likely open it up. If you’re good, you may be able to get the lock open while missing 2 characters.
The downside to this is you may not solve a puzzle that gives you one of these characters and you’ll waste time trying to solve that puzzle getting you something you already had. Or sometimes, escape rooms put puzzle pieces within each lock and you’ll have to open it but since you skipped ahead, you may avoid it and miss the puzzle piece.
Don’t be Afraid of Clues
Many escape rooms give you a Walkie-Talkie to communicate with the front desk to get clues. Most places offer 1 or 2 clues to help you escape and it won’t count as a fail if you use them. Many first timers have a big ego and assume they can escape without using any clues. Once their time is up, they find out they barely made it anywhere and get upset at the escape room. Don’t let your ego get the best of you.
Also, if you don’t think you’re going to make it, take an extra clue. It’s no fun working on one puzzle for the last 20 minutes because you already used your other clues early on. It’s more fun to have a personal victory than to fail.
Great Escape Rooms around Southern Ontario
Escape Games Canada (North York)
One of the original escape rooms in Canada. Since they are one of the first, they have the most knowledge on everything. They also have lots of money, so they design their rooms really well and they hire a lot of programmers and engineers to make their rooms very tech heavy.
Omescape (Markham/Scarbrough)
Omescape is a global franchise, originating in Asia. Escape rooms became popular in Asia and they migrated over to Canada a few years ago. As a franchise, they are sable to get the technology for their room and ideas outsourced from their other locations. They are one of the more tech heavy escape rooms. They also have a bubble tea bar at their Markham location as well as a boardgame area with hundreds of board games and some retro consoles like N64 and SNES.
Perplexity Escape Games (Brampton)
Perplexity Escape Games is one of the only escape rooms in Brampton. They are a single location and don’t have as many resources as the previous 2. Whille their set design and technology is nowhere near the level of the previous two, Perplexity stands out with its customer service level, with the group there being one of the nicest groups I’ve ever come across. Their rooms are more puzzle heavy while the previous rooms focus on the story and experience. Perplexity’s rooms are rather challenging, but they are fun.
Confundrum (Burlington)
Confundrum is a relatively new escape room. They purchased their rooms through a third party but have since come up with a few designs of their own. Some of the puzzles are a little confusing or don’t make sense, but nothing bad enough that I wouldn’t recommend coming. Like Perplexity, the customer service is awesome.
Casa Loma (Toronto)
Casa Loma is one of the larger locations and they charge significantly more than any other escape room ($42/person vs $25 for most others). This is also meant for larger groups (around 12), if you come with a small group, you’ll get paired with other groups which isn’t always fun. Because it’s in a historic landmark, the rooms are very authentic feeling. I would only recommend this if you have a large group, or you don’t mind doing it with random groups.
Mayze (Toronto)
Mayze’s puzzles are mixed, with some being great, and some not making sense, even after getting a clue. Their set design is awesome though. Despite only having 2 rooms at the moment, their set design compares to Omescape or Escape Games Canada.
Now get out and start escaping!
