Top Tips

5 TOP TIPS FOR ESCAPING

I’ve worked for City Mazes now for around a year and, more often than not, while a group is being briefed about the room they will ask the same question: Do you have any tips? This can be a difficult question to answer because you don’t want to spoil the game experience by giving anything away but also you want the players to succeed and have fun…And what’s more fun that escaping an escape room?! So here are my 5 top tips to escape, for beginners to seasoned escape room experts:

1. Don’t overthink things

This is the one piece of advice I give to every group I see. Although some puzzles can be complex, sometimes the solution can be right before your eyes! Try the easiest answers you can think of first and then work up to the more complex ways of solving it, that way you won’t waste any time if it’s deceptively simple…

2. Try things more than one time

You wouldn’t give up on typing in your password if you got it wrong once, so use that same way of thinking in the room! You may have typed one digit wrong or done something just a bit too slowly but it could still be correct. So, make sure you’re always certain that you’ve tried a code or a solution at least more than once to ensure it’s right or wrong!

3. Don’t be stubborn

This one can mean the difference between a good time and not escaping. Something you think might be important could turn out to be just a red herring. If you’ve tried something a few times with no joy move on and you can always come back to the puzzle…it’s not going anywhere!

4. Listen to your team

This one is one of the most important tips for escaping any room. You’re lucky enough to have been locked inside with at least two brains, so be sure to use them! Everyone thinks in a slightly different way so the answers you seek might not be the ones you think are the obvious solution. Also bear in mind that the loudest voice in the group may not have all the answers, be sure to get everyone’s input and try all their suggestions if you’re really stuck on a puzzle!

5. Try every lock

Our games often have many locks inside them (as you would probably expect) and sometimes the most obvious lock isn’t the one that matches the code you found. Some rooms have doors, drawers and keypads all with locks on them so make sure you’ve tried all of them before giving up on the code!

And if all the above fail… Ask for a clue! – All our games have a way for the you to ask for some additional clues if you need them! Don’t think of it as giving it, the clue system is there because most groups usually need a push in the right direction. I’ve had many groups say to me after not escaping that they wished they had asked for a clue – just remember that escaping is the aim of the game. Now hopefully you can use these tips to help you escape the next City Maze you happen to find yourself in… Good Luck!