Whether you're new to escape rooms or you're reaching the level of "enthusiast," there's always at least a little bit of fear of not getting out. If you've done a few, you've probably realized there's a learning curve for success, and things just start to naturally make more sense after recognizing some general patterns. If you're new to escape rooms, you won't have experience to fall back on and could easily fall prey to the most common challenges in escape rooms. But fear not! As both enthusiasts and actual escape room designers, we've seen it all, and we're here to help. Here are the most common challenges we've seen in escape rooms:
1) No one is listening to you
This challenge is more common with larger groups. It can be difficult to communicate effectively with a lot of players or with players that tend to take charge but lead the charge in the wrong direction. If you see something or have an idea, and you can't just take it upon yourself to try it out, you need to get your team's attention.
If you're serious about getting out, you need to limit the time wasted by following a confident but terrible puzzler. Sometimes the most soft-spoken among the team is the most thoughtful and insightful, so if that's you, just grab the loudest one on your team and use them as your mouthpiece. Sure, they might get the credit, but you get to live with the knowledge that without you, they'd all still be stuck on the first puzzle.
2) Missing information
As mentioned above, one reason for missing information in an escape room is simply overlooking something in the room that is already at hand. Other possibilities are that someone did find the missing piece but forgot and set it down somewhere or, heaven forbid, put it in their pocket (please don't do that) or that the missing information is intentional and will be revealed later.
This is frustrating, but often can be overcome by:
Refocusing and identifying what information you're looking for right now
Staying organized and making sure everyone is placing objects and papers in the same space, on a desk or table, so that things don't get lost.
3) Too much information
Sometimes there is an intentional effort to make the room more difficult by overloading the players with information, making it harder and harder to figure out what is actually essential or useful. In these cases, skimming is a crucial skill. If you get a book or sheet of paper with a lot of confusing information, and a brief look doesn't seem to relate to any puzzle, then just set it aside.
These are huge time-wasters that often become clearly useful later on in the room. So, if you feel like you'd need to sit down and spend twenty minutes reading through something carefully and aren't completely sure what you're even looking for, then set it somewhere you can easily find it again and move on.
4) Red herrings
Another frustrating, intentionally-designed challenge, a red herring is something that appears to be a puzzle or clue but leads absolutely nowhere. Since these are frustrating and nearly every player hates them, the majority of red herrings in escape rooms are not intentionally planned as false puzzles, but more like elements of possible confusion that are allowed to remain in the room.
Most of the time, these are objects that almost make a pattern or numbers and letters in the room that could almost make a code, but they don't quite fit or just don't work. It's nearly impossible to avoid red herrings completely, but a good piece of advice is to take stock of everything before diving into any specific puzzle.
Keeping in mind your current goal (e.g. a 4-letter combination), start to experiment with the information and objects you have at hand, looking for the path of least resistance. If something is a true puzzle, it should start to fall into place, and if not, you may be trying to fit a square peg into a round hole.
In addition to the challenges that naturally arise in escape rooms, there are specific objects or things that typically scream "this is a puzzle!" to players who have done their share of escape rooms. If you notice any of these things in the room, here's an idea of what you should think next.
5) Directional locks
These are a popular variation on letter/number combination locks, and to solve them, you press the center knob either up, down, left, or right a certain number of times in a particular order. While this may seem more difficult since there are more possibilities, these actually tend to be pretty predictable in what you need to look for.
You should be on the lookout for anything involving arrows, objects or pictures turned in different directions, maps or routes that involve multiple turns, or written clues that include directional language (above, underneath, etc.)
6) Dates
This is a relatively obvious one, but take note of any dates, and be sure to put in chronological order any series of dates on similar objects or in written clues like letters or postcards. Dates are also often used as the answer to combination locks, so consider trying any dates you find if you're stuck with a 3- or 4-digit lock.
7) Clocks
If you ever see a clock in an escape room, first check to see if it's working. If it's set at a particular time, it's almost never an accident, especially if there are multiple clocks in a row or on a wall. Write down the time and see if that leads anywhere or may fit into a combination lock you have. If not, keep them in mind, because the odds are very high that they will come into play sooner or later.
8) Callbacks
If you come across something in an escape room that you've seen earlier in the room, some shape or form, that is not an accident. Usually, these callbacks happen later in the game, so when you first enter, be sure to notice things that look like they could be important but don't seem to be part of any puzzles. These could be anything from posters or pictures on the wall to unusual (or ordinary) objects in the room. Just remember that when it comes to escape rooms, déjà vu is probably a clue.
9) Codes
Finally, since most escape rooms tell you upfront that you will be solving puzzles and cracking codes, any hint of a cryptic message should be an obvious clue. Often less obvious to newcomers, there can be many things in a room that signal particular codes if you know what you're looking for.
Morse code is a favorite, so dots and dashes in any form should immediately be examined. Other standard codes include Braille, pigpen, and semaphore, but before you go out and memorize any of these, remember that no escape room will expect players to have outside knowledge of these codes. What this means is that, while keeping an eye out for dots, dashes, and flags can be useful, the most reliable way of knowing which code to look for is by knowing which codes you have the answers for.
There you go. We've identified these challenges after having done dozens of rooms and observing hundreds of groups try our rooms. You get to skip all that work and benefit from our experience. Take this knowledge to heart and apply what you've learned to your next escape room attempt. Knowing these common challenges might not guarantee that you escape, but they will at least give you a fighting chance.