BEHOLD, we unveil our rules for tackling an escape room (to be listed just prior to the timer being started – ask your Game Master to hold off starting the clock until the rules below are spoken):
- Centralized Clue Repository:
- Choose a location in the room and put anything and everything you find there, so you know where things are (or should be) at all times.
- Use and Lose:
- Choose a second location in the room and move all of your spent clues there so members of your group are not trying to solve something already completed.
- Buddy System:
- Pair up and double-check everything in the room. Leave no nook or cranny unturned (or turned by only one person).
- This ain’t no Fashion Show!
- Don’t wear any of the clues/found items, unless explicitly instructed to do so.
- Shed a little light on the subject:
- Always look for a light switch because clues are harder to solve in the dark… duh!
- SPEAK UP!:
- As a room participant, PLEASE express your opinion on a course of direction OPENLY and FORCEFULLY if you feel it’s worth exploring or you have other ideas on how to solve it. There are plenty of people in the room to work with, which can limit the number of clues you need to ask for.
- Be PROP-ular:
- Ensure you make good use of all props you find in your investigation, unless they are marked with a sticker that says “Not part of the game” or “do not remove.” And, of course, beware the red herrings.
- Time’s Up!
- Any player that has spent more than 5 minutes on a single puzzle MUST be removed from said puzzle to allow another player to try.
- Don’t be CLUE-less
- After a certain length of time, depending on how long you have been in the room, you should ask for a clue, provided a team majority agrees. (Or both The Escape Room Guys agree as they get veto power.)
- Here’s the Low Down
- Just because it’s out of sight doesn’t mean it’s out of mind (or in the case of an Escape Room… out of play). Get down low and look around if you hit a stumbling block. Chances are, you’re walking right by something.