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To learn more about escape rooms from a couple of experts, we reached out to Gord and Liz, creators of the Review the Room blog. They were kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda and share where their love for escape rooms came from.
"We were introduced to escape rooms by a friend of ours back in 2015," Gord and Liz said. "At first, we weren’t hooked, and it was a few months before we played another. We then started playing more and more, and it’s been a slippery slope ever since (just this last weekend, we played our 500th game)."
"It sounds cliché, but we love the ‘escape’ of it all," the bloggers shared. "For that 60 mins (or more or less) we are on a mission, and all our focus is on that. Everything that’s going on in the outside world just fades away, and we get to escape reality for just a little while."
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-climbing on each other's shoulders to change the source channel on the projector that showed the intro video
-deciding our novelty SpongeBob picture of his pineapple house was a reference to the Pineapple Express airstream and then trying to stop the ceiling fan with their bare hands
-taking apart the pirate ship wheel on the wall with a swiss army knife, down to removing the ball bearings inside
-debating where North on a permanently mounted map was, based on where they must have been angled in the room and where our physical building was in relation to the ocean (there was a compass rose PRINTED ON THE MAP)
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We also were curious what Gord and Liz believe makes a successful (or a not so successful) escape room. "For an escape room to be great, it needs the full package; great puzzles, a strong narrative, a well designed set, and great hosting, or, in a word – immersion," they shared. "You can have good rooms that are lacking one of these elements, but we tend to find the rooms that stand out are the ones that have taken that extra step to immerse you in their world from the minute you walk through the door."
"Escape rooms are interesting as what one person loves, another may hate (and vice-versa)," the experts continued. "We generally find a room less exciting if it is just a bland room full of padlocks, no narrative, and very minimal decoration. I’m not saying padlocks are bad, they’ve just got to be used in the right way."
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We also wanted to know how often Gord and Liz estimate people fail to complete their missions in escape rooms. "Many escape rooms now want everyone to succeed and will do everything they can to help players get through the game, especially the independent companies," they shared. "Escape rooms are often passion projects of the owners, so they want everyone to see their full creation and get that wonderful dopamine hit when you succeed."
"Saying that, escape rooms do use ‘success rate’ but this can be more of a guide to help new players understand the difficulty level of a game (and should be taken with a pinch of salt)," Gord and Liz added.
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"In 500 games, we have failed to escape on perhaps three occasions, but this comes with a caveat," Gord and Liz told Bored Panda. "Of those three games, two were ‘broken’ in that they couldn’t be solved due to a reset or tech error and the host didn’t realize in time to correct the problem. The third time we did complete the game, just in ‘overtime’ as that wonderful host gave us a few extra minutes to solve the final puzzle."
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"Escape rooms exist for fun," the bloggers continued. "If you get out within the time limit, then that’s great. But even if you don’t, having fun is the key thing. The Games Master is there to ensure you have the best experience you can, and they want to see you succeed. Don’t be afraid to ask for clues if you need them, sometimes you just need a little nudge to get you back on the right track."
"When you’ve decided to do an escape room, have a think about what theme may interest you," Gord and Liz suggest. "Always wanted to rob a bank, raid a temple, stop AI taking over the world, or perhaps just break into an office? Whatever theme interests you, there is almost certainly an escape room that will match."
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"People often think escape rooms are scary, and don’t get me wrong, some are. But many are family friendly, we’ve even seen people playing escape rooms with newborn babies strapped to their chests," Gord and Liz shared.
"There’s often debates in the escape room community if ‘escape room’ is even a correct term for these experiences," they added. "Puzzle rooms, Adventure rooms, or even Immersive experiences could be a better name for them. Whatever you call them, give one a try, and lose yourself in a different reality."
If you'd like to hear more about Gord and Liz's experiences or get some recommendations for great escape rooms in the UK, be sure to visit Review the Room!
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We were also lucky enough to get in touch with David Spira, President of Room Escape Artist, to learn even more about escape rooms. David shared with Bored Panda that his passion for escape rooms started in December of 2013 while planning a trip to Budapest and Prague. "As I was browsing things to do on TripAdvisor, I found a business with a ton of 5 star reviews called 'Claustrophilia.' That name and all of the stars warranted further investigation, and it turned out that it was an escape room. I immediately fell in love with the concept before playing one," David says.
"Back then, I loved the puzzles and the challenge. Today, I love some of the absolutely insane games that high-end escape room creators make," he continued. "If you’ve never played a top escape room, you can’t comprehend what these amazing people produce. I also truly love the escape room player community. It’s a wonderful group of people."
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