People who play escape rooms like puzzle solving. However, they may prefer different types of puzzles. Some prefer tech, while some are more tactile. Some hate padlocks while other hate searching the room.
Yes, there are many different types of puzzle solvers and many different types of groups.
Some are happy to take clues and hints. Others would rather fail the challenge than ask for help. Some groups are super competitive and want finish in the quickest time possible. Others just want to have fun, regardless of whether they win or lose.
Then there are the players who enjoy playing but can’t help feeling deflated if they defeated. I am one of this latter group.
I tend to take it personally if I fail to complete an escape room. Why? Because I expect the Games Master to try and help me succeed. After all, I’ve paid good money to see the whole game and I expect to finish it.
The only time reason to not complete the game is if the puzzle design is so bad that the Games Master cannot possibly get me to the end of the mission. Included in “bad puzzle design” you have rooms that are badly maintained, puzzles that require leaps of logic and rooms stuffed with so many puzzles that they couldn’t be solved within a month of Sundays. Otherwise the fault lies with the Games Master.
Well, that’s my approach. Games Masters consider yourself warned.
Seeing the whole plot
It is surprising just how quickly 60 minutes pass when you’re immersed in an escape room. Sometimes trying to solve a series of puzzles is challenging, but that’s the fun of it. Pitting yourself against the puzzles.
It is also fun to follow a story-line or theme. If the writers and puzzle makers have gone to all the trouble of producing a well crafted adventure, why wouldn’t they want you to see it all. Finishing the whole concept plays a big part in my having fun.
Failure is not an option.
Imagine being given a book to read, then have it take away just as you get to the last chapter or two. No-one says you didn’t read fast enough, so you’ll have to miss all the cool stuff that’s packed into the finale. No-one offers a chance, at full price, to read the book again from the beginning, just so you can try getting further than you got the first time.
Same with films. No-one shuts the cinema before the end of the film and suggests you pay to come back to see the film again, this time with the ending.
When it costs nearly £100 to play a room, you want to get your money’s worth and leave feeling happy as well as challenged and victorious.
Games Master are (or should be) watching the game at all times. They have the ability to move things along by offering hints and nudges if they see a team are falling behind. Yes, there are enthusiast teams who refuse all help and are disappointed if they are offered hints. But I am not one of them.
Surely the aim is to prevent player disappointment. Therefore, puzzle designers and Game Masters need to create experiences that meet the diverse needs of the many different types of people who play escape rooms.
And if I’m playing, make sure I get out!
Want to join us on an escape adventure? Become a member of The City Adventurers
City Adventurers Membership includes invitations to adventures and travel mainly in the UK. If you are not UK based, or prefer online adventures, join the City Adventurers as an Armchair Detective.
