Escape Room Advice

So I just conquered my fifth escape room yesterday. We beat their "hard" room in 42 minutes without getting any hints. It was a fun, Illuminati conspiracy inspired room with some great tech-based puzzles. We had eight people, which was a little cramped in that room, but we made it work. I was excited because I got to introduce four new people to escape rooms. I've been developing a little speech full of advice to give to new players to help them along, so I thought I'd share it on Steem. So here are my escape room pointers:

• Be sure to read any introductory text as you enter the room. There is guaranteed to be useful information there.
• When you first start a room start by searching the whole room. Don't try and solve any puzzles until you've brought out all the clues.
• When you find a clue or something that might be of interested be sure to announce it out loud. The more people that know about each bit of information, the more that can put two and two together.
• When you find a clue, be sure and bring them all to a central location. You should accumulate all the clues in one location, so people can find what they are looking for when they need it. Designate a second area for used clues. The odds are each clue is only used once, so separating out the ones you've used before will cut down on the clutter.
• Double check each other's work. Don't be offended if somebody else checks the same lock you tried, of attempts the same puzzle. In a time pressure situation, we all make mistakes and it never hurts to double-check each other's work.
• Spread out the effort. Do not focus on just one puzzle. If there is more than one puzzle available have different groups work on different puzzles. Having everybody staring at the same puzzle is rarely helpful. However, don't be afraid to switch things up if somebody is stumped because different people's brains are better equipped to solve different puzzles, so shuffling things up can connect the right mind with the right puzzle.
• Don't make the puzzles too complicated. They are meant to be solved, and if you starting through in multivariable calculus, you might be making it harder than it has to be.
• Finally and most importantly: Have fun!

These hints will give you a good start to any escape room. Feel free to add any questions or comments below.

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