There’s a good chance that by now, you’ve heard of the latest entertainment craze: escape rooms. These fun, fast-paced experiences require you to solve puzzles to find your way out of the room in a short amount of time, making them the perfect idea for your next night out. If you’ve never experienced an escape room before, you probably have plenty of questions about it.
How Do Escape Rooms Work?
What exactly is an escape room? How do escape rooms work? What can you expect? Read on to find out everything you need to know about Arlington escape rooms.
What is an Escape Room?
Escape rooms are 60-minute adventures in which you and your friends are the heroes. You’ll have just one hour to complete your mission and escape from a themed room. Themes can range from actual escape scenarios, like breaking out of jail, to missions like saving the president or defeating an alien invasion. Successful escapes require you to find hidden clues and solve puzzles. This means you might be required to move props around, pick them up, or analyze them carefully. Puzzles can include breaking a code and solving a riddle, while props might include keys, locks, and other useful items. To escape the room, you’ll need good teamwork, communication, creativity, patience, and the ability to work fast to get the job done.
Escape rooms are similar to first person adventure video games, in which your character can interact with their surroundings to solve puzzles, find resources, and chat with other characters to reach their goals and finish the game. First introduced in Japan in 2007, the concept quickly spread through Asia, Europe, and then the United States.
How are Escape Rooms Built?
Escape rooms are built in several layers, beginning with the story. This includes the backstory that players receive before they enter their room, the goal, and what happens in the story if participants succeed or fail. Starting with this foundation helps create an immersive experience for all.
Then, designers create the layout of the room and the puzzles. The setting of the story can influence both of these, with some escape room venues choosing not to use touch screens in a medieval themed room so as not to reduce the believability of the scenario, for example. After designing the room, it can be built. Designers draw out their plans and explain how the puzzles connect and function, and electricians and carpenters bring those ideas to life.
Each escape room is tested before completion to ensure that all of the puzzles work properly and the story flows well. Once approved, additional props and decor are added to enhance the scenery and immersion of the experience. A game master is trained to explain the room to participants, and they may be playing a role of their own to add another layer of interest to the story. Then, the room is ready for real players. The entire process, from design to completion, can take an average of six months.
What to Expect in an Escape Room
When you begin your escape room adventure, you won’t actually be locked in the room. You’re free to leave in the event of an emergency, so you’ll be able to get out regardless of whether you’ve solved the mystery and set yourself free. Once you enter the room, the timer starts, and you’ll be stuck unless you solve the puzzles or need to leave for another reason.
During your experience, it’s important to communicate with your teammates so that everyone knows what you’re looking for, what you’ve found, and what you might be able to try next. As a result, good listening is also key. Part of communication is also planning. It might be more helpful for your team to spread out and solve different puzzles or look for different clues at the same time. This saves you precious minutes – just be sure to shout out your discoveries so that everyone knows what’s going on!
When it comes to props, you can expect to use each one just once. Stay organized and keep track of which items you’ve successfully used and which you haven’t to help save more time. You’ll never need to tear up ceiling tiles or carpeting, break anything, or do anything that drastically changes the room to escape. Just move what can be moved, and keep an eye out for valuable clues.
Schedule Your Next Arlington Escape Room Adventure
Speak to Bond’s Escape Room for more information about planning an escape room experience. At Bond’s, your adventure begins as soon as you arrive. You can select an escape room theme, such as cowboys or medieval dragons, and put yourself in the middle of your very own story. Each room has theater grade props and special effects that bring your chosen theme to life, plus plenty of challenging puzzles and riddles to solve before you’re able to set yourself free. Booking a private event at Bond’s gives you the use of the facility’s VIP Room, in which you can enjoy refreshments and relax before or after your experience.