The Escape Room Dream Team
On the spur of the moment, you’ve booked one of our exciting Escape Rooms and now you’re ready to put your team together. You played the last game with your family or work colleagues, and had a wonderful time, but now you want to get competitive. You want to win.
We’ve seen all sorts attempt our games, and through the years we’ve taken note of successful teams and the kinds of people that make them up. After crunching the numbers and analysing the data, we have concluded that there are five types of capable players, and an inclusion of a variety of these players in your team will give you a larger chance of success.
The Finder
Within minutes of entering the room, this person has opened every drawer, searched under every cabinet, and found all the hidden compartments, keys and doors. You would think they would get bored after finding all the useful clues, but no – they keep searching. They’ll find a crack in the wall and insist it’s useful; they’ll remove all the drawers and stack them in the corner, convinced there’s got to be something hidden behind them; they’ll find the broken remnants of a forgotten puzzle the staff lost six months ago. The Finder is a useful, if overenthusistic, member of any successful team.
The Logician
Give this person the clues, and they’ll enter their mind palace and come up with a multitude of solutions to each puzzle. A lot of Escape Room puzzles rely on a sense of logic, and the Logician will, generally, be an expert at these kinds of puzzles. Anagrams, riddles, sequencing puzzles, mysteries – the Logician will approach each in a rational manner, making them an integral part of any team.
The Outside-the-Box Thinker
Sometimes, our puzzles can be challenging. Even with a Logician on your team, some of our puzzles will require lateral thinking, physical or spacial awareness, or putting together a variety of clues in imaginative ways. This is where the Outside-the-box Thinker shines. They are not restrained by a sense of logic, but think creatively to solve problems. This type of player is a hidden gem and will enhance your chance of success.
The Organiser
The organiser will be good at arranging teams, people and objects - you can bet they’ll be taking good care of all the clues you find, neatly placing them somewhere you’ll be able to easily access and work on them. They’ll be keeping track of time, often to the annoyance of the team – “We’re 25 minutes in!” “Only 5 minutes to go!” This will ramp up the tension but will ensure the team works efficiently to solve problems on time. This is someone you can trust to not lose anything, and they will be perfectly adept at communicating to others what needs to be done to solve the clues.
The Delegator
Not to be confused with the Organiser, this player sees the strengths in each member of your team and utilises their skills for the good of all. They may take a leading role or act quietly to ensure each team member gets their moment to shine. They’ll have worked out what needs to be done pretty early on and is prepared to shout out directives and encouragement while not actually taking part. Communication is key in any successful team, so with the Delegator in charge, each member of your team will be working to their strengths, ensuring a victory for all.
The Others
While these five player types are a recipe for success, we have watched a multitude of approaches to escape rooms, and some kinds of player are worth an honourable mention.
The Veteran has taken part in dozens of escape games before and has seen it all; they’ll either be centre stage or taking a back seat, depending on their personality and team.
The Spectator is happy to watch their friends do all the work, while scrolling on their phone or sitting in the only chair in the room; they may have been dragged here by their partner.
The Know-it-All may think they know it all, but they generally don’t; they’ll be so convinced they know the correct answer, it will stop them from seeing other possibilities.
The Hyper One will shout and hoot and cheer on their friends; they’ll bounce around the room, trying to be helpful, and will be their team’s biggest chearleader, and even if their only skill is in boosting morale, they can be instrumental in keeping your team together and feeling positive.
I wonder which kind of player you are…. You’ll have to come play with us and find out!