You went with your team to the room and despite best intentions you left unsatisfied? Evening with friends didn't go well? And you do not know what went wrong. Read this article to find out the answer!
"What do you mean, I paid, I had such high expectations!" - probably such a thought in the first moment you have in your head. Sure - you pay for fun, so you have to like it, right?
Apparently there is nothing wrong in this reasoning. There is only one, tiny "but". You are paying for a room, chosen by you and booked by yourself. Expect high quality service and a great room, but you can't expect the room to be right to you. No can do!
So remember one important rule when choosing an escape room - you have to like it. Sure - if the staff turns out to be unprofessional, the room itself simply uninteresting, then it's the staff or the company's fault. But there are many unpleasant situations that can be avoided if you think at the stage of selection. And it is worth it, because this is about your fun, so you do it for yourself.
The following examples are primarily based on reports from business owners. There are unfair opinions that arise from the ill-considered choice of room and it is on their basis that the following list was created.
In the case of the level of difficulty, it is easy to exaggerate in both directions. Experienced people are unlikely to have fun in a room for beginners, from which they will leave in a quarter of an hour. Similarly - people who have just started with escape rooms won't be able to cope with rooms for experts and they can blame the room for their failure.
So let's have a look at the available difficulty levels (according to lock.me scale).
For the first time
Have you never been in an escape room? Are you afraid that no one will let you out? Or maybe you go with children and want to have fun, not necessarily difficult? If you identify with any of the above statements, it's worth taking a look at those rooms. If, on the other hand, you already have experience in escape rooms, then keep in mind that the fun in such a room may be short and will not provide you with a challenge.
Beginner
This level is perfect for people who are just starting out. If you have some newcomers in your group, it's worth looking at this category, because in more difficult rooms, those people might feel lost and lose the fun. This is also a good category for those who are looking for an easy game, just to chill after a tough day at work. Teams who have made their first steps and are looking for challenges should rather avoid this level.
Intermediate
You've made your first steps, you don't have any first-timers in your group and you want something more ambitious? Just look at this category, I suppose it will be suitable for you and your team.
Experienced
OK, this is where it gets serious. These rooms tend to be complex and intricate, and solving them is meant to be a challenge. If you don't feel confident in escape rooms, you may lose a lot of time on figuring out completely unnecessary things and your impressions will be just bad. I’m not saying that you are weak or goofy - I’m just trying to convince you that before you visit some difficult rooms it's good to get familiar with how puzzle rooms work.
Experts
These rooms are built to make the escape as difficult as possible. The tasks are hard and their number is overwhelming. These rooms are for the hardcore gamers who enjoy tormenting their brain cells. If you are completely new to escaping, the staff will do you a favor by not letting you into such a room right away. To appreciate it, you must really know what you are doing and be a very good team.
So much theory, but how about practice? I know that many teams that have never been in a room or have only visited one or two will try the expert rooms and then write in the feedback ‘illogical room’, ‘too many puzzles’ or ‘there should be more time’. But maybe after reading this at least a little bit we will reduce the number of such behaviors. For your sake, because it is your time and money!
Also, remember that the level of difficulty specified by the owners of the company does not always perfectly reflect the level of difficulty according to players. That's why it's always a good idea to look at room profiles to see how other players rated them. It helps a lot.
If you understand what difficulty levels mean, it's time to think about the theme of the room. And before you say that category doesn't affect the puzzles and fun, let me give you some real life examples:
John is a typical puzzler. He participates in puzzle competitions and does quite well in them. Brain teasers and riddles are bread and butter for him, moreover he plays with manual puzzles in his free time. He loves to combine, think and solve tasks. His team thought a crime room would be a great idea, but they forgot John is a fantasy lover and doesn’t like thrillers and bloody themes. They went to booked room, where the plot takes place around the murder. And so John, instead of doing what he liked the most in the rooms, had to play with the plot, read files, letters... He left bored and unsatisfied. Surely if they had gone to a similar room in a different category, everyone would have had fun.
Mary is a big fan of crime fiction. In her wallet, instead of a photo of her lover, she keeps her favorite page from a book. Sometimes Mary gets back from work over 3 hours, because if she starts reading, she rides around the city until the driver chases her away. Her team, on the other hand, loves horror rooms. But Mary doesn't like to be scared. And here she was scared. Poor Mary. She had to force her mind to focus in an environment where she felt very uncomfortable. She was not having a good time. She didn't sleep well that night either. And after all, all she had to do was choose a better room category to save on sleeping aids.
Brian and Mell decided to initiate their children into the amazing world of puzzles. They are both fascinated by the 18th century French cannons, they decided to combine fun with education and took their children to the history room. The opportunity to play in the 18th century interiors drew them in so much that they didn't even notice when the kids fell asleep in the corner. They will definitely not remember it well. And after all, it was enough to think for a moment and choose the category "For children", easy room "Fantasy" or "Adventure". Surely the kids would have fun!
Such examples can be multiplied, but I think you get it. If you don't like to be scared, don't go to a horror movie. If you don't like too much fiction (which is sometimes connected with a lot of written text), don't go to detective stories or historical rooms. And so on.
Room descriptions are another place where you can come across information that will help you refine your choice. There may be additional warnings about the room that are not included in the other sections. There may also be information that will make you say "I MUST BE THERE!".
It's always a good idea to look at what others have written about a room. Even though you won't find information about what awaits you in a given room, you will still find very valuable information. Maybe you will find something that will interest you or, on the contrary, will suggest that this room is not for you. Remember - even a room very high in the ranking may not appeal to you, because you simply have different tastes.
Lockme co-founder & backend developer
Puzzles and board games enthusiast. Currently designing Escape Tales games line and taking care of technical aspects of ERChamp and Lockme.
Hey fellow escapists and adventure seekers! If you’ve been following along with our RV trip around North America, you know that we've just wrapped it up with a whopping 282 escape rooms played! You heard that right – 282!
Hey fellow escapists and adventure seekers! If you’ve been following along with our RV trip around North America, you know that we've just wrapped it up with a whopping 282 escape rooms played! You heard that right – 282!
