ESCAPE ROOM TIP #2 - REASSESS
Sorry for the delay in posts. We have a new Chiave - XVI if you are interested - who just joined the SoHL family and frankly, the little ankle-biter has me exhausted!
“OK, everybody work on something and then in 10 minutes let’s all stop and check back and see where we are.” - Often heard, rarely seen at the School of Hard Locks
So many groups come to SoHL with a plan. They are going to be the people who are organized. They ask what the fastest time is that anyone ever escaped and then without fail tell us that they are going to beat it by at least 2 minutes. But they rarely do.
What do the groups who are successful do differently? One major step in their process is to REASSESS. They check back with each other regularly to share information and check on progress.
Duh. Of course that is what they do. That is sooo obvious.
Then why is it that more than 80% of the groups that come through the door never do it?
All groups have good intentions. But as soon as that door closes those good intentions go out the window (or would if there was a window). Here is what we know:
[if !supportLists]1. [endif]Most escape rooms have a lot of “stuff” in them and you have to figure out what to do with it.
[if !supportLists]2. [endif]Much of the aforementioned “stuff” fits together in some way.
[if !supportLists]3. [endif]When different people are working on different things, you may not see how things can fit together.
So what do you do? Someone needs to be the person in charge of corralling everyone at regular intervals to ask the questions:
[if !supportLists]· [endif]What are you working on?
[if !supportLists]· [endif]What do you need to solve it? (e.g. more clues for a puzzle, a certain object)
[if !supportLists]· [endif]Are there any patterns that you are seeing that are missing elements?
(e.g. “4 of 7” means that there are six other “of 7” items in the room)
[if !supportLists]· [endif]What don’t we need anymore?
[if !supportLists]· [endif]Is there something that you absolutely cannot solve and need some assistance?
[if !supportLists]· [endif]Can we fit any of these elements together to help us solve something bigger?
60 minutes is not a long time, but by taking a couple of those minutes to reassess, you save so much more.
Answer Key: Everybody doesn’t have to touch everything in the room, but everything in the room has to be touched by somebody who remembers touching it.
