No matter if you’ve been in the Escape Room business for some time now, or if you’re just starting out, it’s important to properly maintain your rooms throughout the year. If you take your finger off the button, you could be facing negative feedback and fewer people through the door as a result. Find out how to keep your Escape Rooms shipshape below.
Make sure everything works
There’s nothing more frustrating to Escape Room participants than puzzles with missing pieces, faulty equipment and ill-maintained props. One way to avoid this is to ensure that you, or a member of your team, checks each clue daily in the morning before you open and notes it down in a logbook. People talk, and if one group has a bad experience, many others will likely be put off by their bad review. With some simple checks, you can ensure that your room works how it should without fail.
Regulate the difficulty level
While most players want an Escape Room to be challenging, none of them want it to be impossible. For example, one room required players to decode a man speaking Russian with only a Russian dictionary – unless your players have any working knowledge of the language, this will be an incredibly hard clue for them to solve. When you place too many red herrings within your room, you could potentially begin to frustrate your players, so ensure to coordinate a good balance of clues to keep them engaged. To measure this, review the success rate of the room and ask for feedback from players.
Avoid disengaged Games Masters
Most Escape Rooms rely on Games Masters to brief players on their mission, trigger certain outcomes and give clues if required. If you have one Games Master managing multiple rooms at the same time, this could mean that their attention is spread too thin and some rooms might not get the attention they require. The presence of a Games Master is also essential for maintaining safety within these rooms when in play.
Ensure it makes sense
Think about the design and theme of your room and whether your current clues tie in with this. For example, bright, block building type puzzles will unlikely fit in with a Wild West themed room without some adjustment. While it’s a good idea to have a combination of clue-styles, think about how you can adapt these to fit in with the theme of the room. For example, if your room relies on voice recordings, consider the dialect and accent of the actor. In Escape Rooms, every single detail should be considered to tie everything in the room together.
Consider room design
Does your room have any sharp angles which cannot be caught by the camera? If so, it may be possible that your Games Master could miss something. To avoid your players going out of view, strategically arrange fixed props to act as barriers.
Manage music and lighting
Many Escape Rooms rely on music to create an atmosphere and it can be a great device to better immerse your players within the theme of the room. However, if the music is too loud or disruptive, it can distract your players and prevent them from enjoying the experience. Remember that this should be background music and its tone and volume should reflect this. You will also need to ensure the lighting is bright enough to ensure sufficient visibility and prevent injury.
Avoid style over substance
Even if your room looks like the real deal, without a high standard of clues and immersion, your players will likely leave disappointed. To achieve a great Escape Room, you need to get the right mix of theme versus entertaining puzzle mechanics. Focus on the narrative of the room and how your participants will be drawn from one clue to the next. With the right attention to detail, you can create an Escape Room worth shouting about.
Get in touch with The Insurance Centre to arrange your Escape Room Insurance. Call us on 01524 848506 to find out more.
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