I’ve known escape rooms for a while, and today is the first time I experienced it. Pretty interesting idea for team building. It looks like this kind of reality game has been blooming these two years, not just in the San Francisco Bay Area and US cities, but also in China, Europe and many other areas.

An escape room is basically real-life game: you and you friends are locked in a room, your mission is to solve puzzles and eventually escape from that room. This game usually involves lots of puzzle solving using your mental (sometimes physical) powers.

In the beginning of the game, the game moderator introduces the background to you, i.e. why you’ll be locked in this room, and roughly what to do to get out. Then, the timer starts off and you will have to work your brains out to try to escape within a certain timeframe, such as one hour.

I think it’s a really interesting concept for team building. In this game, you have at least 3 other people with you. It’s an excellent opportunity for all the people to work together and figure things out. From this aspect, I really recommend this game.

In terms of the content, it’s important to have good puzzles to get people hooked — not to overwhelm people with the challenges, or make them too easy to solve — it’s a delicate balance. There should also be a good story flow that guides the team through, rather than simply get people immersed in solving those puzzles and forgotten about the story itself.

Have you played escape rooms and any thoughts?