Educational Escape Rooms

Overview 

An escape room is a physical adventure game in which players are ‘locked’ in a room and have to use elements within it to solve a series of puzzles which allow them to escape within a set time limit. The games are physical versions of “escape the room” video games, similar to the Crystal Maze. Games are set in a variety of fictional locations, such as prison cells, dungeons and space stations, and are popular as team building exercises and corporate away days.

EscapED (part of the GameChangers initiative) has taken the concept of the escape room and repurposed it for use in Higher Education. The emphasis of the educational escape room is not on the learning within the allotted time of the game itself, but rather in the reflective process within the debrief period. The game itself merely provides the mechanism for which to create a rich reflective process focused around team dynamics and communication.

The Steps:

• Step One: Identify the Participants Needs
• Step Two: Solidify Your Objectives
• Step Three: Develop your Theme
• Step Four: Develop the Puzzles
• Step Five: What Equipment do you need?
• Step Six: Brief the Players
• Step Seven: Play the Game
• Step Eight: Reset the Room
• Step Nine: Debrief the Participants

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