Who Should Be In Your Escape Room Team?

So you’ve found yourself wanting to play an escape room, but when it comes to organising your dream team the question of who to contact crops up.

During your game you’ll be tasked with solving a diverse range of puzzles, with the best escape rooms challenging multiple skill sets. Puzzles might be logical, some will be observational, others perhaps mathematical, while some puzzles test physical dexterity.  

Therefore, the best escape room teams contain members with unique thinking styles; some linear and analytical, while others specialise in thinking outside the box and devising creative solutions. 

Just in case whittling down your escape room team seems like a daunting task, we're providing you with some key characteristics you’ll need if you want to escape. 

The Mathematician

Your highschool maths teacher was right - you won’t always have a calculator when you need one! (At least not one you’ll be allowed to use in an escape room). 

No matter what escape room you book, you’ll  likely encounter some maths during your mission. Having someone amongst your squad who can handle any sums or equations you meet is always a plus. Time is of the essence in an escape room, so quick maths is a key asset.

The One Who Remembers

Escape rooms require the ability to recall information under pressure - e.g. ‘Have we already used this key?’ ‘Where did you put that clue?’ ‘Has anyone tried this code yet?’

If your team includes a member with a strong memory you’ll have a leg up on the competition, and will be one step closer to escaping. 

The Scribe 

Any good escape room will include some means of taking notes. Whether this is via chalkboard, whiteboard or a notepad and pencil.

If you’re unable to find someone for your team with a powerful memory, you might want to find yourself a scribe. Someone who’s taking notes almost on reflex. Recording what key clues mean, writing down unused codes, sequences, or answers you might not need until later.

Writing information down isn’t a necessity for escaping but it certainly helps, and could even be the difference between making it onto the leaderboard or not.

The Steady Hand

Like we mentioned earlier, escape rooms will often test your physical dexterity. You might have to solve a maze to retrieve a key. Maybe you have to fish an item out of a small space. Or sometimes you’ll have to successfully complete a straight up steady-hand challenge.

If your team has someone with good motor control you’ll be flying. Physical puzzles can often be the hardest, as there aren’t many clues that can help you along the way - you’ll have to solve it yourself... if you can! 

The Team Leader

Every plane needs a pilot, every ship needs a captain and every great team needs a great leader. 

Communication is the secret ingredient to success when the clock is ticking. When teams have a member who can facilitate communication under pressure can make or break a group. When it starts feeling tense you don’t want your team to crumble. With a leader in the room it can help your group keep direction and power through the puzzles. 

Ultimately the main goal in an escape room is to have fun! These are just suggestions, if you’re needing a bit of help in forming your ideal escape room team. But you don’t have to stick to these suggestions.

If you don’t escape it’s not the end of the world… Unless you play our room Armageddon, located inside the Escape Key. Then it just might be the end of the world.