Twelve locks + 14 lockable boxes + 5 pairs of handcuffs + 10 children = one good time!
Looking for a collaborative team building event for your sports team? We offer a unique option where team members are literally locked together and must rely on each other to solve puzzles, beat the clock, and “escape”. It’s a great way to strengthen relationships between teammates. And we bring the event to you – so set-up and organization are simple.
One of these ribbon rolls is not like the others….
Are you smart enough to figure out which one and escape?
Questions or want to book an event? E-mail Jennifer
Making new puzzles is fun. And frustrating.
I’m currently working on one that involves jingle bells and a twisted maze of string, which of course I can’t say much more about. I have a general idea in my head. I’m hoping it will work out. But I’m not sure. I have to spend a few hours/days fiddling with it. This one, if it works out, will be one of the more complicated puzzles.
I also have a 2 ft long section of lead pipe that I’m still pondering and that I’m sure will grow into something… Have an idea? Send us a post on Facebook!
As small exciting packages start to trickle into our mailbox (which my ten-year-old tears into with enthusiasm before I even arrive home from work!), I’ve been trying to organize all my thoughts and ideas for how our twisted traps might be arranged into a concise set of interesting escape room challenges. I’ve also found two do-it-yourself crafting projects I’m eager to try with the girls that will provide us with a couple key props for a two of the puzzles.
I know there are a lot of crafty, creative people out there who might not be interested in having us organize an escape room for you, but might still be up for the challenge of putting one together yourself. So… in case you are wondering how you might create an escape room for fun, and if you like the structure and beauty of a nice list – here is my handy checklist for creating a fun escape room for your friends or your children:
Step 1: Think of as many interesting ways you can hide information as you can and write those down. At this point there is no judgement – don’t worry about viability – just make the list as long and interesting as you can. Also gather up any things you have available and already lying around the house that could work. This could include existing bike and gym locks. Small luggage locks are great too as you can use the luggage in gameplay, or use the tiny locks on backpacks (for example).
Step 2: Sit on the list for a couple days to let your subconscious ponder it. Then, with a clear head, review the list and pick out the ideas that you think are both viable (meaning within your technical and financial capacity) and engaging for your target audience. Note that fun escape rooms for your kids can be created with just a couple locks and some interesting math puzzles and/or riddles, so you don’t really have to get too hung up on having a lot of cool gadgets unless that’s something you really want. Make sure you have enough ideas that the gameplay will be long enough. As a general rule, one or two “bigger” puzzles that require team collaboration, combined with several more smaller puzzles, is a good goal. Keep in mind the age and size of the group of players you plan to have for the real game and make sure they are appropriate for the group of players you will have. And since this is in your house, you may not want to actually lock people in a room in your home. You may instead want to consider having them locate a specific object (for example).
Step 3: Identify the components you will need to achieve the ideas you selected from step 2 and find a way to purchase, make, or otherwise gather those items! If you are unsure about whether a particular item will work, or if the item requires substantial money or time, (particularly if this is the FIRST time you are making an escape room – which I have to assume since you are reading my blog) I recommend using a simple substitute first for that component first as you work through the game flow (see the next step) and see how things play out in the testing phase. Otherwise, you risk having invested a lot of time/cash into something that might not work out.
Step 4: In tandem with step 3 (this part will be a bit iterative), begin to think about how those ideas could be laid out in some kind of rhythm or flow, and what a potential backstory might be, as most good escape rooms have a theme or plot that evolves as players progress through the game. This part is often the hardest for most people, as it is strangely much harder to think up a sequence of problems that is logical but also interesting than it is to find a way to solve them. You may find it helpful to actually write out what will happen as that forces you to explain it in a logical way.
Keep iterating between steps 3 and 4 until you have what you think might be a workable game. It’s ok if some of the game steps are a little rough around the edges here because you don’t want to aim for perfection yet – you just want to get to the point where you can test whether the concepts are viable. Which brings us to the next step…
Step 5: Test the game! This part is critical. Sometimes things can seem logical and make sense in our head (or laid out with paper and objects), but when actually in play with other (aka real) players, they don’t in fact make sense or are either too easy or too obscure. Watch the players who do the testing closely. Aim to be in the room with them but don’t help (unless something really isn’t making sense). Instead take careful notes of what worked or didn’t work, and make adjustments as needed and test again. Keep in mind that this can be tricky because it’s hard sometimes to test again with the same group of people (since they will know much more the second time around). You may need a couple different groups to test with.
Step 6: Once the testing is done and you are satisfied that things are working (close to) the way you want them to, you are ready for your real players! Make sure to take lots of pictures/videos as it’s fun to capture people in the heat of the moment working through the puzzles.
Traditional escape rooms have players locked in a room and the goal is to escape from the room. We realized quickly that that would not work in a home environment for several reasons. Instead, Twisted Traps typically involve players being safely bound together in some way and needing to free themselves, or charged with locating a specific object within a clearly defined space (that does not involve any of your own furniture) in a timed game. We also do not limit the amount of time players have to solve the puzzles. Instead, we offer two set-ups:
The choice between which setup will work best for your event depends both on the personality of the players, as well as group sizes (for groups of more than 6 players, teams are required).
The puzzle-oriented approach of escape rooms lends itself well to “learning moments” as puzzles often involve interesting new technologies and scientific concepts (i.e. thermachroic paints, UV light-reactive objects, electronic sensors, etc.) as well as teaching logic and problem solving skills as children must gather information from the objects before them to identify connections between problems they have (how do I open this box?) and clues they can find (this riddle suggests there might be a key hidden in that stuffed animal).
The Twisted Traps team feels that it is important to always continue to learn and grow in life. That’s why once the players have “escaped” the Twisted Trap, we offer one of two options of your choice:
**Note that this option is usually best for older players.
The solution often turns out more beautiful than the puzzle —Richard Dawkins
Twisted Traps 