There are a few reasons why someone might decide that escape rooms are not for them. Claustrophobia for one, or perhaps you don’t like rooms. I mean, we can’t argue with that. But among the many reasons I’ve heard for not playing an escape room, one of the tops is some version of “I’m not good at puzzles”. Which doesn’t make sense to me at all? Because escape rooms are more than just puzzles. Our escape rooms encompass a wide variety of skills, that you, yes you, the person who is not good at puzzles, would be great at it. Let me explain why escape rooms are not just for puzzle people.
It’s Socially Acceptable
It’s true! Escape rooms help to develop social skills and interpersonal communication. In some cases, being put in a room and forced to communicate with others might be viewed as a form of punishment, but we aren’t the Senate, so this will be more fun. Let’s also consider for a moment the quality of that communication. Our games develop organizational thought and the ability to talk through assignments.
Recognizing the need and asking for help can be difficult for folks. But it’s a whole lot easier when you are playing a game. The quality of team communication improves as well. When under time constraints people develop the ability to communicate necessary information to help the team focus on tasks at hand. A side effect of this is that the team starts to develop their own productive and unifying banter.
You Have a Place in the Team
You could say “cream rises to the top” and that’s not wrong. This, however, is more about a team’s ability to identify structure and roles. Even if you work with someone daily, you may not get to know them that well. What is cool about escape rooms is that these tasks are not the day to day things your team is used to doing together. Finding out all of a sudden that Dave is a natural at logic puzzles tells the team that he has strong analytical thinking skills, which applies to a wide range of tasks. As a team plays together, organizational roles become apparent without any effort. You can find natural social leaders, which could be important when considering leadership positions in a company. You can also see who the team relies on for moral support and social gratification, basically who the cheerleaders are. Learning how a team or even a group of friends function when not actively paying attention to social roles can help everyone better understand each other’s strengths.
Confidence is a Builder (or Something Like That)
The best part about escape games is that groups can come together to do something no one person can do individually. But it’s also about you as an individual. Sometimes discover something that you didn’t know you could do. Because often, the people around you bring out the best of you. Learning to be able to find positives when there doesn’t seem to be anything good about what happened. Recognizing that the journey is part of the process. The intangible feeling of accomplishment. Of course, it feels better when the team is successful and completes the room within the time limit. That is a tremendous accomplishment by itself. But it can also feel just as good to look at the team’s performance and find positives to take away even if you don’t get out within the time limit. Knowing that the next time you do something together you will have a better chance of success.
Do I have a shooting star with a rainbow tail going over my head right now? Because this feels like a “the more you know” moment. Just remember, it takes a team (or a group, or family…) to play an escape room. And whether you’re good at puzzles or not, your team will need someone like you. But the best part, in my humble opinion, is getting to know more about your fellow players. Because sometimes, experiences like this can’t be bought. Wait, yes they can. You just have to book an escape experience through our website. Anyway, I hope you have learned more about the benefits of escape rooms. Hey, maybe we can circle back to this another time, yeah? I guess that’s mostly up to me, so yeah, I think we might. Maybe I’ll even call it part 2. We’ll see.