What’s an Escape Room?
Escape rooms are immersive, live games where groups of players are locked in a room and must solve clues and puzzles to escape. Think Da Vinci code meets Crystal Maze. Popular themes include exploring Egyptian tombs, defusing cold war bombs, escaping mad scientists and searching for pirate treasure.
Why do this?
Recently Natalie Haynes, writer and broadcaster, took a team to find out. She concluded the appeal of escape rooms was due to more than a renewed interest in immersive play. Hear how Natalie’s team of psychotherapist Philippa Perry, digital entrepreneur Bejay Mulenga and comedian and puzzle enthusiast Rob Deering got on here.
Is an Escape Room an hour long digital detox?
You surrender your phone when you enter the room.
A digital detox.
No checking your phone for updates for an hour.
No taking pictures to post online.
As you become totally absorbed in solving the puzzles, you are switched off from everything and everyone outside the room.
Your only hope of escape is to work with the people inside the room. You must build your team from those around you. There’s no checking your phone for someone more interesting (or useful?). You share information with the group as your achievement depends on how well you get on with them.
Team building
As well as being great for social team building, companies are starting to use Escape rooms for corporate training. A successful escape requires teamwork, communication and delegation, as well as critical thinking, attention to detail and lateral thinking.
Want to know more about Social team Building?
Get the No. 1 book on it – What are we going to do next? – from Amazon. Kindle and paperback available.
Reblogged this on WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO NEXT? and commented:
As well as being great for social team building, companies are starting to use Escape rooms for corporate training. A successful escape requires teamwork, communication and delegation, as well as critical thinking, attention to detail and lateral thinking.