Why You Didn't Break Out of an Escape Room

Posted on June 23, 2023
by Faith Neece

Have you ever played an escape room and not escaped in time? It’s a bummer, we know. But it happens to the best of us.

You might be wondering what went wrong when you played it and how you can do better the next time. Of course, we don’t know your exact circumstances, but we can give you some possibilities as to why you didn’t break out.

You didn’t pace yourselves.

You only get 60 minutes in an escape room, so pacing yourselves throughout the room is vital. But some groups get so caught up in the game that they forget about the clock! Our biggest tip is to compare the number on the clock to the number of puzzles you have to solve (and assume there are at least a few locks you can’t see yet!).

We have an in-depth post about escape room pacing here.

You spent unnecessary time.

Related to group pacing, we see a lot of players spend time on things that are not necessary or could have been avoided. Little “time wasters” can end up costing you a lot because they add up!

Here are common things we see groups spend unnecessary time on:

Repeating the work someone already did. Especially in larger groups, players don’t always know what someone else has solved. We’ve seen players work hard on a puzzle that someone else already completed, only to realize they didn’t need to. Time would have been better spent dividing and conquering.
Losing a clue. Players often set clues down in one area of the room and then forget where they put them. It’s a good idea in the future to designate one area of the room for clues and separate them into ones you have used and ones you haven’t.
Losing writing utensils. A lot of our rooms at Breakout offer an expo marker to write notes on a board. We can’t tell you how many times groups lose the expo marker and struggle to find it when they need to write something down! We recommend making one person in the room the note taker and having them keep the marker on them at all times.

Your team didn’t communicate well.

It may be a cliche, but it’s still true: communication is key. Groups do the best when they report things they find, listen with understanding, and avoid talking over each other. Escape rooms are team sports, so you have to communicate to win.

Don’t feel bad if you didn’t break out! This post isn’t to critique you but to help you in the future. We hope that these tips help you escape the next time you play.

Want to study up more? Check out this post on escape room roles. It breaks down the crucial components of how groups win.