Hello, everyone! I hope you are all doing well. I have a fascinating story for you today. You will never believe it - I finally went to my first escape room.
See, I had been hearing a lot about them lately, but I hadn't taken it upon myself to go to one yet. Well, that changed. My one regret? I regret that I didn't go to one sooner!
In the interest of not spoiling anything for those of you who may attend this specific escape room, I will not be sharing all of the details. There are, however, four main points about my first escape room that I want to share with you.
High Energy
One thing that I learned right off the bat is that escape rooms have a very energetic atmosphere. I had no choice but to be hooked in by the story as the escape room's 'game master' went through the safety brief and gave me my mission details.
Now, I have sat through a lot of safety briefs, being in the military. I have been on missions. But I was untrained for what this escape room held. If I were to get through this room, I would have to pay attention to detail and be determined.
Indeed, this was a 'sink or swim' operation. Kill or be killed. Discover or be discovered.
Although that was not the main objective, there was a bomb in the room, set to one hour, which was the duration of our escape room. This bomb was a good motivator throughout and added to the high energy that I was experiencing.
In the Moment
The door closed, and the game started. I was engrossed in the mission; the outside world ceased to exist. The only thing that mattered was completing my task. This focus was only enhanced by the ominous background music/soundtrack and the various time alerts built into the story to remind me of my time limitations.
Accompanying me in this escape room were my wife, brother-in-law, and my 5-month old son. I'm sure you can guess who led the team. There is nothing quite like a secret agent infant shouting randomly incoherent words as he giggles at the lights. Honestly, despite having a baby with us, we were all forced to stay in the mission mindset as the plot developed and hurried towards our goal.
One thing that amazed me was the number of different ways the environment changed throughout that hour. It was adaptive - it pushed us onwards, urging us to solve this mystery before it was too late.
And it felt so authentic that I was surprised when the time was up, and I had to come back to the real world. What an experience it was!
Challenging
If you are anything like me, you probably consider yourself to be at least reasonably intelligent. Most people do, and many people are wrong. Haha, I'm kidding. Well, not really, but that's not important now.
What is important is that I went into this escape room believing that it would be a walk in the park. I thought that I would be able to breeze through it using only the power of my superior intellect. To my surprise, that wasn't the case.
Escape rooms are much more than a simple lock and hidden key. They contain a complex series of hints, riddles, codes, locks, keys, illusions, and much, much more.
There were so many clues to keep track of and different angles to be considered as we solved each riddle. My first-hand experience has thoroughly convinced me that escape rooms are an excellent mental workout.
They challenge you in almost every aspect imaginable, and I love a challenge.
Rewarding
There are a lot of benefits to be gained by going to escape rooms. Some of the benefits are teambuilding and a sense of accomplishment. I was personally delighted to have my team with me while I was there.
Your perception can be drastically different from the person standing next to you, and it is often these perceptions that will reveal a clue. This encourages you to rely on people around you as you work together towards a common goal.
Usually, I prefer to be competitive, but I learned that it is almost always better to work as a team in the escape room.
Now, this isn't to say that you should not split up. That greatly depends on what room you are in and at what stage.
What I mean is that do not be afraid to depend on others for help, because chances are, they're counting on you too.
Another benefit is the mental or brainy benefit, as I like to call it. The mental benefits to escape rooms are astonishing. This, like my other observations, is based on my first visit. But I have heard many others say the same thing.
How best to explain this? You are spending an hour trying to think critically, creatively, quickly, and organizationally! That's a lot of thinking, even for someone with a superior intellect 😉 !
Even now, whenever I see anything that could be perceived as a clue, my mind still races even though I'm not in an escape room anymore. Just the other day, I saw a house number '758,' and I was trying to decide the significance of that number. Well, the houses closest to it were '756,757,759,780'. Mystery solved! I joke again. I'm trying to say that escape rooms will exercise your brain hard for an hour, and you will feel the difference.
That is an immense added value to all of the fun you are having.
The final benefit I will discuss here is fun. This escape room was delightful for everyone involved during our visit. We wanted to do another one right away.
There is something about all of these fantastic feelings wrapped into one experience. Can I use the word 'addictive'? I just did. This was a highly addictive experience, which may be a problem if it wasn't such a healthy way to spend time.
We were on our feet, strengthening relational bonds, getting our heart rates up with the excitement of the room, and vigorously exercising our minds. Escape rooms aren't like some video game where you passively enjoy the small visual wonders.
We were there, aggressively engaged physically, mentally, and emotionally. We were the heroes, in the flesh. This was an incredible way to spend an hour. As long as you have enough self-control to do escape rooms in moderation, you will be just fine! More than just 'fine,' even. You will have a fantastic time! Trust me on that.
Closing Comments
I would wholly recommend doing escape rooms. I'm hooked! There are so many benefits that it would be silly not to try at least once. If you are already an escape room veteran or are about to go to your first one, please, feel free to share stories from your first escape rooms in the comments. We would love to hear from you. No spoilers!
It's simple to find an escape room near you. Just go to www.escaperoom.com and sign up with your Facebook or Google account. From there, you select your city, choose the escape room experience you want to enjoy, and Escape!
Master your first escape room experiences with these insider secrets and helpful tips.Read These Important Tips Before Your First Escape Room Experience Master your first escape room experiences with these insider secrets and helpful tips.
