Physicality and Items in an Escape Room
Published by and copyright, Bryan Sloan @ Legacy Escape Box
While we love the mystery of a good detective escape room, at one point you might be in the mood for more of a physical experience. Try this out!
Create an escape room at home for a heist or other escape. You can use these items to bring out the physical flair you might need:
Red laser string. Hang up the string in various angles and points across an entry way or room to represent a laser which triggers the attendees having to start over.
Retrieve a key. Use a magnet and/or string to retrieve an important item, like a key. Put the item behind bars or in a tough location like a bottle, grate, or another hard to reach area. - Disclaimer: Be safe, and don’t put the item in an electricity filled area or anywhere which might cause danger to a person, home, or anything else.
Use a marked off area. Don’t walk on certain areas which represent a detection area or mine.
Knocking down / shooting. Use a nerf gun to shoot something (most likely in a zombie scenario)!
Move something with a string hanging from ceiling. The trick here is to attach something heavier to a hanging string in order to swing it over and grab something else. Or you can use it to connect two people in different areas (think jail cell), and this method is used to share items / notes etc.
Bomb in suitcase. This is fun to open and have a fake bomb staring at you. At that point, start a timer and watch everyone’s face as they freak out with excitement.
Use a scale. Weighing physical objects is a blast. Measure the weight of items to see what matches, then create a code from that. Make a math puzzle where certain items have a letter or number taped to them. Then the items have to weigh a certain amount, and that is the order of the code.
Move larger pieces. Sometimes a larger piece like a lever could reveal a new room or area (hidden bookshelf space, anyone?). A cardboard box can be hidden over the entry to a fireplace. Once the correct code is pushed, you can remove it, revealing something cool, or this can simply be another place they can look for something you’ve hidden.
Crawl space. Those with claustrophobia don’t want to crawl into these tight spaces. But sometimes for the getaway, someone’s got to do it. Cardboard boxes, a home-made fort… you get the picture.
With a DIY escape room at home, physical objects are a blast. The tactile experience of objects you hold and maneuver is awesome.
And you don’t have to have the high-tech offerings of other escape rooms. You can literally say, “You got it!” – meaning when the puzzle is correct, they can move on! You don’t have to create a piece of technology which measures 2 different things and then flashes a green light onto a keyhole. You can say, “Yes, you did that right, so you are free to go into this area!” – Use your imagination. Be the moderator who gives the green light to move on to the next piece. Have fun with it!
