Why Every Team Should Play Escape Rooms

As gamemasters and hosts, we see many different types of group dynamics: couples on a date night, kids’ birthday groups, bachelorette/bachelor parties, tourists, and many others. While each type of group gets something unique from playing an escape room, the players that are really shaped by the experience are team-building groups.

Unfortunately, there’s minimal research on the team-bonding benefits of escape rooms. But, roughly 19% of players are for corporate groups, so what’s keeping them playing?

Communication is Key!

One of the cornerstones of an escape room is communication. Some puzzles are even built with this single factor in mind. For example, one of the puzzles in The Eureka Room’s Out of Orbit is centered around being able to explain what a symbol looks like to someone who has to match it up with a number in a different part of the room. Many new puzzle-like video games take this to a new level; like the game Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. In this game, one person only sees a bomb and must describe what the modules are to another person who only sees a manual.
As you can imagine, developing communication skills among a group that has to work together is pretty important. Not only do players get practice with this valuable tool, they learn new ways of communicating based on the task as well as the individual with whom they’re communicating with. 

For example, one of our interview questions for new gamemasters is to describe a color to us as if we’d never seen color. Regardless of the answer, if the person is willing to explore a new way of communicating to someone, it shows us a great skill that any team would benefit from.

Clock is Ticking!

Does your work group need practice with managing their time appropriately? Look no further than the isolated perfection that is an escape room. 

Most escape rooms will have a time limit; typically an hour. This means that there needs to be some pep in your step when problem-solving. Though, playing an escape game isn’t necessarily going to make you perform tasks faster, but it will help to do them wiser. Have you ever heard of the term: “work smarter, not harder”? This principle is practiced well in escape games. An example of this is how multi-linear escape rooms work: there are multiple lines of logic that can be done simultaneously. This allows for players to hop from one puzzle to another when the time spent on the first isn’t providing results. Then, when they have new information, a new teammate, or just a new headspace, the puzzle can be returned to and be solved. 

Figuring out when to move on from a puzzle, when to dedicate yourself to one, or when to ask for help are crucial elements that build time management skills in your team.

Leader is Emerging!

As the team gets more diverse, the more roles a group will house during the puzzle-solving process. There’s a lot of articles and videos that will tell you to assign roles for your team before playing escape room and it will guarantee success. However, it’s much more beneficial for roles to develop naturally as the situation aligns.

One of our favorite things as gamemasters is when the “underdog” of the group becomes the MVP, or when the group finishes and a player says something like, “I just sort of became the leader.” If a company asks us, we’ll even take note of which players flourished in which parts of the game. It’s fun to be surprised with new skills you didn’t know you or your teammates had. Relieving the players of the expectation of performing a certain role can allow for some to shine in exciting new ways.

Collaborating is Trusting!

To collaborate with your fellow teammates, there are a few essential ingredients: communication, common tasks, and concrete trust. Each of these C’s thrive in an escape game experience. We’ve already elaborated on communication, and common tasks are a given, but what about that “trust” thing?

The foundation of a team must be trust. In the Five Dysfunctions of a Team, distrust is the building block for the downfall of any team. Whether it be sports, corporations, or interpersonal, established and practiced trust will allow for success. 

In escape rooms, players practice trust by entering into a collectively new experience and allowing each other to do their best to puzzle-solve for the good of the group. This element presents as trust in themselves to take on a task or ask for help, in the others to work on other pieces, and in the group to get them all through it. Escape games provide a safe and fun way to exercise trust without the need of a ladder or a fall. 

Puzzling is Fun!

Though playing escape rooms as a team can boost things that positively affect work efficiency, it can also provide a sense of community and help build a psychologically safe work environment. It’s important for employees to be in a place that values them as a person and as an important asset. There’s no better way to explore the nature of a workplace community than sticking everyone in a room for an hour.

Everything aside, it’s undeniable that an encouraging work environment has positive effects on the company itself and the mental health of the employees. The camaraderie between team members and between someone and management continues to be the way to go. Doing activities that are fun and break the routine are refreshing for the mind and cleansing for the bonds.

Many times after a room, we’ll have a work group say something to the effect of: “I’m so glad we got out of the office,” or “We should do this again.” Continuing to participate in activities like escape games will have lasting ripples that will pay off in the long run.

Summary

Regardless of what type of team you find yourself in, an hour in an escape room can cause countless hours of synergy in your group. Puzzling and working together will boost new life into teams that aren’t clicking or need novel ways of getting things done. 

Plus, if nothing else will convince you: escape rooms are just too fun to pass up! If you’re looking for a sign to bring your team to one, this is it.

To book a team-building game, go to our booking page or email us at cryptiescapes@gmail.com

**This blog was written by someone paid by The Eureka Room and Cryptid Escapes. While intended to be informational, it also acts as promotional material. Thank you for reading and staying media literate. :)