What To Expect When You Play Your First Escape Room 

Life is full of ‘firsts’—from first jobs, to first dates, to first kisses!  Each of these experiences come with a lot of emotion, such as excitement, anticipation, and maybe even a little of bit of fear.  Not surprising, your first experience playing an escape room can come with a lot of these same emotions.  After all, you’re about to be locked in a room for up to an hour, likely in the dark, and definitely with a lot of uncertainty as to what will happen next.  While it’s human nature to feel some trepidation when situations are uncertain, your first escape room should not be an intimidating experience.  Don’t’ worry, we’ve got your back!  To help alleviate some of the potential anxiety leading up to your first escape room, here’s some information on what you can expect, from your friends at Quest Reality Games! 

Arrival and Setup 

When you arrive at Quest Reality Games, our friendly Game Masters will greet you, have you sign our online waiver (if you haven’t done so already), process your payment, and give you a stamp representing the theme you have paid to play.  

You’ll be provided with free lockers where your team can store all your personal effects, such as purses, jackets, etcetera (particularly cameras, cell phones, and recording devices, which are not permitted in our themes). If you require reading glasses, best to bring those along, and hang on to them for using while you’re playing the game.  

Once you’ve got your things stowed away in our free lockers, we recommend you take a moment to use the washroom—after all, you’re about to be locked up for an hour, and thinking about a full bladder can be a real distraction when you should be focusing on puzzle-solving! 

When it’s time to begin your Quest, your Game Master will introduce themselves and check your stamp, read you our rules, and provide you with the background story and objective for your chosen theme (pay close attention—there may be secret hints in their introduction!). They will also offer you the choice between an easy, standard, or difficult experience. Your choice won’t affect the nature of the puzzles, but it will affect how your Game Master interacts with you—and how much information and assistance they’ll provide during your Quest. This is your chance to ask any questions, and then it’s GAME TIME!  

Your group will have one hour to explore the room and solve puzzles and riddles to advance through the game. Most escape rooms offer you hints to help you progress if you get stumped anywhere along the way (we provide two hints).   

What to Expect 

Escape rooms come in a variety of themes, from horror to modern day adventures to time traveling. While there are some escape rooms that are for adults only, ours are designed to appeal to all ages. There are no age limits or restrictions for our escape games (players 14 and under will need to have an adult player 18 or over with them), and people from all walks of life have enjoyed experiencing our themes. In fact, many times, we’ve had players from 3 or more generations playing together! Regardless of the composition of your team, you’ll need to be prepared to work together as a team if you want to solve all the puzzles and escape within the allotted time. This is why many businesses are opting to take their team out to an escape room for a corporate event—it forces players to work together, but is still fun and exciting enough to keep players entertained. 

Our escape games are designed for you to use your wits, and not meant to be physically demanding.  Although you should dress for movement, our indoor escape games do not require running, jumping, or any physical strength. However, you may need to bend over or lift small things in order to escape. No force is required for any of our puzzles, just mental strength! Is mobility a concern for you? Don’t worry, our facility is fully accessible, as are most of our themes. 

All our escape games are private experiences. You will not be paired up with strangers. Once you book an escape room it is reserved exclusively for you and your teammates—unless, of course, you’d like to invite some new friends! 

How do you escape?  

In order to escape, you’ll have to find exciting clues to solve a series of challenging puzzles. Our second generation escape games test your problem-solving abilities in many ways, including your memory, powers of observation, logic, deductive reasoning, and code-breaking abilities. By doing so, our puzzles appeal to all types of problem-solvers and ensures that everyone in your group will be able to help the team solve puzzles.  

What if you can’t solve a puzzle?  

If you are stuck on one puzzle in the theme you’re playing, make sure that everyone in your group has the opportunity to try their hand at it.  Everyone is different in the way they approach puzzles, and we are all products of our past experience, so some puzzles may appeal more to certain members of your team than others.  (Want to know how to create the perfect team?  Check out our blog 5 Types of People Needed To Create the Perfect Team).  So, if you’re stuck, let one of your teammates give it a try and they may have more success.  If your entire group can’t move forward, don’t hesitate to ask your Game Master for a hint! Game masters are more than happy to help you work your way through the room. Even if you are out of hints, there is no harm in asking your Game Master for a hand.  You may just need some clarification on the puzzle, or need the Game Master to paraphrase their last hint.  Rest assured we will never leave you hanging—after all it’s only a game, and we’re here to make sure you have fun! 

What if you are unable to escape?  

Once your hour is up, if your team was unable to escape one of our themes, your Game Master is happy to help you finish your Quest! Our Game Masters want to help you enjoy your experience, so they will either give you an extra hand while you work through the remaining puzzles in the room, or will leave the room a mystery, depending on the preference of your group. 

There are no jump scares or live actors 

That said, fear is subjective. What scares one player will not scare every player. Some people are afraid of spiders, some of heights.  While we here at Quest Reality Games do not intend to scare anyone with our rooms, they may be a little spooky. If you have any specific fears, such as snakes or loud noises, which truly scare you, don’t hesitate to ask your Game Master if they will appear in the room. As for whether or not there are live actors in any of our themes, there are not.  And although you didn’t ask, allow us to clarify that there are no dead actors either! 

If you haven’t been to an escape room yet, what are you waiting for?! Book now!