Tips For Finding The Best Escape Room To Play With Your Family
The Holiday season is fast approaching, and for many people that means family gatherings. There’s always a lot of fuss during these next few months, dealing with travel schedules, cleaning, lodging, dining, and most importantly, entertaining. Though I cannot help you with everything, allow me to suggest some entertainment that can include the entire family and leave a lasting impression.
Last Christmas I got to visit my parents in San Antonio, Texas. My brother, my cousin, and his wife joined us for an early Christmas Eve dinner. After we finished eating, we were looking for something fun to do as a family. My brother suggested trying a local escape room, so we set off to solve a mystery aboard a pirate ship. We had a great time.
Escape rooms are a great idea for families getting together during the holidays. They provide an opportunity for groups of all ages to interact, to share, to laugh.
Unlike going out to see a movie, you are not confined to a seat in the dark, unable to talk with everyone else. In an escape room, you are free to move around. You can talk to each other, joke to each other, and sometimes even act silly together. For those who have trouble striking up conversations, the puzzles in the room provide an easy starting point.
To plan the perfect escape room outing with family, I have a few tips:
- Find a game with a medium difficulty rating. With a medium difficulty, first-timers and enthusiasts alike can contribute. The first-timers will be able to understand and solve puzzles, while at the same time the enthusiasts can still find the game challenging and engaging.
- Try finding a non-linear game. Non-linear games hold many puzzles that can be worked on simultaneously. This means that your group can split into smaller teams, giving everyone something to do.
- Find a theme that appeals to everyone. There are plenty of silly, kooky, fun games that you can play, just be sure to check the age limits for the rooms. Also pay attention to limits on group size. Find one that can hold your entire group, and see if you qualify for a private room.
- Include others. If you consider yourself an escape room master, sometimes it can be frustrating playing a room with those who have no idea what they’re doing. Just remember that you, too, were once a first-timer. Try guiding your family members in the right path. If an answer seems obvious to you, try helping your family come to the same conclusion as you instead of simply answering the puzzle. If you have a family member standing in the back not participating, even something as simple as “try this combination on this lock” could be enough to get them involved.
- Adjust your goal for fun. Working as a Game Master, I have had many groups whose only goal is to escape. We all love winning, but we can’t win 100% of the time. Approach your game with your number one goal being to have fun with your family. If you focus more on including everyone and having a great time, you’re going to come out on top. Escaping would just be a bonus. Especially if you are playing with a large group of first-timers, there’s the possibility of tensions running high. Take a step back, breathe, and look at the room as a bonding experience.
If you are in the Anaheim area during the holidays and need something fun to do with your family, The Fun House is the perfect game for you. Your group will enter a wacky carnival to prove yourself as worthy magicians before time runs out. As a non-linear game with a medium difficulty, there are plenty of puzzles for everyone with any sort of experience. If your group has kids 13 and under, we even have a special version of the game with puzzles designed for younger players.
This holiday season, you can relieve a bit of stress by planning an escape room outing for your family.
Geoff Durham
Game Master and Manager
Cross Roads Escape Games
December 28, 2017 @ 12:20 am
My friends and I have decided that it would be a good idea to go to an escape room together soon, and we are wondering how to find the best one for all of us. So I appreciate your tip to look at themes that everyone would like as well as looking at things like limits on group size and ages. Since there are quite a few of us in our friend group, we will be sure to find an escape room that can handle all of us.
February 2, 2018 @ 4:14 am
It was really nice how you suggested determining the number of people who will be joining the escape room game and choosing one that can cater to the size of the group. I really liked that idea but since there will only be ten of us doing the activity, I don’t think it will be too hard to find an escape room that can address our number. Anyway, I will still take your tips in mind because if I enjoy this activity, I will surely bring more than just ten people with me the next time. Thank you!
May 25, 2018 @ 10:09 am
Thanks, this was what I just was looking for! Me and my girlfriend are planning to try it out this sunday…Hope we’ll escape from it since we’re the first timers, odds are against us 🙂
May 29, 2018 @ 5:06 am
Glad it helped! We wish you luck!
August 10, 2018 @ 9:37 pm
The thing I like that you mentioned about escape rooms is that they are great for groups. It is hard for me to find things that our whole family can enjoy together. This will have to be something we do soon.
August 15, 2018 @ 2:43 pm
Our family has considered doing an escape room for a family fun night and I really appreciated your suggestions on what to look for in an escape room. I think you made a great point about checking the age limits for escape rooms, and any limits on group size. We will have to call around and find an escape room that works for us.
February 22, 2019 @ 9:29 pm
Thanks for the tip about including everyone when you go to an escape room. Finding ways to involve everyone, even if they don’t really understand would be really helpful. My husband and I are looking for an escape room to go to with our friends, so we’ll have to find ways to include everyone when we go.
April 30, 2019 @ 3:08 am
Yeah so when my father asked me to go to the escape room with him, I quickly followed the steps on this guide. It was such a fun activity to do with your family that I totally loved it.
July 26, 2019 @ 5:14 pm
I think it is so interesting that you mention that non-linear games have a lot of puzzles that can be worked on at the same time. My big group of friends is coming over to my house for the weekend and I am trying to find fun things to do while they are here. I will need to research more online to find a good place to go in my area.
November 18, 2019 @ 4:24 pm
It’s great that you elaborated on the importance of choosing a medium-difficulty game to make sure first-timers and enthusiasts can contribute. My husband is thinking about how to improve his company’s efficiency, and we are looking for advice to find the right escape room game. I will let him know about the importance of choosing a game with less difficulty to promote the team spirit of his company.
December 23, 2019 @ 6:53 pm
How fascinating that non-linear games have lots of puzzles that can be acted on at the same time. My brother wants to take his girl out for something new they haven’t experienced. He might like the idea of a scare room for his night out.