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Which game should you choose- The Fun House or The Hex Room?

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Quite often when people call to book a game with us, they ask us which game they should choose. While both of our games provide highly-immersive and entertaining experiences, they are two completely different themes. Use this handy guide to help your team decide which adventure they should take.

Do you consider your team as ‘beginners’?

If your group is composed of mostly (or all) first-time players, I highly recommend The Fun House. With its light-hearted atmosphere, whimsical puzzles, and the fact that everyone is working as a team, The Fun house is a great way to introduce new players into the world of escape rooms. The game is packed to the brim with puzzles, meaning everyone in your group can try their hand at solving something. The integrated hint system can provide help at any time with no penalty.

Are you looking for a challenge?

If your group has played a few escape rooms before and is looking for a challenge, The Hex Room is for you. The Hex Room changes how a traditional escape room works by separating you into individual rooms within the game. Because of this, each player is responsible for solving their own puzzles as well as working together with the group. Unlike traditional escape rooms where some players can fall to the background and observe, each player must be present and active within this game. Furthermore, The Hex Room has an extra, optional puzzle within the game for players to further challenge themselves should they so choose.

Does your team enjoy being scared?

The Hex Room is a horror-themed game. Though we do not have any live actors within the game, being separated within the game as well as the set design, lighting, and audio makes for an intense horror experience. If you team is easily frightened or does not want to be separated, I highly recommend The Fun House.

Is your team over the age of 16?

No one under the age of 16 is permitted to play The Hex Room. Our age limit is very strict. However, The Fun House is a challenging game that all ages can play.

Should you play Fun House or Fun House KIDS?

We offer an alternate version of our Fun House game designed specifically for kids under the age of 13. If you are trying to decide whether to play the original or the Fun House KIDS, this should help you decide. If your group is comprised mostly of younger kids (equal to or greater than the number of adults), especially if nobody has ever played an escape room before, I recommend the KIDS version. For groups of young teens, I suggest talking with them and seeing which version they would prefer. Remember, our integrated hint system can provide help at any time during the game, so if they want to take on the challenge of the original version, they can ask for a push if they feel they are falling behind.

If you have a group of mostly adults with one or two younger kids, we can add a special puzzle into the original Fun House just for the kids with a special prize if they compete it! Just give us a call after you book and ask for the extra puzzle for kids.

The most important thing to do when deciding on a game is to talk with your group. You might find it funny to surprise your friends or family with the fact that they will be separated in a horror-themed game, but I can promise you they will not find it quite as funny. Let your team know the theme and anything that might make one hesitant before they agree to play.

Let us know if this guide helped you to pick a game, or if there are some other questions you have while deciding on a game. Let us know by commenting below!

Geoff Durham
Game Master, Manager
Cross Roads Escape Games

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Dear Zoltar #1: How To Be A Good Leader

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Hello, dear readers and escape enthusiasts. In an effort to spread my great wisdom and wit with the world, I have taken on an advice column. Yes I, the Great and Magnanimous Zoltar, Seer of Secrets and Keeper of Escape Room Secrets, will be lending a (beautifully painted) ear to those in need of some guidance through their escape room journey. Our first letter comes to us via Red Tailed Hawk (much more reliable than owls and also work during the day) from someone who may be just like you.

Dear Zoltar,

My friends and I have played many escape rooms and so far, we haven’t won a single game. I have played with friends, with family, with strangers! Every time it seems that victory is just out of reach. What are we doing wrong?

I know that every great team needs a great leader, so I do my best to push my team and make sure we are all working together to try and escape! I start every game by giving each player on my team something to do. One person will be in charge of looking in drawers on one side of the room, while someone else will be in charge of figuring out which puzzle we need to tackle first! I have each of them explain their answer so that I can try it on the locks. I stay in touch with everyone constantly! I let them know how much time we have and try to motivate everyone by pushing them to work faster.

We are never fast enough!

What can I do to help my team more and get us our first win?

Sincerely,
Natural Born Leader

 

Dearest N. B. Leader,

‘Tis I, Zoltar the Great, the seer of secrets and your guide on how to be a better leader for your escape team! Now, I know that it can be hard to face so many challenges and still come out with no victories, but the most important bit of advice that I can give you is this: If at first you don’t succeed, then try, try again!

Solving puzzles and escaping from escape rooms is a skill like any other skill. The more you practice, the better you will get. It is good that you are playing rooms and switching up your team each time. This allows a level of adaptability, that some leaders do not have. This will also give you a chance to work on identifying the strengths and weaknesses of newer players. Supporting your team mates by allowing them to play to their strengths is the truest sign of a good leader.

There has been a previous blog post describing the types of players in an escape room. Perhaps you should take a look at it and see if you can identify which type of player each one of your friends or family is.

Sometimes being a leader means gently guiding your team rather than pushing them. I can tell you from experience that constantly reminding players just how little time is left can be more stressful than helpful. While sometimes a good reminder is needed, save it for good intervals. If you tell your team how much time is left every minute, you will only be adding to the noise already in the room and could create more confusion.

I don’t believe your team really needs to explain every puzzle to you before they try solving it. If they think they have the correct answer but it doesn’t work, they should definitely explain their thought process! But explaining everything before trying a code is a good way to burn through your very limited time. Perhaps you should allow others to try their codes on the locks and offer an ear and another point of view if they get stuck.

I have no doubt that if you keep playing and keep growing as a leader that you will lead a group to victory someday soon. Just remember to let your group play to their strengths and give gentle guidance. It will make for a more enjoyable game for everyone and just might improve your results.

Til next time, dear reader,

Zoltar The Great
Seer of Secrets, Advice Guru,
The Fun House at Cross Roads Escape Games

P.S. Are you in need of some escape room advice? Send me an email at info@crossroadsescapegames.comwith the subject DEAR ZOLTAR and you may see your letter answered in the future.

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Zoltar’s Reflections Of The Fun House

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Greetings and salutations dear reader! Tis I again, Zoltar the Great, Seer of secrets, and your guide to celebrating the Fun House’s 2nd birthday! In honor of the 2nd birthday of the Fun House I figured it would be fun to take a moment to reflect on how our lives were before The Fun House opened its doors and be grateful that we no longer live in the desolate wastelands that existed during that time.

I know that many of you were sad, lost, and (dare I say) despondent in the days before the Fun House, as was I dear reader… as was I. But then, like a shining beacon of hope, the Fun House manifested and… and… well… it just seemed to lack something. It needed something big; something new and intelligent; something with well-groomed eyebrows and a chin that don’t quit; it needed, of course, me!

Yes, I remember the day that the Great Cross Roads Circus found me in an old self storage unit. I had been left for all eternity behind a slowly fading painting of Madonna. One of the Rhoades ringleaders heard my cries of help and, doing what any half decent ringleader would do, came to the rescue of the crying Madonna painting! It wasn’t until she had already taken the Madonna painting and had turned to leave that she realized that it was, in fact, MY painting that was talking. Sorry Madonna. You may have the looks, but I have the looks and the voice!

In the dust and darkness of the storage unit, I met the great ring leaders of the Cross Roads Circus for the first time. It was there that the great ringleader recognized my talent and did the only sensible thing to do … placed me right in the center of attention in the Fun House!

What has been the best part of living in The Fun House for these two years? Without a doubt, it has been acting as a mentor, muse, and supportive shoulder on which to cry (metaphorically of course, for I was not painted with shoulders) for many hopeful apprentices. Each day I help these aspiring souls to think more creatively, to believe more profoundly, to laugh, share, joke, play, and enjoy life to the fullest. I don’t want to put understate just how intensely moving a game in The Fun House can be. Each game I help people discover whether they are truly Magnificent Magicians or Clueless Clowns and each one of us is better for it.

Ah yes. It has been two great years filled with many amazing magicians and clowns of all age! Our circus has grown quite large in the last couple years and continues to grow every day. I sure do look forward to even more wonderful years of magic, mystery, and perhaps a few jokes along the way.

If you haven’t had the chance to test your wits in our topsy-turvy Fun House yet, then I suggest you come on down as soon as possible and find out if you have what it takes to be a worthy magician or if you are simply a clueless clown.

That sounds like an important bit of personal discovery if you ask me.

Zoltar The Great
The Seer of Secrets and your guide into the future.

Zoltar

Zoltar’s Premonitions: Mr. Literal

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Greetings and salutations dearest reader! I am Zoltar the Great, Seer of secrets, and your guide to the funniest thing I have ever seen in the Fun House!

Many people have asked me, “Zoltar, do you enjoy hanging around and laughing with your players all day?” My answer to this question is simple. Yes. Yes, I most certainly do. It would be apt to say that I revel in the shenanigans that my players come up with while under the big top. Oh, I could go on and on about the many laughs shared between myself and my players. But of all the different types of people that have visited me here in the Fun House, there was one that tickles my funny bone to this day. I call him Mr. Literal!

Yes! We all know someone like Mr. Literal. This person takes your word for everything. This person often finds simple instructions to be unintuitive and frustrating. This is the person that when you say, “give me a second”, will count to one out loud and then ask if you are ready yet. Yes, you know exactly who I am talking about, don’t you? One of my fondest memories was created by someone who took everything I said too seriously.

This all started when Mr. Literal asked for a clue to a puzzle that one of his team mates was in the process of solving. My response to Mr. Literal was “If you put your heads together I’m sure you’ll be able to figure it out.” Mr. Literal stared at me with slowly widening eyes as the dawn of realization passed over him. He then turned to his team and demanded a huddle.

“Zoltar says that we need to put our heads together!” He shouted as his team huddled around him. He then stuck his head towards the center of his huddle circle. The other team mates exchanged looks of skepticism as they slowly leaned in and touched their heads together.

Now… I could have said something and put a stop to it right there, but honestly, I was curious to see how far this would go… So, I asked if they had figured it out yet. Of course, there was nothing to figure out, but Mr. Literal immediately replied that they were still working on it.

“Are you sure you are standing in the right spot?” I asked. The words popped out of my mouth unbidden and drenched in sarcasm. Most people would have realized in that moment that literally putting their heads together couldn’t possibly solve a puzzle… But this wasn’t most people; This was Mr. Literal!

And do you know what he did next? He told everyone to move to the center of the room and everyone in the group began to move their feet together shuffling towards the center of the room with their heads pressed together.

I… was… breathless. They stood together with their heads pressed together for what had to be a full minute before someone in the group finally spoke. “What exactly did Zoltar say to you?”

“He said that if we put our heads together we should be able to figure out our puzzle.” In that moment, his entire team groaned audibly and pushed away from the huddle. Mr. Literal stood there with a confused look on his face as his team walked away to go back to solving puzzles and I laughed harder than I have ever laughed in my life.

This was indeed one of the funniest moments I have ever experienced in all my time in The Fun House. Perhaps, dear readers, I shall reveal more of my favorite stories from the big top in the future. Make sure to keep an eye out for more of Zoltar’s Premonitions! Of course, not literally.

Jason Sakal
Manager, Game Master
Cross Roads Escape Games

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Zoltar’s Premonitions: Avoiding The Terrible Fate of Eternal Imprisonment

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If you have had the chance to meet Zoltar the Great inside The Fun House, I’m sure you may have found yourself wondering how could someone so handsome and so powerful get trapped inside a painting for all eternity? Well, you are not alone in your pondering! It is a question I get quite often, so I decided to go straight to the source and ask Zoltar the Great himself. Here is what he had to say:

Zoltar The Great

“Greetings and salutations dear readers, I am Zoltar the Great, the Seer of Secrets, and today I’ll be your guide to avoiding the terrible fate of eternal imprisonment.

“It all starts in 1940. I was part of a very prestigious travelling circus that would draw crowds from near and far. During this golden age of circuses, I was the gem in the crown of my ring leader’s performance. Ah yes, I was truly a site for people to behold. And, oh, how they would gasp when I would peer into my crystal ball and lay bare the path to their future. Secrets? Scandals? Deep wells of unknowable knowledge? No problem for the Great and Powerful Zoltar.

“But alas, the 40s were a turbulent time, and even a talent like mine was not enough to drag people from their sorrows and into our seats. Ah yes, it was quite the low point indeed.

“Naturally, the Ring Leader had some tough choices to make and one by one the other acts were cancelled. Now, I will admit that this was curious, but I did not fear for my job. No, no, no. I was merely worried that another circus might come by and take me away from my beloved circus. That’s it. That is why I sought out our magician, Morgan something or other, for a cure to my worries.

“Now it was no secret that Morgan and I didn’t get along very well. He, like so many others, couldn’t help but go green with jealousy when he would see the adoring fans showering me with compliment after compliment. However, when I so humbly asked him for a spell that would keep my act in the circus forever, he set his grudge aside and graciously agreed to help me. Perhaps he believed that by helping me, he might be able to bask in the glow of my success for that much longer.

“Or at least that is what I thought at the time.

“Morgan said he had something that would give me exactly what I wanted. He handed me a terribly dusty scroll and said if I signed it, I could be part of the circus forever. Without overthinking anything, I dipped my quill into some ink and signed the scroll with a perfect autograph.

“Suddenly everything became shaky and my vision started to darken. Next thing I knew, I was trapped within a magical painting of myself.

“Oh, woe was me in that moment. Sure, things could have been worse. Sure, he could have shaved one of my perfect eyebrows, or scarred the flawless skin on my face, but nonetheless this was definitely a terrible predicament to find myself in.

“Luckily for me, I was still able to speak and my powers of foresight were keener than ever. So, I called out for help. And who would show up but the apprentices of the very magician that had done this to me.

“I talked to the children and told them of how their master had tricked me and, bless their hearts, they believed every word I said. I gave them some good advice and sent them on their way to the magician’s tent.

“By using their wits and working together the two apprentices were able to discover the mysteries inside their master’s tent and return to me with Morgan’s dreaded Grimoire. I was so pleased that I declared that they should be made worthy magicians at once!

“But this was not the end of the tale. There was no happily ever after yet. Oh, no there wasn’t! The two young magicians looked through the Grimoire and found nothing in it that resembled a counter spell. Alas… I Zoltar the Great, the seer of secrets, and soon to be 5-time beer pong champion… was still trapped.

“In the end, Morgan the Magician was arrested for the improper use of magic against a national treasure, the two young magicians were given a center stage performance in the circus’ main event, and I was trapped for what seemed to be all eternity.

“Basically, you could say that the circus just wasn’t the same anymore. The two young magicians eventually left for better things and as the circus fell into debt, I was eventually sold to an old pawnshop owner whose hearing was so bad, I could never convince him I wasn’t an ordinary painting.

“But, as Mother always said, when life gives you a lemon, just wait around until you find someone who knows how to make lemonade! My fate changed the day I was purchased by a lovely couple who saw my talent for what it was truly worth! They gave me a well-paying job at Cross Roads Escape Games and since then, I have made it my mission to test those who wish to take on the Fun House, sorting the worthy magicians from the clueless clowns. It is my earnest hope that one day I will find a magician worthy enough to free me from my magical painting.

“At least, that is the story I tell people… it is a timeless tale of woe, betrayal, and not reading the waiver before messing with dark magic… One might say this story is a people pleaser. Trust me, this is the story you want to hear… It is much better than the one about the troll…

“But perhaps that version will be a story for another time.”

And there you have it dear readers. Straight from the horses mouth. Now your new question that you should be asking yourself is if  YOU will be the one who is worthy enough to set Zoltar fee?

Jason Sakal
Manager & Game Master
Cross Roads Escape Games

Escaped The Hex Room

My First Escape Room and Why I’m Still Escaping

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If you’re reading this blog, chances are you have at least a vague idea of what an escape room is. Escape rooms have become increasingly popular just over the past few years. Thinking back, it’s strange how only three years ago, I wouldn’t have any idea what an escape room is. What makes these experiences so captivating and why are they becoming a staple for friend and family gatherings?

My name is Geoff, I am a Manager at Cross Roads Escape Games, and I am an Escape Room Enthusiast. I began working here as a game master with a few escape rooms already under my belt. Now I have experienced more than a dozen rooms, but I still remember my very first escape room. The first escape room I ever played was a zombie-themed room in San Antonio, Texas. There are similar rooms across the country: you are locked in a room with a zombie that is chained to the wall. Every few minutes, the chain gets longer and you must work harder to avoid getting eaten while still trying to solve puzzles.

Needless to say, we had a blast (And, yes, we escaped… with 3 seconds remaining). The team consisted of five coworkers, two complete strangers, and myself. It was a great way to test our multitasking abilities, our communication, and our ability to keep a cool head under pressure. It even showcased our ability to interact with and include strangers, which is something I find very important when doing public games. I think we also strengthened our relationships with each other, were inspired to create memorable experiences, and just plain had a great time. Teamwork, unusual puzzles, the rush that comes when you open a lock, and the total immersion into a new world; all of it made for an addictive and thrilling experience. That experience is what began my obsession with escape rooms.

After I moved to California, I got to play more escape rooms with friends. The first room I did with my friends was Cross Roads’ own Hex Room. I was the Prom Queen. We escaped with nearly 12 minutes remaining! To date, The Hex Room has been my favorite room because of its unique design and attention to detail. It was easy to picture myself as the star of my very own horror film, determined to escape before being brutally murdered. I really enjoyed being able to work on my own puzzles but still have friends nearby if I needed any assistance.

The ability to work together with friends, family, and strangers to solve puzzles and fully engage in a story is what keeps me coming back.

I think that’s why escape rooms are so popular: they are engaging, requiring the participants to use problem-solving skills and critical thinking, while building relationships and developing teamwork. In an age where most of us, me included, spend a lot of time interacting with screens, it’s nice to unplug for a while and use your hands. Not to mention, escape rooms aren’t mindless entertainment: You need to think, engage, interact, and be present. Plus, no two escape rooms are exactly alike. You get to experience and star in new and exciting stories every time. It’s fun to enter new scenarios and imagine you are really in this world, even if it’s only for an hour.

If you haven’t done an escape room yet, I think you should. They are a great way to do something a bit out of the ordinary while hanging out with friends or family, a wonderful alternative to going to the movies because you are still able to interact with your group, to have fun, and to laugh together. It’s an inspired way to spend time with family because a wide range of ages can participate. After the game is over, you’ll be talking about it for days, meaning you’ll never be wanting for conversation.

I believe escape rooms filled a niche for people who want to go out and do something together a bit out of the ordinary, offered an experience for people who love solving puzzles, and provided a place for businesses to offer their employees a fun and innovative way to work on team building.

I think it’s safe to say we’ll be seeing escape rooms for quite some time. I know I’m excited to try my next one.

Geoff Durham
Manager, Game Master, & Most Likely To Barely Survive A Horror Film
Cross Roads Escape Games