The hex Room - Cross Roads Escape Games

The hex Room

April 10 2020

Cross Roads COVID-19 Update

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Hello everyone! My name is Madison and I am the Co-Owner and Creative Director of Cross Roads Escape Games along with my husband, Luke. I wanted to share with you an update as to how we are handling this time being closed and what new operating procedures we will be implementing to keep Cross Roads Escape Games a safe place to visit.

Madison and Luke Rhoades, Co-Owners of Cross Roads Escape Games

First, I want to thank everyone who was very understanding about us having to cancel their upcoming booking with us. And we really appreciate those who were willing to take a credit code over a refund. I also want to thank those who purchased a gift card from us during this time. We really appreciate all the help and support our community is showing us.

Currently, we are under a government mandated closure until further notice. We are watching the news and constantly checking to see when we may be able to reopen. We want to make sure it is safe to open, and we are not putting our employees or customers at risk. We will be reopening as soon as we receive word that gatherings of up to 10 people are permitted.

Our last day of operation was March 15^th, which was also first day of our March Madness Escape Room Tournament. Sadly, we did have to cancel that tournament but many of the businesses who sponsored a prize are willing to work with us again on a future event, so hopefully we will see a similar event again soon.

In a previous update at the beginning of March, we mentioned that The Hex Room was going to close for a period in April to allow for a revamp. Unfortunately, the revamp is postponed for the time being. With other companies closing we are finding it difficult to get the equipment and supplies that we need. We also want to make sure we have the funds to support ongoing business expenses for as long as we may be required to close.

Upon reopening, we are implementing new operating procedures to make Cross Roads Escape Games a safe environment for both customers and our employees. A few steps we will be taking are:

Groups will never come in contact with another group. We will have less available games per day to insure that the lobby is never shared by two different groups. The lobby will be cleaned between every group.
Longer resets, to allow ample time for sanitizing the games between use. Game Masters will have a full hour to reset and thoroughly clean all props, locks, and surfaces between every game using medical grade disinfectant.
Hand sanitizer will be available throughout the building for customers and employees. All customers will be required to use hand sanitizer or wash their hands in the bathrooms before entering the games.
Employees will be provided with a washable cloth mask. Masks will be required to be worn around customers at all times.
Props and costumes considered unnecessary to the game will be removed. To help prevent contamination, only necessary items will be in the game.

We appreciate you being a loyal customer and we will continue to bring you high quality immersive entertainment. Because of your support over the years, we will be opening again soon.

Sincerely,

Madison Rhoades

February 20 2018

What It Takes To Be A Great Detective

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The Hex Room at Cross Roads Escape Games is a unique escape room where you can star in your very own horror film. Before the game begins, each player takes a personality quiz to determine which character they best fit within the game. From there, they are placed into their own room where the goal is to work together through the physical barriers to escape each individual room and, finally, the game.

Being separated into individual rooms really tests each player’s ability to discover, describe, solve, and face fears. And even though The Hex Room requires every player to participate in order for the group to escape, the most weight is placed on one character in particular: The Detective.

When players come in and begin filling out their questionnaires, they often ask who their leader is. My shortest reply is; pick someone who is great at communicating and multi-tasking.

The best Detectives are actively social within the game. They are the ones who can go room to room asking their teammates what they’re working on and what they need help with. This means they also have to be adept at collecting a massive amount of information and processing it to determine what is important, what might be important, and what is just set dressing.

Detectives are often great puzzle-solvers. They can take fragments of a puzzle, visualize how the puzzle will be solved, and figure out what pieces are still missing to complete the puzzle. They don’t necessarily solve the puzzle, but they can figure out if the puzzle is matching, referencing, or physical.

On top of this, great Detectives are also great multi-taskers. Not only will they be communicating with every player in the game and passing information back and forth, they will also need to solve their own set of puzzles at the same time.

Detectives are not afraid to ask for help. Good leaders know that you can’t always solve everything on your own. Recognizing your own strengths and weaknesses and asking for help is what can propel you from an okay Detective to a great one.

The greatest downfall of a Detective that I have noticed is that they don’t communicate well. Sometimes another player will tell them they are missing something, and though the Detective hears, they don’t pass along that information to the other players in the game. Detectives must act as a telephone line between the rooms.

Another great downfall is when a Detective is too focused on their own puzzles to offer assistance to the rest of the players. Too often I have seen a player locked in a room asking for help with a puzzle, only to have the Detective tell them to wait while they work on their own puzzle (often which can’t be solved without first helping the other player.) Sometimes they must take a step back to help others before their own puzzles start to make sense.

Though the Detective’s role is a demanding one, there is nothing quite like the satisfaction of knowing you helped your team to the best of your ability. There is nothing quite like seeing the pride and accomplishment on Detectives’ faces after they successfully helped their team escape.

The skills of a Detective extend beyond the walls of an escape room. Detectives will share many similar traits to effective leaders and managers. Teambuilding in an escape room can help identify the strengths and shortcomings of your employees while providing a fun, exciting, and new way to bring your team closer. That’s why Cross Roads Escape Games offers teambuilding experiences for company outings, celebrations, and workshops. To learn more about teambuilding at Cross Roads Escape Games, check out this blog, or our team building page.

What do you think makes a great Detective in The Hex Room? Leave us a comment on our blog, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, or Instagram to let us know what leadership means to you.

Geoff Durham
Game Master, Manager
Cross Roads Escape Games