The Psychology of #Escape Room #Melbourne. 70 mins to solve a live #puzzle #game #ERM [#geekgirl]
Melbourne’s original live puzzle game. You have 70 minutes to unravel the mystery of a hidden room, working as a team of 2-6 to solve a variety of quirky and inventive puzzles to escape.
The Psychology of an Escape Room; How To Work Together and Win
Escape rooms are an adventure type game, in which you and a group of others are ‘trapped’ in a room and need to use the elements within the room to gather clues and escape within a set time limit. Some of the newer escape rooms are so state of the art you will actually feel like you are trapped and genuinely try your best to escape!
“An escape room is really no different to any other sort of enjoyable problem solving activity, but with the added benefit of a sense of immersion that you’ll never get from anything that’s not real-world and interactive” says Ali Cheetham, owner of an escape room in Melbourne.
“Being locked in and having a time limit also provides a sense of excitement and urgency that other games often don’t have.”
Sound like your kind of thing? Before you go running towards your nearest escape room, there are a few things you should know.
Escape rooms are built to test you and raise your adrenaline levels, so instead of freaking out when your heart starts beating you should use this energy. Be aware that some others in your group might be more or less panicked than you and some may even find it scary. The escape rooms are built to test everyone; they create faux scenarios that anyone would reasonably be afraid in if it were real life.
So if you ever have the pleasure of finding yourself in an escape room with a group of others you need to be conscious of this. Expect to be a little bit scared and expect that others are going to be feeling the same. But again remember that it’s only a game! Ginger Flesher owns the Escape Room Live in D.C and claims that “it’s hilarious to see how different groups handle the pressure”.
Escape rooms create situations that aren’t exactly the norm, thus your group members aren’t going to act in ways you’ve ever seen the act before. This might throw you off but you should try to remember that it’s all a game in the end, laugh at yourself and have fun with your group members. As the Washington posts says in it’s review of escape rooms, “the vibe is meant to be fun and cozy”.
The way to win one over on your escape room is to work together. They’re not known as the ultimate team building exercise for nothing. You will find it easiest to escape when you work in a group and use all the brainpower at your disposal. Get the high fives and team chants going, cheer on your group members for clever thinking and have fun! Choose a leader, communicate and set some goals. Remember to reward yourself and team members when you escape (eventually).
“Our brains are wired to look for patterns and meaning,” says Cheetham. “There’s a very basic enjoyment that comes from finding new information and making it fit together in a meaningful way.” So gratify your need to problem solve and use it to your group’s advantage.
Website: http://www.escaperoom.com.au/