The Escape Game – Remote Escapes
Since the start of the quarantine, my girlfriends and I have started doing weekly happy hours via Zoom that have become one of the most critical ways I’ve preserved my sanity. Then, a couple of weeks ago, we learned about The Escape Game – Remote Escapes and were beyond excited to try out our first virtual escape room. Several of us in my friend group, coincidentally had visited The Escape Game for an actual escape room experience at their location at The Battery in Atlanta. We did not escape, but had a great time doing it!
That said, we had A TON of questions about how the virtual escape room would work. Would the games be easier? Would we all be able to fully participate? Really, just was it worth the experience doing a virtual escape room versus the live experience. Pretty much, this experience was completely opposite what we’d imagined.
How does a virtual escape game work?
We ended up doing an adventure called Ruins: Forbidden Treasure. This is actually a real room at The Escape Game’s Nashville location and our virtual team would include members of the staff of that location. I can’t speak for all, but a virtual escape game at theescapegame.com is played much in the same way as a physical escape game, except that it is literally just done remotely.
Three to seven players connect to each other and a Host through Zoom. Our host was amazing and after chatting with us at the start of the game, remained present to give us hints as requested throughout the game. Note: Just like in a live escape room, you only get 3 hints, so use them wisely!
We started out watching a fun video giving us a background of the room we were exploring. It wasn’t the most crucial detail to the experience, but a fun way to kick off the fun.
The Gaming Guide
The biggest surprise was that the room was actually a real escape room you’d find at a live escape room experience. Ruins: Forbidden Treasure is a real room at The Escape Game’s Nashville location. However, since you are not there yourself, a Gaming Guide – as in, a real person – is assigned to each group. This person is located in the physical room and streams a live camera feed to allow players to explore the room and gather clues. Our guide gave us an overview of the room and we could direct her in any way throughout the experience.
Items that we needed to explore in a little more detail would appear as a scanned diagram in our virtual “dashboard” once we discovered them. A digital dashboard with 360 images is also available for further clues to escape and to track your progress. This extra touch really made us feel like part of the experience.
Like the live escape room experience, you will have 60 minutes to figure out the clues and escape.
Did we make it out?
With 4 minutes and 21 seconds to spare!
Honestly, as much as I miss being able to spend time with friends at a live escape room, the virtual experience is still a really fun alternative. Players can play from anywhere, as long as they can connect through Zoom. Even if they are thousands of miles apart, friends and family can still come together to play.
How to Book a Remote Adventure at The Escape Game
First, visit TheEscapeGame.com and choose a time to book your escape room. Since you are truly interacting with real staff and using a physical room, there are a limited number of games that can be played in each time slot.
All times listed on the website are in the Central time zone. You can book a future date on the website and will receive an email with the Zoom link to be able to enter the room. Simply share this link and instructions with others on your team so everyone can join.
Even when we can’t be together, virtual escape rooms are a great way to connect with friends and family and have fun at the same time!
Thanks a lot for explaining the basics of a virtual escape room here. I’ve always wondered how an escape room like this worked, and you’ve explained everything to me here. I appreciate that a lot.