Last Friday, I held an escape room program for teens at the library. It was held afterhours at the library from 6-8 p.m. so we could use one of the three rooms currently available to us. (FYI: Our library is currently under construction as we remodel and expand from a one-floor to a two-floor library. We’re in the basement while the work is done above us.)
Six teens participated, which is a good number considering the smaller space I had and the fact that I’ve never done this before. They easily split up into two teams. While one team was in one room doing the escape room, the other team was eating pizza, playing board games I set out, and browsing the Internet on the public computers.
The teens weren’t technically locked into the room. Because it was just myself, and I needed to keep an eye on all the teens, I crossed ropes across the doorway and connected them using a combination lock and a padlock. They needed to unlock both in order to “escape.” This allowed me to keep an eye on those in the escape room—and offer clues if I saw that they were way off course—and allowed me to keep an eye of those in the other room.
I gave the teams 45 minutes to escape. If both teams were unable to escape in that time, we would determine the winner by how far along they got. Throughout the time, and if I saw them struggling, I offered to give them clues in exchange for minutes added to their time. Both teams had additional time added.
I did not allow the teens to have their phones on them while they were in the escape room.
To escape, teams had to follow two paths. One started with the phrase “We’re just ALONG FOR THE RIDE,” and the other with the phrase, “You must FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS.”
We’re just ALONG FOR THE RIDE
Using the laptop set out with strict instructions that only the card catalog could be used, teens had to find Sarah Dessen’s Along for the Ride.
Taped to the back was a card with three holes and the number 131. When placed on page 131, the phrase “I love coffee” appeared.
Two random coffee cups were placed around the room filled halfway with cola. At the bottom, one said “Oops, wrong one” while the other had the word puzzle “BLpigANKpigET”.
They had to find the two stuffed pigs wrapped in a blanket. In the backpack of one was the riddle from the Hobbit about time
Behind one of the clocks was a cut up picture of the stove that is part of our dollhouse.
In the stove was a key to a cashbox placed randomly in the room.
In the cashbox was some bonus candy and pictures of hands spelling out “Batman” in sign language. There was a sign language poster handing in the room as well. (One teen didn’t even need to look at the poster!)
In one of the Batman graphic novels was the code to the combination lock.
You must FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS
High on each of the four walls was a number. Read in directional NSEW, the numbers were 1352.
That code opened up a combination lock on a mailbox. In the mailbox was a utility knife, one that matches a picture on a box placed randomly in the room. The box could only be opened with that knife.
In the box was shredded newspaper and a picture of a telephone. Buried in the box was 7 Lego pieces with numbers written on them. The idea was to put them in the order of the library’s phone number. When put in the correct order, the back of the pieces read “I do solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”
Below the Harry Potter books was a sign that said “Search directly behind you.”
In a small crevice located on the cinderblock wall was a folded piece of paper that had a summary of the book The Maze Runner in emojis.
Tape in the book was the key to the padlock on the door.
One team did figure out all the clues in the time period and was able to escape. The other team had almost reached the Maze Runner emoji clue. I gave all the members of the winning team a free book.
I would call this program a success. It ended exactly on time, and I think the clues were right in the middle of being too easy and too hard. As for budget, I only had to buy the three locks and the mailbox, plus the frozen pizzas and beverages.
