Alcatraz

Clueology Escape Rooms

2/3/2019

I was locked in a cell with one other person, my fellow jail mates were in pairs in the two cells beside us.  I was not sure what I did to get there, but it quickly became clear that in order to escape from Alcatraz we were going to have to work together to open our cell doors, then override the electrical system to break out.  The warden’s break was only sixty minutes so time was of the essence.  If we weren’t successful well…. 

I ventured out with a MeetUp group to check out the Clueology Escape Rooms is in Loveland, Colorado.  I have socialized with this group often and over the years many of us have become good friends.  We hike, bike, and kayak together in the summer, however winters are more about concerts, wine tasting, or dinner and a movie, but we’re always looking for something new to do.  We decided an escape room could be interesting so we selected Alcatraz, one of Clueology’s four escape rooms.  

The owners greeted our group at the door, asked if there was any one who hadn’t played before, then explained the basic rules of the game.  We had an hour to escape and if we got stuck our only hope was to find cigarettes hidden in our cells that could be used to buy clues, once a clue was requested they would tell us how many cigarettes it was going to cost.  However there was also an underlying challenge, the person with the most cigarettes at the end of the game would get a prize, so you might not want to advertise how many you had found if you could avoid it.  Those that had played escape games before said communication was key.  If you find something yell it out.  Colors, patterns, items, anything you saw might help someone on the other side of the room.  Off we went to voluntarily be locked into a jail cell to see if we could solve the fifteen puzzles to open the cell doors and find a way out of the cell block.

 

Our cell had a mop with a magnet in the middle, once you figured that out you could reach through the bars across the room to snatch the keys hanging on the other side of the room. The keys weren’t for the cell doors, but rather to items inside the cells that contained other puzzles to solve that would open the cell doors.  For example, figuring out that filling a water jug would rise a floating key to the top of a sealed jug.  The water, however, was dripping on the other side of the room so we needed a plan to get it through the three cells from one side of the room to the other.  Any little clue might be the missing link for another puzzle, noticing and sharing colors and patterns, or reading posters and other things hanging on the walls, was the key to then using the information to figure out combinations to locks without keys.  Communication and cooperation was the name of the game, however communicating wasn’t always easy with people often talking over one another. 

I really enjoyed the puzzles in the cell I was in, once we were out of our cell it was primarily using keys and combinations to open locks, which I found to be repetitive and not very creative. However we were on a quest to figure out how to open the lockers that held clues to the combination we needed to override the electrical system and win the game.  It was much easier working with just your cellmate, once we were all out of the cells and crossing paths in the cellblock it seemed like chaos.

The one time, right answer, puzzle solutions are the underlying building blocks of escape rooms which raises the question as to whether they are really a series of puzzles, or a game?   In his concluding synthesis of Teacher Pioneers: Visions From the Edge of the Map (2016), Kalir refers to games as an activity with different outcomes.  Unlike puzzles there is no one right answer, the dynamic of interaction with others opens the door to a different path each time the game is played.

Sharon Boller and Karl Kapp define games and provide an overview of the language of games in their book Play to Learn (2017).  They introduce Core Dynamics as an integral part of games, the what of the game, the thing the players must do to win, or accomplish the goal.  Core dynamics contribute to how engaging it is and how well it is received.  Is there a race to finish, an exploration, outwitting of an opponent, collecting more of something than anyone else, or a rescue, or escape like we find in the escape room?  When defining a game Boller and Kapp note that it will have

• A goal
• Challenge(s)
• Rules that guide achievement and interaction with other players and/or the environment
• A feedback mechanism
• A quantifiable outcome
• It usually creates an emotional reaction in the players

They also note that although many games include an element of competition, competition is not a defining factor, many games require cooperation between the players.  They also note that in some environments the element of cooperation, rather than competition, is necessary to most effectively to solve the problem, or accomplish the task.  

An escape room definitely requires cooperation and communication.  This particular escape room also included an element of competition with the introduction of the cigarettes.  If the team needed a clue were you going to be the first one to give up your valuable cigarettes?  Were you a team player?  Would you have been more of a team player if it were a real life or death situation, or was it easier to hold on to your cigarettes since you knew it really didn’t matter if you got out within the allotted time, and there was a prize waiting if you had more cigarettes than your teammates?

Of course knowing you really aren’t in danger, and even if time runs out life will go on, reduces the sense of urgency for some players, however it is interesting to see the even the subtle changes in personalities as the clock ticks down.  At one point I had an object in my hand but before I could make myself heard someone had called for a clue, the clue pointed directly to what I was holding in my hand, which meant we had unnecessarily given up some cigarettes.  But should I really care, I still had mine in my pocket?!

So I decided escape room is a puzzle and a game, a combination of events creating a unique experience.  Would I play again? Absolutely!  My question at this point is could the escape room format be applied to the learning environment?  Is there a way to build a semester long quest type game where puzzles exercise recall skills.  A well designed game incorporates other elements to increase motivation to play, thereby increasing engagement and the opportunity for transfer to long-term memory.  If so, one well designed game might provide teachers with a homework tool that would span the life of the subject being taught, thereby helping with the time element that can hinder inclusion of game elements in the classroom.

Resources: 

Boller, S., & Kapp, K. M. (2017).  Play to learn: Everything you need to know about designing effective learning games. Alexandria, VA: ATD Press.

Teacher pioneers: Visions from the edge of the map. (2017). Pittsburgh, PA: Carnegie Mellon/ETC Press.