Online Escape rooms

[Tyzz]

Has anyone tried them? Any tips / recommendations.
We've done a few RL escape rooms as a family. It needs to be playable in different locations as DC are each stuck on their own in different places and I thought this might be a step up from a zoom quiz.

Watching with interest...

I'm looking at this one

My googling research seems to find two kinds of online games.
One with a guide, a real person that is on a site somewhere and you book an hour slot. The other where you buy the access and play when you like.

I’ve done one from that company. It was the online version and I thought it was really good. We were all in different locations and set up teams separately so we could all look at the clues on one screen and talk to each other on another. Took about 1.15hours and was cleverly done.

So you used two devices per person? That sounds like a good idea.

Like you, @Tyzz my family have done a few escape rooms (2 adults, 2 older teens).

We tried a couple of online ones in the big lockdown & didn't enjoy them. The clues were challenging but there was far more written information to take in than in a real room, & I think we all got fed up with it. When you're locked in a themed room it focuses the mind. We got distracted & bored with the online one, & I admit to giving up at one point to do a suduko in the paper!

I think the lack of props in the online version also made it less fun. Things like maps, keys, jigsaws etc in a real room make it more entertaining, & props provide different types of clues that suit our different problem-solving skills better.

I don't know, maybe we picked the wrong website (sorry, can't remember what it was now), but it was disappointing. Maybe try a cheap virtual room & see how you go?

However, thanks for the thread, I'm putting Escape Room on my list of nice things to do when this is over!

Aha, just seen your bit about having a guide. We certainly didn't do that, maybe that's where we went wrong?

Sounds like a guide might give you a better experience.

Not quite online but I found a few Enola Holmes one that you print out and we're really enjoying it

I did one in a group and didn’t find it as engaging as a real one. We used 2 devices per person, one to be on zoom another to do the room. What I’ve enjoyed more is printable at home escape rooms (or you can buy them like a board game) - but if it’s printable everyone could print their own copy and have it in front of them while on a zoom call?

@KenAdams

Not quite online but I found a few Enola Holmes one that you print out and we're really enjoying it

Yea this was the one I did too, bonus it was free! But not as challenging as real life escape rooms I’ve done.

If you visit escapethereview.com and filter by “digital games” you’ll be able to see all the different online escape rooms from all the companies, and the reviews they’ve had. They also list a lot of free ones, some of which were actually better than some of the paid for games!

I think the lack of props in the online version also made it less fun. Things like maps, keys, jigsaws etc in a real room make it more entertaining, & props provide different types of clues that suit our different problem-solving skills better.

I think that will be us. There's nothing like that frenzy of looking for keys in obscure places.
The guided ones are significantly more expensive, akin to the real thing so about £60ish.

So I think we will start cheap and work up. Thanks for that link @Myneighboursnorlax some potential on there.

Alas DC don't have printers (they both live and work in different towns) and making things is a big no no in this family!

Thanks for this thread.

On the back of it DH and I have just completed the Cyphstress. Really enjoyed it

@TakeMeToYourLiar thank you for the recommendation- we did it tonight and loved it!

We've enjoyed the Clue HQ ones.