Escape room clues

[Wonderwoman1008]

Hello!

I've brought my DP tickets for an escape room as he has always wanted to do one, but I want to give him some clues for him to work out as to what is it instead of just giving him the tickets.

Any ideas?

Thank you!

I’d suggest you work backwards from the gift/tickets. So put them in a box with a combination padlock that he has to figure out a combination for.

Then put that box into a hiding place (maybe a specific drawer)

Create a clue to reveal the hiding place. An easy one is to print out a maze and write out a message like “LOOKINTHEBOTTOMDRAWEROFTHEBUREAU” In block letters along the correct maze path with random words and letters along other paths.

You could write a number on the back of a photo or picture and cut it up. He has to make up the jigsaw to find a number. If the photo is of a book, it could be a double clue to look in a book on your bookshelf and find another clue inside.

Maybe put the jigsaw pieces inside balloons and wrap those in a box with a pin in a smaller box inside

@thelegohooverer amazing ideas. Thank you!

Just shout if you need more. I love doing this kind of thing with my dc.

@thelegohooverer ooh yes please, the more ideas the merrier 😀

Okay!

This one is a more complex clue. You have a sheet of paper with numbers all over it. You have a number of other sheets of paper with pictures of people (or places, or things) and a hole punched out. If you put the picture over the numbers sheet, one particular number will show through the hole - this being the number for the combination lock. You then need a third clue to indicate which of the pictures is the correct one.
I really like this kind of thing because even when they’ve found all the parts, they still have to figure out what to actually do with them.

If you have one of those invisible ink pens with the light (my dc got them with diary sets in Smiggle) you could have a clue card that says something like “read between the lines” or “shed some light on the matter” and on the back a map or clue to a drawer where the pen is hidden.

You can include a coded message that he needs to decipher. The picture is a good example of a really simple one (you probably want clues he can solve quickly or else you’ll get no help on Christmas Day.

Ime what separates an escape room from a treasure hunt is that even when you’ve found all the hidden clues you still have to bring them together and figure out what to do.

You could make this easier on yourself and just buy a puzzle box or cryptex (Amazon) or try making your own instructables

Pinterest has some great ideas.