In the Glimcher Tech & Design Hub at Shady Side Academy we are always looking for ways to collaborate with faculty to create robust, interdisciplinary projects that showcase our amazing students.  To that end, students in the Projects in Tech & Design course were tasked with creating the framework for an Escape Room that could pull ideas and content from a variety of sources around campus. 

Ultimately, two rooms would be created [edit:  it changed to three rooms] joined by a small tunnel that would be accessible once specific clues were found and puzzles were solved.

Students brainstormed material choices as one of the goals for the Escape Room was to be modular (easily adjusted for alternative themes and configurations),  and transportable.

Ultimately they decided to frame in 2x3 lumber and utilize Luan for the walls to keep the weight of the panels down to a minimum. 

At the end of Term 1, I was proofreading my advisee's comments when I came across their English teacher's comment mentioning their upcoming module on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  This presented a perfect opportunity for a possible theme and collaboration with the English Department at Shady Side Academy.  I met with the faculty teaching the module and they seemed excited about the collaboration.

The initial brainstorming session led to this rough document for students taking Foundations II at Shady Side Academy.

I brought the theme proposal to Term 2's Project in Tech & Design students and they supported the idea.  After some lively brainstorming, we came up with two options to support the theme:  A traditional Escape Room that would consist of three rooms: Dr. Jekyll's study, Mr. Hyde's study, and a shared laboratory space which would be the exit to the Escape Room.   Team A would start in Dr. Jekyll's study while Team B would start in Mr. Hyde's.  Together, they would work collaboratively to meet each other in the Laboratory and Escape the Room.

However, another option was posed stemmed from the initial discussion the English Faculty had regarding the theme.

Team A would be operating as Dr. Jekyll's psyche and Team B would be operating as Mr. Hyde's psyche.   Each psyche/group would have the option to escape their respective rooms with the result of that dominant personality winning (or losing depending on your perspective).  If, however, the two psyches decide to work together Dr. Jekyll's pyschosis is cured and he Escapes his own Mind Prison whole!   Those English faculty are DEEP!

As of this moment, the Projects in Tech & Design students have not chosen which way they want to direct the narrative and puzzles, but I can tell they were VERY intrigued by the second option!

A number of students in different classes have come forward with puzzle themes and projects.  I will list an overview of them here as they are received broken down by class.  Be aware that most are standalone puzzles or mechanics designed to leverage another puzzle.  Once we develop the narrative a bit more we will begin weaving the puzzles into the experience.

Advanced Physics

Toggle Switch Matrix

The user will collect clue from the escape room.  From there they will sort through the correct and incorrect clues, and test them.  The trigger itself is a 6x6 system of triggers.  From the clues the user finds, they will draw a rough picture.

Enigma machine

For my trigger, I am going to borrow the concept of the enigma machine. It is going to have a number pad using mechanical keyboard switches and sends the inputs to a plugboard, and then signal would send through the plugboard and turn on the light underneath a certain number like it is on the original machine. The idea of adding another password wheel so that the numbers could be further scrambled is under debate using a 9 point selector switch. It could also be combinations of multiple selector switches. The way the clue is going to work is going to be a combination of two numbers for each group. The first number is the number you are supposed to press, and the second number is going to be the number of letter that is resting on the phone keyboard. e.g. 32 Means the second letter uner number 3 which is E. All it really does is actually getting any sort of numeric input, and it is going to output scrambled numbers. The case is going to be 3D printed.

Chessboard Puzzle

For my trigger I plan on using RFID chips and readers to create an 'assortment' trigger. The user must assort chess pieces in a specific pattern. This pattern will be according to some other part of the escape room. For example, a safe might contain a piece of laminated paper displaying an empty chess set. In some of the square are the numbers 1, 2, 3, etc. Then, another piece of paper found in the safe (or somewhere else) outlines the code for the chess pieces (i.e. 1-P, 2-Q, 3-R) denoting where the pieces go. If the RFID chips on the underside of the chess pieces match their respective readers according to the pre-determined location, then some output will occur (such as revealing a code to a safe for someone else's trigger).  For this trigger, there will be 10 RFID chips attached underneath 10 different chess pieces. The 10 readers will be attached underneath the chessboard (the thinner the board the better for the RFID to work).

Latin

Coming Soon

Projects

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