What is an Escape Room?

Escape Rooms are typically played in-person as a team of players. The players are "locked" in a room and must solve a series of challenges in order to find a way to escape. Challenges can include:

• Puzzles

• Riddles

• Hidden objects

• Brain teasers

• Manipulative puzzle boxes

• And more!

These challenges usually lead to codes needed to unlock boxes, doors, and drawers inside the room, giving you access to more parts of the game, until you are able to open the final door.

What is a Virtual Escape Room?

Our Virtual Escape Rooms still involve the completion of challenges in the form of puzzles, riddles, and more. However, since they are played online, there are several differences compared to in-person Escape Rooms:

• You play the Virtual Escape Room online on the computer

  • They CANNOT be played on a tablet or phone because of the occasional need to use keyboard buttons, such as the arrow keys or space bar

• They are designed for single-person play

  • Several people can still play together on a single device to each help solve the puzzles if you want!

• You are limited in how much you can manipulate items and surroundings

• Some challenges can involve mini video games

• The goal of the Virtual Escape Rooms is not always to escape a room. Sometimes the goal is to defeat an enemy, find a treasure, or even diffuse a bomb!

• Challenges don't always lead to codes needed to unlock a box. Sometimes they are used to gain access to other areas or to interact with characters in the game.

Controls

Mouse

• The mouse is your main control for play. It is used to:

  • Activate objects

  • Pick things up

  • Drag and drop items

  • Navigate to other areas

• Click everywhere! You never know what you might find!

• If at any point the mouse does not work with the game, click on the gray bar area to the right of the stop sign and then try again.

Navigation Arrows

• Colored arrows found in the left and/or right bottom corners of the screen

• Used to navigate to other areas of the "room" or to navigate back to the previous screen

• Can often disappear if something is activated or if something needs to be completed before continuing

• When a new area is unlocked, a new arrow will appear so you can move back and forth

Backpack

• Items can be picked up to be used in puzzles and challenges

• When you pick something up, it will appear in the backpack

• The backpack appears as a white tab at the bottom of the screen

• To open it, click on the tab. You will see your currently available items. To put the backpack away, click anywhere on the backpack again.

• To take items out of the backpack to use them, open the backpack and click on the item. If nothing happens, then that item can't be used at that location.

• Some items, once taken out of the backpack, then follow your mouse in order for you to use them. If you want to put them back in the backpack, just click with the mouse again.

• Some of the games don't have a backpack. If so, then any items picked up will automatically appear at the challenge they're needed for.

Keyboard

• Several of the Virtual Escape Rooms have mini-games used as challenges and the keyboard keys will be needed. For example, you may need the arrow keys to move a character through a maze, or you'll need to press the space bar to make your character jump.

• This is why most of these games can't be used on a tablet or phone. They must be played on the computer in order to use these controls.

• If at any point a keyboard key does not work with the game when you need to use it, click on the gray bar area to the right of the stop sign and then try again.