help

This is a virtual escape room. If you have been through an escape room before, you will find some of this familiar. But if you haven’t, the goal of the game is to escape by finding clues and solving puzzles. Here’s what to do:

PASSWORDS ARE KEY

If you want to escape, you’ll need to unlock some doors. With this virtual escape room, each is lock is opened with a password. This is a single, alpha-numeric password with no capital letters or spaces.

For example, if your clues are the letter “G” and the word “Washington”, you would type the password “gwashington”. These passwords have no special characters – only numbers and/or letters.

Enter a password into the field when prompted to unlock further areas. Once you have unlocked a page, you will not have to unlock it again – an “unlock button will simply lead you into the previously unlocked page. If you unlock all the doors, you will escape!

 SEARCH FOR CLUES

Clues are everywhere. Be aware that some clues will only make sense later..

Are there red herrings?

The game will not deliberately send you on a wild goose chase. That being said, it can be hard to judge what elements players will find significant.

Apply this general rule: if something is made to appear significant, it is probably a clue – but sometimes a lamp is just a lamp.

ASSEMBLE THE pieces

Many clues may only be partial, and you’ll have to combine them with other ones you find later.

Have a pencil and paper handy to take notes and keep track of what locks need to be opened and what clues you have.

Because you may have to retrace your steps, many web pages open in a new tab. Keep these tabs open in your browser so that you can return to them easily.

talk it out

It’s a good idea to think out loud. Share what you find – it may not make sense to you, but could spark ideas with your teammates.

In general, an escape room is a lively discussion in many different directions at once. Because of the nature of the action, it’s a good strategy before you begin to elect one team member to be the captain – someone who will keep track of what needs to be solved. This person won’t solve as many puzzles, but will keep a high-level view of the action and help direct teammates’ efforts toward goals.