How to Beat an Escape Room: A Beginner's Guide
First escape room? You do not need to be a genius, you need a method. After a decade of building and running rooms, the same handful of habits separate the groups that escape from the groups that run out of time. Here is exactly what to do, and the mistakes to avoid.
To beat an escape room: search everything first, communicate constantly (say every clue out loud), divide the room into zones, keep solved and unsolved items in separate piles, solve the puzzle before you try a lock (never guess random codes), don't overthink it (try the obvious answer first), watch the clock, and ask for a hint if you are stuck for more than a few minutes. Most first-time groups improve dramatically just by talking more and searching harder.
Ten strategies that actually work
1. Search everything, first
Before you touch a single lock, search the room. Look under, over, behind and inside furniture; check drawers, books, picture frames, cushions and skirting boards. You never need to force or break anything, good rooms hide clues cleverly, not violently. Most of what you need is hidden in plain sight, and a thorough first sweep saves you fifteen wasted minutes later.
2. Talk constantly
Escape rooms are won on communication. Say everything you find out loud, even the things that seem useless, because the odd number scrawled on a wall is often the exact code someone across the room needs. Good communication on its own can halve a group's time.
3. Divide and conquer
Don't all crowd the same drawer. Split the room into zones and take one area each, then regroup as clues start to connect. It is inefficient for five people to examine the same object, and fresh eyes on a stuck puzzle beat a crowd staring at one lock.
4. Keep your clues organised
Put everything you find in one place the whole group can see, and separate what you have used from what you have not. A pile of solved items next to a pile of still-to-use items stops you re-solving the same puzzle twice and losing track of what is left.
5. One puzzle feeds one lock
Codes are almost never just lying in the open. If you are standing at a four-digit lock, there is a puzzle somewhere that produces those four digits, go and find it rather than trying random numbers. Guessing burns time and teaches you nothing.
6. Don't overthink it
Escape rooms are designed to be beaten by an ordinary group, so try the obvious answer first. If a clue looks like it means turn the third dial to seven, it probably does. Save the wild lateral leaps for when the simple reading genuinely does not work.
7. Watch the clock and keep moving
Put someone loosely in charge of the time. If a puzzle will not give, park it and move to another, momentum matters more than finishing things in order. A stuck team standing still is the clock's best friend, so always keep a thread going.
8. Ask for hints
Hints exist to keep the game fun, not to mark you down. If you have been stuck for more than three to five minutes, ask. A small nudge is far better than running out of time three puzzles from the end, and plenty of groups that escape have taken hints along the way.
9. Listen to the briefing
Your game master's introduction is not just safety patter. It tells you what is in play and what is not (so you do not waste ten minutes on the light fitting), how to work any unfamiliar locks, and how to call for a hint. Pay attention, it usually contains a clue or two as well.
10. Bring the right number of people
Bigger is not better. The sweet spot for most rooms is around four; pack in six and someone ends up watching rather than solving. If you have a big group, split across rooms and race each other rather than crowding into one.
Common beginner mistakes
Nearly every group that runs out of time makes at least one of these: crowding around a single puzzle, keeping finds to themselves instead of calling them out, forcing or dismantling props, trying random codes on locks, tuning out during the briefing, refusing to ask for hints, and cramming too many people into one room. Avoid those and you are most of the way there.
Pick the right first room
Start with a not-scary, medium-difficulty room that rewards teamwork. At Rush, good first games are The Nine-Nine, Cluemanji and Treasure Island. When you are ready to level up, our hardest are Da Vinci Down Under and Mission:Possible. Players under 16 play with a participating adult.
See all 16 rooms and pick yours →
Frequently asked questions
- Can beginners actually escape an escape room?
- Yes. Rooms are designed to be beaten by an ordinary group, and hints are there if you need them. Search hard, talk constantly, and ask for a nudge when you are stuck.
- How many hints can we ask for?
- As many as you need. Hints keep the game fun rather than penalising you, and most groups take a few. If you are stuck for more than a few minutes, ask.
- What is the best group size?
- Around four for most rooms. Rooms hold 2 to 6 players; bigger groups can split across rooms and compete.
- What happens if we don't escape in time?
- Plenty of groups do not finish their first room, and it is still a great hour. Your game master will walk you through how the ending worked, and you will do better next time.
- Do we need to be good at anything in particular?
- No outside knowledge is needed, the puzzles are self-contained. A mix of people who search well, think logically and stay calm is all it takes.