Is this an important clue, or is it just a red herring? Sometimes it’s hard to tell in an escape room. Often, the detailed sets are filled with things that look important, placed in obvious locations or arranged in obvious patterns. Some of these items are pieces of a puzzle. Others are just part of the set. Once in a while, you’ll find something that looks a little too conspicuous to just be decoration, but you can’t make it work with a puzzle. Is it a clue? It might be. It might also be there to distract you from the real clue.
Riddles without red herrings
What is a red herring?
A red herring is something that is designed to mislead you from the important things. The goal is to make you come to one conclusion when the real answer is something else. It’s a common tool in mystery stories, where authors try to leave clues that make readers think someone else is the criminal. In stories, red herrings can add a layer of depth and deception. When used well, the false leads and misinterpreted clues can build up to a big reveal at the end of the story.
It’s important to note that a wrong answer to a question (such as “What is the murder weapon?”) is not necessarily a red herring. If you think that a knife was the weapon when the correct weapon was an axe, the knife is not a red herring. The defining characteristic is the deception. It only counts if you were given evidence pointing to the knife. Details like blood on the blade or an unknown fingerprint could be used to sell the idea that the knife was used, while the axe was wiped clean.
How are they used in escape rooms?
While escape rooms usually have stories, they aren’t story-focused like mystery novels or movies. For example, unless finding the suspect is part of a puzzle, there aren’t many reasons to trick you into thinking someone else committed a crime. You’re more likely to find a puzzle-related red herring than a story-related one. There are story-heavy escape rooms, but even they aren’t likely to trick players where the plot is concerned.
The most common use of red herrings in escape rooms is a false solution to a puzzle. Players work through a puzzle and come to a logical conclusion, only to find that their answer was wrong in some way. Players might have solved it correctly but were misled in how to use the answer. The real answer might be hidden behind another sneaky clue. Whatever the case, as the clock ticks down, they have to try again to get the right answer.
We say it’s “the most common,” but that doesn’t actually mean it happens a lot. Escape rooms are designed in a way that’s more like video games than novels or movies. Red herrings aren’t as fun in this context. Escape room venues design puzzles with solutions, not mysteries with false leads. When players have a limited amount of time, even if the time limit is 2 hours, you can’t waste a moment. Most games aren’t going to send players down dead ends when they could be solving more puzzles instead.
Does The Escape Effect use red herrings?
The short answer: no.
The longer answer: The Escape Effect doesn’t try to mislead players into thinking that a wrong answer is correct. We want players to naturally find the solutions to our puzzles. Adding in red herrings, especially when players have a limited amount of time, isn’t our style. The last thing we want is a frustrated group that had every logical reason to think their answer was correct, only to find out that it wasn’t.
We do have wrong answers in our escape rooms. After all, it’s not much of a puzzle if the only thing you might find is the exact thing you need! Some of our puzzles require players to find specific things, and they’re given clues to identify them. That sort of puzzle plays a big role in Fright Before Your Eyes and Sherlock Studies. There are wrong items around, but solving the puzzles will reveal which one is correct.
Remember: it’s not a red herring if you get the answer wrong. That’s just part of the game. If you got it wrong, step back and try it again!
Fun without frustration
Now you know we don’t put red herrings in our games, it’s time to get yours booked and let the fun begin!
