There’s a fine line between a fun challenge and a frustrating experience. As puzzle-themed activities, escape rooms have to walk that line carefully. This concept of balance is known as “flow.” If the game is too easy, people get bored. If it’s too difficult, they get annoyed. We’ve talked about some of the unexpected challenges in escape rooms before. The Escape Effect works hard to ensure that our games are balanced: our hardest escape rooms are tricky but still fun, with puzzles that our players can follow logically. When done well, escape rooms can become pretty addictive!
The question is, what makes for the hardest escape rooms? What takes a game over the line between fun and into frustrating?
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Abstract clues
When we design escape rooms, we try to build the puzzles and clues in a way that makes sense. Some clues are intended to be more obvious than others. The ones that we hide are meant to be subtle, but still findable. After all, locating the clue is only part of the equation; the other half is solving the puzzle.
The design of the clue is also important. Once the players have it in hand, they need to be able to determine what puzzle it goes to. It could have details that match an environmental puzzle or a design that leads them to a particular combination lock. Whatever the case, it should be easy enough to tell what it matches.
The hardest escape rooms tend to get the balance wrong. If the clue is hidden too well, players will spend so long finding them that they won’t get through all of the puzzles. If it’s too abstract, it’ll be hard to figure out how the clue is meant to be used, and can end in frustration.
Confusing flow
The most common description of game flow that you’re likely to hear, for escape rooms, is “linear” or “non-linear.” A linear game is designed to lead players from one puzzle to the next. A non-linear game will have branching points where multiple puzzles can be solved in any order, though they’ll typically converge at before the end.
Linear escape rooms are very common, since it’s easier to make a predictable and satisfying flow. At Odds With The Gods and Fright Before Your Eyes are non-linear games, designed to let people split up and reunite at different points, before gathering for the finale.
Escape rooms that get this flow wrong can quickly become confusing. Players are left unsure if they’re supposed to solve one puzzle before tackling another. When the next step is unclear, the game stops being fun. A confusing game flow makes for the hardest escape rooms. Even people who love challenges don’t want to feel lost in the middle of the game.
Bizarre logic
If you play a lot of video games, especially games with puzzle elements, you may have heard of “video game logic.” This phrase refers to puzzles that only make sense because they’re in a video game. The pieces that need to come together to solve it are just too strange to make sense in reality.
Some of the hardest escape rooms are difficult to solve because they fall into the trap of using video game logic. They expect players to make the most bizarre connections in order to figure out the answer to a puzzle. The game might even want the players to do something that isn’t mentioned anywhere.
When this kind of logic is used in a game, it can become problematic. Players want good, challenging puzzles with rules that make sense, even if they need to work for the solutions. However, if weird logic is used for one puzzle, it sets a tone for the rest of the game. The players stop knowing what to expect, and they can become frustrated.
Finding balance in the hardest escape rooms
As we said before, making an escape room is all about balance. A game is not good or bad just because it’s challenging. Even the hardest escape rooms can be a lot of fun as long as the puzzles and game flow make sense.
A Knight To Escape is considered by many to be our trickiest escape room because of the unique puzzle design. Players on one side need to give information to the other side. If the sides don’t communicate, they won’t be able to progress. Even though it’s tough, players still love the game! The puzzles are well-designed and it flows well.
We found the balance between difficult and fun in all of our escape rooms. The flow of puzzles keep people engaged while offering enough of a challenge to make a satisfying victory. It’s just one of the reasons why we were voted the #1 Entertainment Experience in Orlando!
