We want to introduce you to the most common escape room puzzles here – we have found seven different types for you and give you useful tips on what you should look out for in an escape game – such as our Escape Room Hamburg – in order to find the escape room solution.
What is an escape room?
An escape room – also known as a room escape, escape game or exit game – is a game in which the aim is to solve a series of puzzles as a group within a certain period of time. Usually 2 to 6 people play for around 60 to 90 minutes. The respective solutions help you to get through one or more rooms to the exit or to successfully complete the mission of the game.
To solve the various puzzles in an escape room, you should activate all your senses and keep a cool head – because the escape room solutions can be clearly visible or cleverly hidden.
Escape room puzzle examples
Certain types of puzzles are used again and again in an escape room, for example:
- Picture puzzle
- Logic puzzle
- Hidden clues and objects
- Light shows
- Music and sounds
- Encrypted messages
- Team communication
- Puzzle puzzle
- Optical illusions
1st picture puzzle
Pictures are an important decorative element for any room and can also contain crucial clues to solving the puzzles.
For example, a picture may show an object that is also in the room, in which another clue can be found.
Or, on closer inspection, you can find numbers in the picture itself, which you can then use to open another safe and so on.
2. logic puzzle
The aim of these puzzles is to find a solution through logical combinations. This type of puzzle is usually a number puzzle or a convoluted story.
One of the oldest known logic puzzles comes from Greek mythology and is posed by the Sphinx:
“It is four-footed in the morning, two-footed at noon and three-footed in the evening. Of all creatures, it changes only with the number of its feet. But when he moves the most feet, he is the least powerful and the fastest.” Oedipus knew the answer: man – on all fours as a child and with a walking stick in his old age.
There are practically no limits to the imagination of the escape room designers – which is why every object in an escape room has to be examined in detail.
In a coat pocket, on the brim of a hat, at the bottom of a flower pot, under the carpet, in a chandelier, on the underside of a table or armchair – or in an object that doesn’t even look as if it could be opened.
Good tip: Look exactly where you least expect to find the hidden escape room puzzle! 🤪
4. light shows
Light puzzles definitely have an extremely high “wow effect” in an escape room. For example, if a clever member of your team has the idea to turn off the light, new clues applied with fluorescent paint suddenly shine from a wall.
Or there is a white light lamp hidden somewhere that only makes previously invisible signs visible when the right place is illuminated with it.
Or a message on a sheet of paper only becomes visible when it is held up to the light.
5th escape room puzzle with music and sounds
Music and noises playing in the background are often not really noticed. The fact that they are also part of an escape game puzzle, or part of its solution, is only revealed to the group when they listen carefully.
You may hear the irregular dripping of a tap from a distance – this could be Morse code. Pay close attention to the supposed background music – there may be important clues hidden in the text. The pendulum clock shows 7 o’clock and only strikes 3 times – clearly a reference to the number 10 or 21 … or is it 4?
6. encrypted messages
Encrypting and decoding messages is probably as old as the invention of writing. The ancient Romans were already familiar with Caesar encryption, for example.
The code used is C, the third letter of the alphabet. This means that the alphabet in the encrypted message is simply shifted three places – A becomes D, B becomes E and so on. This method is also often used in escape rooms for escape puzzles.
7. team communication
Group communication often becomes a sticking point when solving puzzles. For example, two team members are chained together with handcuffs and have to constantly coordinate where to continue their search in order to find the key to free them.
Or the team is split into two groups and can then only communicate through a closed door or over a high wall. One team then finds a code on its side that the other team can use to open the lock for the dividing door.
8th puzzle riddle in the escape room
Escape room puzzles usually require you to put together individual pieces in order to obtain a solution or a larger picture. This can involve putting together words, parts of pictures, numbers or even physical objects.
Puzzle puzzles are also often combined with other puzzles and clues to guide players through and out of the escape room. This type of escape room puzzle particularly tests the players’ ability to combine, think logically and pay attention to detail.
9. optical illusions
Escape room puzzles based on optical illusions use visual tricks to confuse players and often require players to look at things from a different perspective or challenge their own perceptions to find the solution.
Examples of such puzzles are illusions that trick players into seeing a certain shape or size that is not there in reality. Other examples are puzzles in which players are given the task of finding certain details in a picture or scene that do not appear to be there.
Unraveling optical illusions requires players to have an eye for detail and the ability to look at things from different perspectives.
Make your own escape room puzzles
If you are very inventive and imaginative, you can also create your own escape room puzzles or make an entire escape room yourself. In both cases, you start by coming up with an exciting storyline.
To make things as varied as possible, you should think about different types of puzzles, such as word puzzles, picture puzzles, logic puzzles and physical puzzles, to challenge and entertain the players as much as possible. You can create an atmosphere that matches the story by using light, sound and appropriate decorations.
Of course, you should test your self-created escape room puzzles thoroughly before showing them to others. This will ensure that they really work well and are not too difficult or too easy.
Creating escape room puzzles requires imagination as well as a lot of time and patience. The best way to find inspiration is to visit different escape rooms, read puzzle books or visit various websites.
Escape Game Books
The unbroken boom in escape games has also hit the book sector and one escape room puzzle book after another is being published – all with exciting stories based on the escape game principle.
However, there are also special escape room books that are used by both professional escape room operators and private individuals to create an escape room or to take a closer look at the possible solutions to the various puzzles.
These puzzle books are available both in printed form and as e-books and either contain general tasks or deal with puzzles on specific themes such as Halloween, Christmas or historical events.
Our tip for solving the escape room puzzle in a nutshell
When visiting an escape room, you should sharpen all your senses and examine everything carefully. You have to find all the escape room puzzles before you can solve them! Once you’ve found them, we’ll give you tips on how to solve the escape room in another blog article. Have fun with it!
