Someone left the door open last night. Who was it? Harry was at Toms, Dad went to bed at seven, and mom was home all night. Do you remember logic puzzles that sounded like that? You probably played them in elementary school.
Why? Because they teach children strategic thinking and help them flex their executive functioning “muscle”, setting them up for success in school and life later on.
Escape rooms are like the living, off-paper version of that. In fact, teachers everywhere love the escape room craze, because it tricks their student’s brains into working, while they’re having fun.
Haven’t been to one, or had to take a break from in-person activities for a while? We’re here to remind you of all the ways you’ll benefit from playing in an escape room.
Table of Contents
1. It’s Good, Clean Fun
These days, it’s hard to find things to do that the whole family can enjoy, especially if you have kids who are between seven and twelve, when they’re just too young to go places with friends, but have started to outgrow their nearby playgrounds.
And, as we learned in 2020, getting out of the house and doing activities together keeps us sane. But the escape room trend isn’t just for kids or parents. It’s a great activity for adults as well.
When escape rooms first started becoming popular in 2016/2017, many companies took their employees to escape rooms as a company outing. Since then, people have had birthday parties there, anniversaries, date nights, and even bachelor parties (Schitt’s Creek season 6, episode 11).
Escape rooms are appropriate for people from all backgrounds and a good group outing idea. They improve communication skills in groups, so why wouldn’t you take some friends or coworkers? It makes a great double date.
2. They Increase Your Attention to Detail
Let’s face it. The real world is getting scarier every day. Paying attention to details is an essential aspect of keeping yourself safe – no matter where you live.
Not to mention, it’s a great skill to build for work and school settings. Now you have proof behind the “attention to detail” skill you listed on your resume.
When you’re in the escape room, little details matter most. The people who put them together want to make you think and think hard. The setups are every high school English teacher’s dream, as there really is the symbolism behind the color of the curtains or the choice of decor — they could even be clues!
That’s one of the best tips we can give you for playing, too. Look at every detail and don’t think anything is too silly to try. You’ll never win unless you are willing to be wrong!
3. They’re (Mostly) Screen Free
While a few escape rooms may have messages on screens, or a short video as a clue, the majority of your time will be spent NOT looking at a phone or computer. And even if it’s only a thirty-minute escape room, that’s still an accomplishment these days.
In fact, experts think that our collective screentime increased five hours in 2020, thanks to COVID. That brings global averages up to thirty hours a week, or for super heavy users, even 17.5 hours a day! Truly – it’s hard to get away from.
The screen-free nature of escape rooms is another reason they’re great for kids. No one is allowed (or at least supposed) to bring tablets, phones, or other electronics into the rooms, so you won’t have to beg your child to get off Minecraft or Youtube.
And while we’re going to talk about brain benefits next, there are clear brain benefits of spending time off your phone, too. So that makes the escape room experience a slam dunk!
4. They Release Brain Chemicals Galore
We could all use some more happy chemicals in our brains, no matter our ages or orientations. And escape rooms can help you boost dopamine production, or at least release some while you’re in there.
Every time you find a clue, or get closer to a clue (whether you win or not), your brain rewards you with dopamine, the neurochemical associated with rewards. That’s one of the reasons you rarely see people frowning after an escape room, even if they’ve lost.
If your brain is happy – so are you. And while you’re not going to cure any mental disorders by going to an escape room, getting some of that sweet sweet dopamine doesn’t hurt!
5. It Improves Your Problem Solving Skills
Remember those logic problems we talked about earlier? They’re great for practicing problem-solving skills, in kids and adults. Local escape rooms are like liveable problems, except they’re fun- and safe.
Practicing solving the living puzzle that is an escape room not only improves your problem-solving skills but gives you a safe way to practice them. That is, as long as you like the people on your team!
Check, that’s another skill you can honestly list on your resume. Who knew that The Great Escape Room Chicago experience would be so good for your career?!
Frequenting The Escape Room: A Great Idea!
We’ve given you five clues above that should have led you to the correct solution: knowing that the escape room experience is great for your brain, your social life, and even your resume.
IF you didn’t get that answer, re-read the clues. There’s no timer here! If you did, all that’s left to do is to convince your boss to let you and your coworkers do an escape room.
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