Escape Room Tips: What To Do First For A Winning Start

Ever notice how you barely hear the door click shut in an escape room before the adrenaline kicks in? Something about being locked in a puzzle-packed room triggers the kid inside you. Suddenly, everyone’s excited, maybe even a little nervous. I've seen people—grown adults—run around, shouting the obvious, frantically spinning props, as if bashing a lock three times would make it spring open. The chaos is half the fun. But here’s the catch: your first moves matter more than you’d think. Get it wrong and you lose fifteen minutes just looking for your own shoes. Get it right and you’re suddenly the hero who cracked the code, basking in your kids’ wide-eyed awe (which lasts—trust me—about as long as the next puzzle).

Settle The Team: Get On The Same Page Fast

When you walk into an escape room, everyone’s fired up and wants to be the Sherlock. But right from the start, take a second—literally a few deep breaths—just to settle down together. Anchor the group: "Alright, crew, let’s keep our eyes peeled for anything weird." Kids might scatter. Your mate is rifling through drawers. But in those first moments, you want everyone communicating. Shout out what’s being seen. Everything in an escape room is there for a reason; nothing’s true clutter, even if it looks like random junk. Divide the starting tasks: one person checks drawers, one inspects the walls, another scans shelves. Don’t all crowd the same corner.

Give the group a clear meeting spot—maybe a central table. When you find something odd, bring it there. I’ve learned with Orla and Kit that it helps to have someone tasked with ‘clue central’ duty. That’s the person who collects every key, code, and doodad you find. This means when you’re thirty minutes in and can’t remember where that copper key ended up, you’ve got a system and don’t have to upend the whole room. No shame in writing things down or drawing maps either. Most escape room teams fail because information gets lost or someone zones out. If you’re all in sync, you save time.

Also, quickly run through what you know from the room briefing. Did the host drop any Easter eggs, or did the ‘story’ mention any character names? If my kids can remember the colour of a dragon’s tail from a book we read last month, you can absorb a two-minute spiel about your ‘mission objective.’ It’s all fair game for puzzles later. Every bit of intel counts.

Survey Everything: How To Search Like A Pro

The rookie mistake? Dashing for the coolest prop and fiddling with it for ten minutes. Don’t. You want to scan systematically. Start at one end of the room and work your way around, checking each nook. Kneel down, peer behind things, lift up rugs. Do NOT break stuff (escape room hosts see this all the time). But try every drawer, tap every book spine, peek inside teapots – this is not the moment to be shy.

If you spot anything locked, blocked, or numbered, note it. You’ll probably need a key, code, or some weird item to open it. Don’t toss aside small bits of paper or odd-shaped plastic. We once found a vital clue on the underside of a fake apple, which ended up in Orla’s pocket only to be rediscovered after twenty minutes of aimless head-scratching. Some escape room designers hide clues in places like the rim of a lamp, inside a hollowed-out book, or stuck under tables. If rules allow, use your phone for quick photos or make a fast sketch so you don’t forget.

Keep your eyes peeled for patterns, colours, and numbers—anything repeated. If something looks out of place (five green books but one red?), that’s probably a clue. When you’ve finished inspecting an area, move on. Don’t waste time second-guessing. If a puzzle needs a three-digit code and you don’t have it, drop it and come back when you do. The most successful teams search fast, document everything, and don’t get stuck on ‘impossible’ puzzles early.

Delegate And Communicate: Make The Most Of Everyone

Good teamwork beats lone wolves every time. I know from wrangling Kit and Orla that even the youngest kids catch things adults miss. So, set roles: the organizer, the searcher, the ideas guy, the tester, and the communicator. If you’re playing with four or more, it helps to send people in twos—one to hunt and the other to think aloud.

Talk constantly. If Kit finds a weird key, she shouts out, and Orla is already matching shapes to locks. Someone should always keep an ear open for announcements or game hints from the escape room host, especially as time ticks down. Be open—don’t shoot down crazy ideas straight away. Every suggestion is one step closer to a breakthrough, even if only by process of elimination.

Teams who check in regularly (“What’s solved? What’s unsolved?”) finish faster. If someone’s stuck, rotate roles before frustration sets in. My rule: switch tasks every five minutes if you’re not making progress. More minds, more angles. And don’t hide clues—ego is the enemy here. If you’ve hit a wall, say so. Someone else might see what you missed.

Start Solving: Early Wins Build Momentum

Now that you’ve mapped your territory and delegated, get hands-on and tackle the simple puzzles first. These are usually straight in front, unlocked, or require matching objects based on colour, shape, or numbers. Sometimes, you’ll see easy ciphers or riddles—go for those. Early wins give the team a shot of confidence, and suddenly the mood shifts. Even nailing a single-digit padlock early can shake loose new areas, clues, or tools.

If you find multi-step puzzles, don’t skip—they often unlock bonus info. But don’t get bogged down. Make a ‘parking lot’ list of unsolved puzzles and return once you have more clues. Record all codes you try; sometimes you’ll forget which number combinations failed. If the clue doesn’t fit, don’t force it. Escape rooms almost always reward logic and lateral thinking, not brute strength or random guessing.

Here’s a handy table on typical puzzle types and their average solve time (from a survey on escape room fan boards in January 2025):

Quick wins matter and drive up your chances of escaping under the time limit. Celebrate the small stuff—it boosts morale fast, which is crucial if the kids are getting fidgety or adults are getting competitive.

Don’t Panic: Common Mistakes And Last-Minute Tips

Escape rooms make even level-headed people start talking to plants and looking for Morse code in the wallpaper. Mistakes happen, but they don't have to cost you the game. First off, don’t overthink. Most puzzles make sense and build on each other logically. If you get a number 7, it probably ties to a seven of something, not a random seven stripes on a zebra painting. Trust the designers—they want you to escape, but they want you to work for it.

Remember, most rooms in Sydney give a couple of hints if you ask, and every family I've brought never regretted hitting the buzzer. If you’re truly stuck, get a nudge—nobody hands out medals for doing it solo. Watch the time: every team fritters the last ten minutes on a puzzle they missed early. Glance at the clock, pace yourselves, and, if possible, assign a timekeeper.

Another pro tip: always keep an eye on each other’s moods. If someone is spiraling, pass them an easy win, or swap them out to search for new clues. Mood swings are part of the fun, but the group’s energy is everything.

At the end of the day, you’re there to have fun. Winning is satisfying, but the stories you’ll tell later—about Dad getting locked in a wardrobe or your teenager solving a code with a throwaway joke—are what stick with you. Escape rooms are memory machines, and your first moves kick them off right.