Escape room teams come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Here we look through some of the benefits and challenges that arise in teams. What do we think is the ideal escape room team size?
Is bigger better?
Many people believe that the larger the Escape room Team size the better they will perform. We don’t necessarily think this to be the case. If a room is Non-Linear Then there can certainly be an advantage to having multiple smaller groups working independently to solve lots of smaller puzzles. Sadly when it comes to Linear rooms like our own this will not be the case. When a room is designed to be completed by a duo then you will face bottlenecks as things need to be completed in order. What we tend to find is that larger groups (6-8 People) have too many ideas to make proper use of the team members.
Larger group problems
Larger groups often feature many people crowding around the same puzzle. You would be amazed at how many times a group is trying to complete a single puzzle with multiple approaches at the same time. Fairly often we will find a puzzle being configured differently by team members before either has successfully tried out their idea fully. This leads to confusion as the correct configuration may have been suggested but not fully implemented. You will then find confusion as the correct idea may have been overlooked.
What is the best escape room team size?
We find that the best escape room team size is actually around 4. They will normally be listening to one another or taking on different roles to overcome challenges. Beyond 4 people participating you will find the ideas get far more fast-paced and a clear direction is difficult to establish.
What roles make up an Escape room team
- Leader – This can be someone who is keeping track of what is happening. They are not necessarily doing all the puzzles. They are however understanding what has been completed and what still needs to be worked on. They are focusing on the storyline and analysing how everything fits together.
- Inventory – This is someone who is keeping track of what is available to the team. What objects have been discovered and whether anything may be suitable for use in completing the puzzles.
- Skilled – This person excels at skill-based puzzles Calm nerves and great hand-eye coordination make this person ideal for tactile challenges.
- Codebreaker – This person is fantastic when it comes to deciphering cryptic messages or discovering hidden code. Use these guys to work on complex logic puzzles.
The best groups can sometimes be fluid in sharing these roles providing there is clear communication on what each person is working on.
