Some escape rooms require you to cross back and forth through a space while unlocking adjacent areas, often using clues or artifacts from a previous area.The depth and the quality of the possible puzzles suffers due to this. What can be made obvious in the light using visual cues such as colour, focal points, or graphic design, needs to be exaggerated a hundredfold in the dark. Because players primarily rely on hearing and touch, the puzzles need to be more straightforward.This limits the puzzles to having players only attempt what is deemed safe in the given environment. For example, designers may replace porcelain plates or glass jars used in a puzzle with lightweight plastic versions. Props should also be identifiable where necessary, and not too heavy.

In fact, some of the furniture in the room had padding on the outside to prevent us from accidentally walking into it and hurting ourselves.

Since players cannot see, the room has to have a layout that accommodates all the players and furniture that is not a tripping hazard.

Design puzzles around props, furniture and space layout, for safety reasons It means that from the outset, designers have to: 1. This is difficult! Having players solve puzzles in pitch black heavily restricts the design space. For safety reasons, designers probably don’t want players smelling or tasting anything in an escape room setting, so puzzles have to be designed around the two remaining senses: hearing and touch. Without sight, players are left with the senses of smell, taste, hearing and touch. Removing the players’ ability to see automatically restricts the design, by a long shot. The room was Omescape’s “The Apartment Next Door” at their Sunnyvale location, and I’m going to refer to its broad design strokes without giving anything away (don’t worry, no spoilers here). I visited an escape room that was played in complete darkness, which was a first for all of us on the team, and it got me thinking about the particular challenges of designing an escape room in the dark. Design challenges for gameplay in the dark At least it gives me something to write about. It’s therefore refreshing to visit an escape room that is different – not necessarily better, more difficult, or vice versa, just executed and designed differently. We’ve been to enough escape rooms separately and together that our pooled knowledge of the types of puzzles and the rough method of solving them is often comprehensive enough to get us through to the obligatory “We escaped!” team photo on the other side. So it’s fair to say that nowadays, my friends and I arrive at an escape room facility with expectations. And without exception, the ones who consistently show up and have a good time are people who enjoy games – video games, indeed, but especially social games like board games or Dungeons and Dragons. There are one or two who fancy themselves detectives and want to live out their Sherlock Holmes fantasy. I’ve got my puzzle enthusiasts, those who love Sudokus or a challenging level of Baba Is You. There’s a specific group of friends I enjoy going to escape rooms with.

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