Zoom-Based Escape Rooms Offer Fun Experiences Amid Lockdowns

COVID-19 has changed the way we live quite dramatically, and as cities shut down, tech has become essential to connect with others at a time of isolation.

Meeting with our friends and family and going to an escape room has become impossible in the face of recent circumstances; however, now, some companies are offering online versions of their escape rooms that can be played by remote teams during the lockdowns.

In such an example, Puzzle Break, an escape room company with four U.S. locations, developed a virtual version of its challenge the Grimm Escape which paints a world inspired by the Brothers Grimm fairy tales, Fast Company reports.

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Much like in other escape rooms: the goal is to escape the room by, in this case, breaking the witch's curse. True to Grimm fashion, you'll need to find the clues by making a choice between visiting a series of mysterious castles or speaking to a set of magical animals.

Using Zoom and Google Drive to have the escape room experience

Here is how it works: Players generally interact with each other and Puzzle Break employees through Zoom and access puzzles through Google Drive. Of course, alternative technologies might be used too.

While the online escape room can't carry some of the aspects of its physical counterpart, such as clues hidden in props or pop-up escape experiences, the company is offering something new with this project. 

The players investigate the images and other files in a shared folder to explore the puzzles they need to solve. As they move along, Puzzle Break employees drop new challenges into the shared folder, much like unlocking a secret case in a physical escape room.

Grimm Escape is only one of many

What's good is that Puzzle Break is only one of many. More and more companies and creative people are joining the ranks of online escape rooms.

To name a few, you check out "Get Your Motor Running" by Paruzal Games, where you have to get back to shore before a terrible storm hits or "Cabin Fever" by Trapped in the Web, where you wake up on a cruise ship as the only passengers and have to get yourself back on land.

On a more amateurish-side, Brooklynite Anthony Smith shared the first part of his Google Docs escape room on Twitter, which is pretty dope too.

Escape rooms are the essence of what the coronavirus has taken from us, and working together with the people we care about is what we need in such times.