The Escape Games Canada team are puzzle experts! We have the privilege of working at a facility filled with puzzles and between helping to design them and solving them daily, we like to think that we know what makes a puzzle fun and engaging. Here’s a shortlist of what we think are the best types of escape room puzzles and what makes them great.
Sure, mimic puzzles can be annoying, and if your team isn’t cooperating, they can seem impossible, but that’s what makes them such a fun challenge. Whether you have to repeat a pattern of lights, colours, or even music, the simplicity of these puzzles is what makes them so satisfying. A synchronized group that communicates well will breeze through a mimic puzzle, but for groups where there are too many cooks in the kitchen, a mimic puzzle can be especially difficult. But whether you solve it quickly, or spend some time trying to repeat the pattern, there’s no denying how satisfying it is to solve a mimic puzzle.
Logic puzzles are some of the toughest puzzles in any escape room. To solve one, your group will have to compile information and figure out how to apply it. What makes logic puzzles especially challenging is that the information could be anywhere. Some puzzles at Escape Games Canada have clues scattered across two or three different rooms to be discovered slowly before uncovering the puzzle in its entirety. From a design perspective, logic puzzles always fit into the theme of the game. Since there are infinite possibilities for how the information can be presented, it’s easy to keep them in line with the game’s theming and maintain immersion. These puzzles are often complex and require teamwork and communication to solve making them tough for even the most experienced players. Nothing is as exhilarating as finally solving that impossible logic puzzle.
Mechanical puzzles contribute to player immersion because they allow you to interact with the set pieces and manipulate the environment. You get to be hands-on and spin the dial or pull the lever and there’s something about that tactile experience that is just so much fun. We love discovering new ways to interact with escape rooms and mechanical puzzles never fail to impress us. Granted, mechanical puzzles can be time-consuming to solve. Aligning and figuring out the mechanism often requires a couple of players, some strong communication, and skill. But the time that goes into mechanical puzzles is part of what makes them so much fun!
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