An escape room, you say. That might sound a little scary, but it’s actually a fun activity where people have to use their “thinking skills” to interpret clues that will lead them to the solution and allow them to escape the room they were locked in.
Dave Pieart, Winfield’s WMU teacher, has set up an escape room for the past three Crooked Creek Days celebrations.
“The escape room is a fundraiser for the student trips to Europe that I run every two years,” Dave said. “A few years ago we lost access to our previous main fundraiser, so we needed new ideas. I’ve been interested in escape rooms for a while and thought we could make money from them. Plus, I thought it would help CCDs to add another attraction for older children and adults.”
Although there are instructions for escape rooms, Dave creates his own original escape rooms.
Preparing these spaces doesn’t happen overnight. They require a lot of planning and hands-on work on site.
“I start thinking of ideas when school is out,” he said. “But the actual creation of puzzles, clues and props takes a couple of weeks. We also need to find a place to host the space. This year has taken the longest,” Dave said, adding, “We need access to a space for several days to set everything up and for a week to run it. We’ve been lucky that the city council and Rebecca Bender have allowed us to use their facilities for the past three years.”
“Once you have a room and a theme, the biggest problem is creating puzzles around the existing props,” Dave continued. “We can’t afford fancy gadgets and we can’t physically change a room much, so we have to be very creative.”
Dave said that after a few weeks of mental preparation, it takes about three to five days to set up a room.
“This year it went faster because the Kann sisters helped design and build the space,” he said. “The space needed to have enough room and ideally a few doors and/or rooms.”
When asked about the source of the props, Dave said, “Every year I buy a few products, like locks or items with hidden compartments. Then I supplement these with things from my house or that the students provide.”
Dave said he doesn’t have much experience, as he’s only ever experienced one escape room himself. That was in the Quad Cities when his family visited for his dad’s birthday a few years ago. Dave said, “I’d love to do more of those.”
When asked if some escape rooms are more difficult to solve than others, Dave replied: “Absolutely! The professional escape rooms definitely range from easy to very difficult.”
Dave said that groups of 4-8 people are ideal, but there have been groups of two to ten people.
“This year we had an individual who was there with another group, but it is clearly intended as a group activity,” he said.
When asked if anyone had ever panicked because they couldn’t find the way, Dave replied, “No. Not all escape rooms are really about ‘escaping’. Our rooms have always been about solving a puzzle, so we don’t lock anyone in.”
Dave then mentioned some problems they have encountered over the years.
“Every year we create clue chains and every year people find ways around them. The first year, two people found a way through a puzzle without opening the lock. This year, we had to change some puzzles several times because we realized they were too easy and certain props break with constant use,” he said.
He advises anyone who wants to try an escape room to remember that the theme and props are important. It is the story that makes a good escape room.
Dave finds it remarkable that “people give us positive feedback about the rooms and that several groups have come back every year and done it.”
The escape room is a good alternative for the fundraiser that they can no longer carry out.
A family holds a sign in the escape room that says “We found her.” (Photo submitted)
