Frequently Asked Questions
Everything you need to know about these rooms (hopefully).
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What are faith-based virtual escape rooms?
Escape rooms initially started as a virtual phenomenon and then became a hit when they crossed over to real life. An escape room is essentially a game that is designed with puzzles and clues that must be solved in order for the participants to escape or complete some task (e.g. find the treasure, diffuse the bomb, finish setting up for Mass on time, etc.). This site utilizes the virtual form of these rooms - meaning that they take place entirely online. The rooms on this site are also faith-based - to be more specific, they are based on the Catholic faith - meaning that the content that is found in them will in some way relate to aspects of the Catholic faith. However, no prior knowledge of the Catholic faith is required in solving these. To sum up, this site provides users with the experience of searching for and solving clues and puzzles in a virtual space with the intent of fostering and supporting the users' faith.
What are some unique features of these rooms?
Follow-up Videos
Each of these virtual escape rooms are designed to help catechize participants in certain teachings of the church. In order to help support this end, there are follow-up videos available for each room that help to unpack the teachings that were touched on in the room. The videos are intended to be a starting point for deeper discussion on these teachings.
Props
Some rooms have "props" (items) that can be printed out prior to playing the room (they can also be printed during game-play if you'd prefer, but I suggest printing them ahead of time). Rooms that have these indicate this in the room description section. These props are generally not solvable until you "find" them during game-play. Each room will indicate when you "find" such an item by displaying it on screen. Prior to finding these items, I suggest keeping them off to the side so that they don't distract you (teachers / youth ministers - best that you hold onto these until your students find them).
Materials
Some rooms can be played using extra items (a phone, red marker, etc.) in order to enhance game play - most of these items are things that you likely have available in your classroom or at home. If extra materials are available for a room, it will be noted in the room description section. I recommend that you have these materials available with you before starting the room - however, the room will indicate when you "find" each item (they won't be needed until after they are "found"). For all rooms, it is a good idea to have a pen and some paper on hand so that you can take notes.
Timer
In each room, there is a built in timer that will count down from one hour. This timer is there as a guideline for you - please feel free to either use it to challenge yourself or ignore it and just take your time (the room can still be played after the time runs out). The timer works best if you don't refresh or use the browser's back buttons.
Playability
Can these rooms be played on your phone? No. Sorry.
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All rooms are currently only formatted for gameplay on laptops, chromebooks and desktop computers. If you're playing on a large screen, you may want to zoom in (ctrl +) a little, or change your display settings, in order to optimize the size of items in the room.
What are the benefits of these faith-based escape rooms?
Engagement
It can be so difficult to get people (particularly young people) interested in their faith. The beauty of these escape rooms is that they utilize a fun and engaging activity to provide an opportunity for discussion and learning. Escape rooms are fun. They are also competitive. By weaving aspects of the Catholic faith throughout these rooms, coupled with the follow up videos, it provides a strong starting point for dialogue about faith.
Catechesis
The purpose of this resource is to provide an opportunity to dive into the teachings of the Catholic Faith. The themes and elements that players encounter in the rooms, as well as the videos that help to unpack these, are all aimed at that goal.
Problem Solving
Due to the nature of the puzzles of which they are comprised, these rooms challenge participants to think outside of the box in order to complete them. This helps to hone thinking and problem solving skills, and challenges creativity.
Collaboration
Since these rooms can be played collaboratively (where participants work together to solve the clues), the rooms also help to build teamwork and communication skills. Want to add a fun twist on gameplay that challenges your team more? Try restricting participants to only non-verbal communication, or blindfold the team member who is controlling the mouse (is that too mean?).
Competition
On the other hand, these rooms can also be played competitively, which helps to foster participants' desire to crush the opposition... But seriously, it helps to foster healthy competition, and, when done right, it enhances the fun and engaging aspect of these rooms. Which reminds me of another benefit of these virtual escape rooms:
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THEY'RE FUN!!
Who can play these escape rooms
Small Groups
You and a group of your friends (or enemies?) are welcome to purchase any of these escape rooms. Rooms cost $20 each (for up to 12 people), and include access to the room, associated follow-up videos and solution video for one week from the date of your choice. What if you have more than 12 people? Simply purchase the room from the individuals/ small group section (as per usual), and then head over to the Tip Jar to pay for the extra group(s) ($20 for every additional group of 12).Cost is not intended to be prohibitive with this resource, please contact me if cost is an issue!
Schools
These escape rooms have been designed to be used in a school setting, in either a virtual or in an in-person classroom, as a competitive or cooperative activity. They are aimed at grade 7-12 students. Annual subscription packages are available to individual schools, granting students and staff unlimited use of all escape rooms included in this site (for one year), as well as use of follow up and solution videos (and also any additional resources added to the site over the course of the year). This resource can be implemented in a variety of different manners - see below for more info!
Parishes
This resource can be utilized by a parish for youth groups, prayer groups (or other parish based groups), as well as for parishioners to use at home. Annual subscription packages are available to individual parishes, granting parish groups, staff and parishioners unlimited use of all escape rooms included in this site (for one year), as well as use of follow up and solution videos (and also any additional resources added to the site over the course of the year). To grant access to your parishioners, simply share the user name and password that you create with your congregation, and they will have access to this resource along with the videos and solutions from the comfort of their own homes.
Tips for playing
Solution
If you plan on using a particular room with your class (or youth group), consider taking a look at the solution video for that room before actually running it with them. This gives you an idea of how to help if/ when your class gets stuck, and also, it gives you the ability to see the puzzles ahead of time so that you can evaluate if any of the clues might be too hard for your class (in which case, you can either give further clues, or walk them through that particular part). It'll also help to familiarize yourself with the material, so that you have an idea of what concepts/ church teachings will be covered (to this end, watching the follow-up videos ahead of time might be helpful as well).
Style of Play
Cooperative or competitive - you can play these rooms as a unified group, solving clues together, trying to complete the room before the clock runs down (I suggest projecting the room on the screen or smart board in your classroom if you choose to play this way) or, you can have everyone trying to solve the room on their own (or in small groups), fighting to be the first to complete the room (have each student use their own/ school provided chromebook or laptop). If you opt for the competitive style of play, I suggest writing your email address on the board, so that once your students reach the end of the room, they can enter THEIR name, and YOUR email address - that way you will receive an email informing you that they have successfully completed the room. The order in which you receive these emails will help you keep track of who finished first.
Gameplay
To help ensure smooth gameplay, I suggest not using the "Back" or "Refresh" buttons on your browser - rather, make use of the buttons built into the rooms to navigate. Also, when trying to solve these rooms, search each page carefully - look for items that can be clicked on or that might activate something. Think outside of the box! (more specifically, try your best to jump inside of my head and figure out what crazy ideas I was thinking when I designed these). If you're stuck on a certain part of the room for a while, consider making use of the solution video... or, ignore the clock and just keep plugging away!