Looking for a new and fun activity to try out with your family, friends, or coworkers? Check out escape rooms! This new trend is increasing in popularity, and it’s one of the best things to do in NJ. However, to ensure you have the most enjoyable experience possible, there are a few things you should know before you go try it out.
How To Prepare
Escape rooms are meant to be challenging. If you want to put forth your best possible performance, it’s important to prepare your brain. Athletes will stretch and warm up before playing a sport. The intent is to loosen up the muscles they’re going to be exerting. Well, your brain is a muscle too and it needs a proper warm up just like any other.
You can stretch your brain muscles with simple brain teasers and logic puzzles. If you’re literary, grab a crossword puzzle. If math is more your style, try sudoku. Spatial thinkers can even do a quick jigsaw or try out a Rubik’s cube. Try out anything that flexes your brain and gets you in the practice of solving clues while considering the big picture. Simple puzzles can provide the perfect warm up for the same type of thinking patterns that will make you successful during an escape game. For added realism, time yourself!
What to Wear
While there’s typically no strict dress code for escape rooms, practice some common sense. You’ll likely be on your feet for the entire time, so wear comfortable shoes. Casual, comfortable clothes are also wise. You may end up crawling around on your hands and knees looking for clues, so remember to wear something you don’t mind getting a little dirty and allows free movement.
Who to Bring
Variety is the spice of life, and extremely helpful in escape rooms. The most successful groups are often the ones with different types of thinkers. For example, a group consisting of a writer, an artist, a computer programmer, and a sales manager may fair better than four engineers who all think the same way. Escape rooms employ a variety of thinking patterns, and a writer may approach a clue very differently than a computer programmer.
Obviously, if you’re attending an escape room with friends or co-workers, you can only control the types of thinkers to a certain extent. Success is still possible, no matter who you bring. That’s one of the aspects that makes an escape room one of the most fun things to do in NJ!
Things to Remember
As with most things to do in NJ, there are a few factors to remember about escape rooms. First, pre-game with coffee, not alcohol. Caffeine will stimulate your brain to function at a higher level. Alcohol is a depressant and will cloud your rational thinking. Plus, showing up with a buzz is discouraged and will annoy the actors and workers at the escape room.
Second, remember to keep the clues you collect in front of you, and in an obvious place. Pockets can be the enemy of escape room goers. You may put a crucial clue in your pocket to consult later, only to forget it’s there.
Third, know when to speak up, and when to stay quiet. Ideas are only useful when shared, but don’t be too forceful. Don’t let the excitement of the moment let you get carried away. Some people can be loud and forceful with their ideas, while others don’t share them at all. Quiet people shouldn’t be afraid to speak up. Ultimately, the entire group will benefit from considering all possible factors.
Fourth, sometimes the answer may indeed be as obvious as it seems. Don’t overthink, or overcomplicate things. If a clue seems obvious, it might be because it is. Try the path of least resistance first, before considering anything too complex.
Finally, and most importantly, remember that this is a game and it’s supposed to be fun. Those who get really competitive need to be okay with the possibility of losing. Escape rooms are intended to be difficult. If everyone were able to solve them, then it wouldn’t be challenging. Part of the fun is in the challenge. Another part of the fun is doing something new with friends, family, or coworkers. Enjoy yourself and have fun!
Escape Rooms at 13th Hour – One of the Best Things to Do in NJ
If you’re looking for an exciting twist on escape rooms, check out the two thrilling escape rooms at 13th Hour. Not only will you be presented a mystery to solve but you’ll also have to deal with countless thrills and terrors along the way! Come and check out why the escape rooms at 13th Hour are some of the best things to do in NJ! These rooms run year round, so buy your tickets online today!