1. KEYS:

These keys are similar to the ones you have to find in your “pet rock” in front of the house and will go to boxes, drawers and even doors around the room! If you’re looking for a short answer to crack the codes in escape rooms, keys would be it. But, they’re not the only codes you’ll need to unlock while playing the game. You do have 60 minutes afterall. Keep reading these 10 codes for the less obvious tools you’ll need- and be warned, those math worksheets you took home in middle school may have been relevant to “real life” after all!

2. ADDING TO SOLVE:

Pay attention to the similar objects or pictures around the room (i.e. Alexis Rose in Schitt’s Creek finding those finches on the wallpaper). Where there are patterns, there are clues to cracking the codes in each escape room challenge. Sometimes you’ll need to add to find a number and see what correlates to that clue. Other times adding things around you, objects or - more obviously - numbers, will provide the code to a lock or safe! If you want to crack the 10 codes that lead to victory on your team, be like Alexis and stay observant.

3. WORDS OUT OF NUMBERS:

A lot trickier than cracking the code with a key and lock, translating words out of numbers usually means looking at a corresponding letter on a keypad (as in your phone) or in some sort of answer key provided to crack the codes around the room. For example, if you were given the numbers 2-4-7-3. You could look at the keys on your phone and see what word you could make from the letters underneath the numbers. Did you come up with ‘bird”? Crack the codes by looking for these relationships to be an escape room hero!

Superimposed numbers float on a black background, lines and arcs create the illusion of movement in the frame.

4. NUMBERS OUT OF WORDS:

Just like you can reverse a math problem to double-check your work, you can take cracking the code through the reverse and find numbers from words. Solving the puzzles in this case can be extra challenging and usually comes in the form of a lock you can spin to create a word or phrase. Don’t be discouraged - these codes are not uncrackable codes. The solution is a couple turns away. If you’re stuck, ask a teammate for their fresh perspective because it usually takes more than one idea to crack about 10 codes in escape room games.

5. WHICH WAY:

Number 5 seems like a good place to announce a simpler clue or crackable code. Directional clues can come in many forms like arrows, the way an object is positioned, a hidden map, or in a pop-out surprise (like the drawers in the escape room episode of Schitt’s Creek). The important thing to remember to crack the codes regarding direction, is to keep an open mind that the clues will range from simple to complex. If the codes were too easy, we’d have to shorten the time! So follow your instincts and check up, down and around you to crack the 10 codes for the win! And, hey! Just by reading this, you’re heading in the right direction.

6. MECHANICAL:

Crack these 10 codes by putting some muscle behind them! These escape room clues require you to move objects to find the next missing piece to the puzzle, crank some kind of machine, open treasure chests or desk drawers. Make sure you listen to the instructions at the beginning to find out what is allowed in your specific escape room. But, from where we stand (or sit behind this screen) the crackable 10 codes most often include removing, opening or setting something in motion to solve the puzzle and celebrate your amazing brain. Woot! Woot!

A shiny gold keychain is engraved with the word

7. THE BOOKS:

If you find a bookshelf in your escape room challenge, little lightbulbs should turn on for you and your team. Bookshelves often mean the escape room has some sort of crackable code in either the arrangement, title or other linked pattern. How many times have you found something hidden in a book? At least you’ve seen it done in film or read it in fiction. Arranging the books might trigger one of the 10 codes, the bookshelf might turn or something behind you might appear! Don’t forget to read the titles for a clue or code to crack. Opening Gulliver’s Travels might mean finding a key inside! Crack the 10 codes with these clues. Reading pays off in an escape room game.

8. ASSOCIATION:

Central to the escape room challenge is making the mental leaps to connect 10 codes together and solve the final riddle. For instance, if your code led you to a map of the Land of the Lilliputians, you’d try to correlate another object, like the book Gulliver’s Travels, open it and perhaps find a key inside! To crack the next code, you look for a lock somewhere and so on. Don’t forget, you are able to move most objects and wall hangings as long as your briefing before your escape room challenge says the crackable codes might be found there.

An antique compass rests on an old map of countries on planet Earth

9. PERSEVERANCE:

Not all of the 10 codes will be solvable in the first idea you come up with which is what makes escape room challenges fun and challenging. Keep thinking up new ideas and testing your creativity to crack the 10 codes. If we’re not thinking; we’re not growing. Our team of experts is constantly brainstorming fun ways to stump you and surprise you! Cracking these 10 codes of fun challenges is our obsession. We never tire of it! So keep working your mind to solve these riddles and don’t give up. You will crack the code. And then you’ll want to move to the next room to crack that code!

10. TEAMWORK:

It really does make the dream work when you’re dreaming of getting out and getting lunch. Cracking the codes in teams is encouraged when it’s done safely and in the parties you’ve invited. What seems a series of uncrackable codes at the beginning turns into a fun-filled adventure when more than one perspective is involved. Also, you can celebrate each other’s strengths- even if the biggest one is patience! Sixty minutes goes by quickly when you’re cracking codes together. You learn more about yourselves and American Escape Rooms.

American Escape Rooms is dedicated to the safety and cleanliness of every escape room challenge. While you’re busy reading this guide on the 10 codes to prepare yourself for our challenges, we’re constantly cleaning and sanitizing our rooms before and after each game. And only the players you’ve invited in your reservation will be in the game with you, applying your knowledge to solve the 10 codes and unlock your adventure.