Order: The world always gives you chaos. It gives you things to solves and figure out. Puzzles and tasks. So when you find an answer, you need to ask yourself what the order is. Is it top to bottom? Left to right? Every other? Mixed? The world is chaos. But the world has the order somewhere in it.
Wrong: Your first answer is usually wrong. Don’t give up after just one try. Try a few different things. Leave the puzzle and come back to it. And while it is possible that you don’t actually have the answer yet, it’s always good to try a few different ways.
Don’t linger: Hovering in one spot for minutes on end? Not a good idea. If that happens, you are usually guessing randomly or don’t know what to do. In most cases, there is something else in the room that needs your attention, or you just don’t have the answer yet. Keep moving.
Don’t overthink: Easier said than done. Your brain does want to complicate things. But escape rooms in general – especially at Lokey’s – are usually common sense and logic based. They aren’t trying to mess you up. They want to be won. So don’t just try to guess randomly, don’t just do things that don’t make sense. Leaps of logic won’t help.
Outside knowledge: If rooms are well designed – and most are – no outside knowledge is required. Everything you need to succeed is in the room. No need to use your phone.
Strength & weakness: Know what you are good at and what you are not good at. This comes by playing more rooms. In time you will know if you are good at tactile things, logic puzzles, tiny details, physical things. The point is: you have a strength nobody else does. Use it. It will complement the team.
Help: Ask for it. All the best players know this and do it. The second they their momentum slows, when things get stuck – they ask for help. They never wait. They never let 7, 8, 9+ minutes go by without solving something. They know they should be solving something every 3-5 minutes. Anything less? They are tracking behind. When they feel their speed slow down after a few minutes – HINT!
