Our Virtual Escape Rooms

Nothing beats the thrill of a good escape room, as teams rush to find clues, solve puzzles, and discover secrets in order to escape a locked room together!

A relatively recent phenomenon, escape rooms have become a global craze. But what are “virtual” escape rooms, and why are so many corporate teams taking on the challenge?

Escape Rooms

An escape room is an immersive game of real-life adventure, challenging teams to complete a mission inside a room to win points and find a way out.

The thrill of being locked in together, and tasked with playing the heroes of your own story, has inspired a global craze for this new hobby, with a competitive circuit emerging. Red Bull staged the first Escape Room World Championships in London in 2019, hosting elite teams from 23 different countries. US-based live escape game franchise Escapology has opened venues in Chile, Ecuador, and the United Arab Emirates, and there are now over 1,500 escape rooms in the UK alone.

Check out The Escape Roomer’s list of the best venues in Britain.

Virtual Escape Rooms

Escape rooms first transitioned to online formats in response to the COVID pandemic. Virtual escape rooms replicate the thrill of the chase for remote, hybrid, and distributed teams, bringing the adventure into the home office for colleagues around the world.

Playing on Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or other video meeting platforms, virtual escape rooms challenge participants to find clues in digital rooms, solve puzzles across laptop and mobile screens, and control the action online. With immersive storylines, global leaderboards, and video, audio, and image-based content, the virtual escape room has emerged as a popular online alternative for teams to connect, have fun, and compete together.

Why are virtual escape rooms popular?

Popular worldwide, escape rooms are especially good at inspiring teamwork. The activity requires groups to work together for a common goal, searching for hints, cracking codes, deciphering riddles, navigating mazes, and coming up with creative and strategic solutions to complex problems. The challenges demand a wide variety of skills, encouraging colleagues to express themselves and contribute their unique talents to the cause. Whether it’s numerical ability, word puzzles, creative thinking, general knowledge, logic, speed, or an eagle eye, escape rooms invite teams to explore their varied strengths and personalities, demonstrating the value of a diverse and inclusive team.

Collaboration is crucial to success!

Virtual Escape Rooms for corporate groups

Our virtual escape rooms enable remote, distributed, and hybrid teams to take on the challenge, providing a unique and engaging online experience. With immersive storylines, simple tech setups, and a platform that can host large corporate teams playing anywhere, at any time, the virtual escape room is ideal for connecting colleagues around the world.

We have designed acclaimed virtual escape rooms for a wide range of international clients, including Microsoft, Pepsico, Comcast, the Bank of America, Bayer, Porsche, the Home Office, and many more.

Ready to take on the challenge with your team? Find out more here.

What technology do I need?

You’re ready to take on the challenge with your team, but how does it actually work? What kind of tech setup do you need?

Most virtual escape rooms have been designed to encourage accessibility, allowing people to get involved without requiring the latest hardware or applications. Some involve independent play, challenging individuals to escape on their own before rejoining their colleagues in the main video meeting, with leaderboards introducing an element of competition to this format. Others are based on screen sharing, enabling teams to collaborate in the search for solutions as they battle for the fastest escape times against other teams.

Some escape rooms have transitioned to virtual gameplay through live link ups. Virtual teams need to instruct a games master fitted up with a 360° webcam on how to escape, bringing a first-person perspective to the online challenge. Communication is key, with teams directing the live game master with common commands such as “open the envelope”, “look left”, or “try the other key!” Will you escape, or will your games master be locked in forever?! Check out The Grimm Escape by Puzzle Break for a popular example of this format.

Our virtual escape games are run on a browser with screen share, enabling everyone to see and hear each other for the best possible team collaboration experience. They can be played on laptops, PCs, tablets, and smartphones, and have been designed for fast and simple gameplay across these devices.

We support all major video conferencing systems, including Zoom and Teams, and you do not need a host or a facilitator – teams simply click on a link to start the game. Split your teams into small groups or breakout rooms, set up video meetings for each team, and click on the game link to start playing within seconds.

Conclusion

A virtual escape room demands strategic thinking, creativity, collaboration, and calmness under pressure. The online format can provide the ideal challenge to energize your remote and hybrid teams, and we are ready to help you design an unforgettable experience!