How to give escape room hints in character

At a real escape room, a game master watches on a screen and sends a hint when a team is stuck. At home, that job is yours.

You do not have to sit in the corner with an answer key. You can play a character. It is more fun, and it keeps the children in the story.

Why a character works

A hint from a parent sounds like help. A hint from a character sounds like part of the game. Children stay in the story and do not feel they have failed.

A character also gives you rules. You are not allowed to give the answer, so you do not.

Fill in a character sheet

One page is enough. Write:

• Who you are. A museum guard, a lighthouse keeper, a ghost.
• What you want. To find your lost key. To keep the children out. To be left in peace.
• A catchphrase. Something short you say each time you appear.
• How you talk. Slow and creaky, fast and worried, very posh.
• The one rule you never break. You never just say the answer.

Pick something you can do without thinking. Children forgive a bad accent. They do not forgive a long silence.

Add one costume piece

A hat, a coat, a pair of glasses. Put it on when you are called and take it off when you leave. Children will treat it as a real change.

Make them call you

Choose a signal. A bell or three knocks on a door both work. Explain it in the briefing. The rule is simple: if you want a hint, ring the bell.

This has two benefits. You are not hovering over the teams, and you decide when to appear.

Give hints in three tiers

Write three hints for each puzzle.

1. A riddling nudge. Points at the right area without naming it. "Something in this room has been counting all night."
2. A pointer. Tells them where to look or what to do. "Have you looked at the clock?"
3. A reluctant confession. Gives most of the answer. "Oh, all right. It is the time on the clock that opens the box."

Give tier one first. Wait for the team to call again before you give tier two. Most teams solve it after tier one or two.

Let hints cost something

You can make a hint cost a quick party game. The team sings the password, wins a round of musical statues or does ten star jumps. This works well because it turns the games children already like into part of the escape.

Keep the price small. A child who is stuck should not feel punished.

Use your power over the clues

The character controls when new clues are released. Use it.

• Hold back a fast team's next clue until the others catch up.
• Hand a stuck team the next clue early.
• Announce that a message has arrived, to bring everyone back to the finale.

If you don't want to perform

You do not have to act. Record your hints in advance on a phone and play them when the bell rings. Or use printed hint cards, which the children open in order.

Get the free mini-game

The free mini-game includes an original character sheet, three-tier hint cards for every puzzle and clues to print. Use as much or as little of it as you like.