Need an ESCAPE from the Boredom of Isolation?

By Dan Harmon of Bull City Escape

Have you already re-watched your favorite Netflix shows for the tenth time? Have the kids completed all of their “optional” online learning programs and are bouncing off the walls? Think it’s finally time to try something a little different?

How about an escape room?

I know what you’re thinking…”but we can’t leave the house!”

Don’t worry. You can bring the escape room to you!

These days, there are lots of ways to bring mental challenges, riddles and escape games right to your own living room. Whether you only have a minute, an hour or two, or maybe you want to fill an entire day with something unique and hands-on, there are “escape” and puzzle adventures to fit every need.

Only Have a Minute?

One of the easiest ways to bring some escape fun to your living room is your friendly personal home assistant, if you have one.

“Alexa, tell me a riddle” may be the easiest way to hear a different word riddle, pun, or sometimes a funny “dad joke” whenever you need it. Alexa also has downloadable skills, such as “Riddle of the Day” and “Daily Riddles,” which provide a little more interactivity, and give you from 30 minutes up to the whole day before revealing their answer. Of course, Apple and Google have various options as well on their respective devices.

Your favorite local Escape Room company can also be a great resource of fun puzzles and escape games that you can play at home. Bull City Escape is posting a daily puzzle on our Facebook and Instagram pages, which adds a visual element to your quick-and-easy daily puzzle solving adventures!

Need to Fill an Hour or Two?

There are a variety of “escape-room-in-a-box” games that can be fun for the whole family, and pack a variety of puzzles into a tiny package. EXIT the game, and Unlock! are two of our favorites, each bringing a variety of different themes and adventures for every taste.

Believe it or no — many of these games involve very basic folding, cutting, and building, which brings a little bit of hands-on adventure to the challenge. You can purchase these games at most major retailers.

Fun for a Whole Day

Once you’re ready for a little more escape fun — and trust me, you will be — try building your own escape room at home! It’s not as hard as you might think. You just need a tiny bit of creativity, some basic crafting materials and a sense of adventure!

A great place to get started is Activity Mom. There, you’ll find guidelines for a step-by-step escape room — complete with visuals and printable materials. You can follow the directions or even customize the game, if you’re feeling creative.

Another huge favorite of ours is Lock Paper Scissors. They have a ton of puzzle ideas, DIY guides, and even escape room kits that you can customize and print at home.

Try setting up one of these simple escape rooms for your kids, and they’re guaranteed to have a blast! Once they “escape” they’ll want to create different puzzles and games themselves, and voilà — you’ve created a little escape room enthusiast!

Building an escape room can be a great way for children and adults of different ages and skill levels to build creativity and collaboration skills. Your little “makers” will learn to work together, bringing all sorts of different talents that maybe you didn’t even know existed. If you’re up for an adventure, building your own escape room can be just the right activity to engage those creative minds in something creative, productive, and fun!

So ENJOY your time at home!

And when you’re ready to venture back into the real world, go visit an Escape Room! We happen to know one close to home that you’re sure to love!