If you love escape rooms and keen on going for one while staying home, why not try a virtual escape room? Trapped Escape Room has launched its virtual offering of online escape rooms! There are three options to choose from and the Little Day Out team got to try the escape room – Murder Mystery.
Keen to put your heads together to solve a crime? Then read on!
How is a Virtual Escape Room played?
While there are plenty of “own time own target” escape rooms online, the virtual escape room hosted by Trapped is played via Zoom. Case and evidence files or other essential documents are emailed to participants beforehand. For the session on Zoom, the gamemaster of Trapped will guide participants on a site and then begin the escape room experience via the site.
I felt that the process was quite similar to the physical escape room without the physical element. It also provides convenience to relatives, colleagues, groups of friends who want to play together but are unable to due to different constraints.
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Our Experience Playing Murder Mystery – Who Murdered the Mayor
We got a team of five to play Murder Mystery- Who Murdered the Mayor. The plot was simple, the mayor has been found murdered and the suspect is still at large. We had to solve the mystery before we were put behind bars as we were the main suspects.
We had to assign a team leader (sabotaging time!) who would be sharing screen throughout the game. This means the team leader has to be pretty adept at Zoom, sharing screens and enabling fellow teammates to see all of the clues and the puzzle on one screen.
While the Trapped game master helped to keep time, it is also advisable to keep time on our part so we wouldn’t exceed the time limit per puzzle.
There were different puzzles to solve including crossword, morse code, maze and various decoding techniques. Different pairs of eyes helped to figure the puzzles out, and it was always helpful to have more brains on deck. I thought it was a refreshing brain training exercise that also kept the team working together. What a great way to bond over a game!
Although there were quite a few documents to download and process, our game master guided us patiently and also told us if we were looking at the wrong documents. The materials used were professionally done and similar to the kind of files shown in Cluedo.
I thought the puzzle was moderate in difficulty and accessible for younger ones to solve. We had to determine the murderer and the murder weapon, using the solutions of the puzzle and clues given.
Age recommendations for Trapped’s “Murder Mystery”
Due to the content and motives including that of assassination, jealousy, dishonesty and affairs, I would think the virtual escape room is more suitable for families with older children. It was also a strain on the eyes to have to focus on the puzzle, especially when looking at different numbers and alphabets. Thus, I would think it was more age-appropriate for children 11 and above for prolonged screentime.
Our verdict as a Team
We all enjoyed ourselves and it was a fun experience playing Sherlock. Without giving the game away, I did think the plot was a little predictable. Nonetheless, Trapped’s virtual escape room experience gives families or friends and colleagues who are separated by distances and timezones to meet and play together. No more awkward conversations will occur and now you can bond over a common goal to solve the crime.
Find out more about Trapped’s virtual escape rooms.
You may also be interested in VR rooms in Singapore.
