10 Things You Should Never Do In An Escape Room
Whether or not you are new to escape rooms, there are some things you should know never to do in an escape room. Some of these are tips, not just rules, that won’t be revealed by your Game Master because knowing what not to do may help you escape.
Make sure to follow the rules given to you by the game master at your specific escape room. Additionally, you will never need to use your phone for anything, especially pictures. In short, don’t cheat or destroy anything. Below is a list containing all of the most common things you should never do in an escape room and why.
1. Never Use Your Phone

Some escape rooms actually take your phone, but sometimes they don’t. If an escape room doesn’t take your phone; then you still shouldn’t use it. Escape rooms should be designed in a way where all of the clues are solvable using only the clues and tools they provide within the room, you shouldn’t need any outside help, and that includes your phone or any other tools you may have brought with you.
Don’t attempt to cheat using your phone either. The answers are most likely not on Google. Anything you find online is only going to mislead or confuse you even more. Focus on the clues presented to you and try and solve those. That will be the most helpful way to help yourself and your group escape.
Do not try and pull out your phone to use as a calculator or a flashlight because the escape room may want you to have those tools later on, and you could throw off the entire game flow if you start pulling out your phone instead of solving the clues currently presented to you.
2. Never Take Pictures
You will never be allowed to take pictures inside escape rooms. Escape rooms value their secrets, and that’s what keeps their rooms interesting for all the future players that may want to participate. Therefore, you are not allowed to take pictures of the inside of the escape room experiences.
Usually, escape rooms have you and your group sign a waiver before you enter. Part of that waiver will be a social media release stating that you must agree to in order to participate. This part of the waiver allows the escape room to share any pictures they take during your experience on social media. This part of the waiver will also restrict you and your group’s ability to share pictures that could compromise or reveal the escape room’s secrets.
3. Never Throw Things Everywhere
Given that you are limited on time, most people think that the faster they go the better. This can lead to people rushing around, throwing things everywhere, and looking all over the place for clues in a hurry. This can lead to a giant disorganized mess inside the room. That is the worst possible thing you can do inside an escape room.
Sometimes clues or other items can be carefully placed in a certain area, and if you rush inside and throw everything around; then you probably have no idea where those things were. This can greatly hinder your clue-solving process as you’re going to have to backtrack and put things back to figure out where things went wrong.
For example, an escape room may have a chessboard set to a certain move. So the chess pieces are set in a specific order. If you were to move the entire chess board and all the pieces on it; then how are you supposed to solve the clue now that the chess pieces are all over the floor? I have never been a fan of having “placement-specific” clues like this, but a lot of escape rooms use this technique to create puzzles so keep this in mind.
4. Never Unscrew, Deconstruct, or Destroy Things
Escape rooms should be physically easy, to the point where most people are able to do them. There is no need to deconstruct things on an advanced level. If escape rooms have you take something apart, it’s usually easy like Legos, snap buttons, or Velcro. Do not pull out your multi-tool and start to unscrew and deconstruct things. You could damage things in the room and upset the escape room staff.
You should not have to bend, pry, break, or smash any items or props to get to your clues. If something is locked; then you should be able to open the lock eventually. Don’t try to rip out the drawers with the locks attached. I’ve seen this happen many times in my escape rooms. It destroys the furniture and ruins the experience for not only you but all future players that were going to attempt that room later on that day.
If the damages are bad enough, the escape room may hold you liable and charge you for the damages. There is usually a small clause on the waiver to allow them to enforce this policy.
5. Never Break The Rules
Before you do any escape room, the game master will go over any rules that you need to know before going inside the escape room. These rules are not only there for your safety, but they are also there so that you can enjoy the experience the way it’s intended. The rules can vary depending on the escape room you visit.
For example, if you are told not to move any large pieces of furniture, then don’t try to move them. There won’t be any clues underneath or behind them, so there’s no reason for you to want to. No escape room will attempt to mislead you when giving out the rules. If they don’t say anything about the large furniture, then you’re more than welcome to move them.
If you violate the escape room rules, they are able to refuse service and kick you out of the room. No game master wants to kick someone who’s just having a good time out of the room. Respect their rules, respect them and you’ll have a great time.
6. Never Show Up Intoxicated
Never show up to an escape room intoxicated on any substances. You will need a clear mind to be able to reason and communicate clearly all the clues to your group to ensure your best possible performance. Most groups that show up intoxicated never escape in time.
Intoxication can lead you to make poor decisions inside the room. I have had many intoxicated groups request way more clues than we typically allow. Of course, when they don’t receive them, they get upset. However, it’s not the game master’s responsibility to make up for your lack of progress because you decided to show up intoxicated.
Many escape rooms will not let you participate if you are clearly intoxicated. Therefore, wait until you have finished the room before using any substances that may intoxicate you.
7. Never Search Aimlessly
First, when your group enters an escape room it’s good to look around for clues. However, after you’ve initially found a lot of the items that are hidden around the room, you don’t all want to keep doing that because you’re probably wasting time. Better use of your time would be to have someone look around at all of the different locks that are still in the room to see what sort of combinations they might need.
Knowing what combinations the locks need will help you know what sort of clues to look for. If you have only combination locks that have only letters on them. Then most likely you wouldn’t want to be looking around for numbers everywhere.
I see participants all the time pulling numbers off of serial codes off of different items, or taking the time stamps off the clocks when there are no locks around that even need numbers. So unless there is a cipher key that changes numbers to letters, then this is probably not a good use of their time. Knowing all the locks are letters should help them focus on words or letters when looking for clues.
The same is true if you found a lock that needs a key. Seeing that immediately lets you and your group know that there’s going to be a key hidden somewhere. So it could be a valuable use of time to look around for a key in this instance.
8. Never Keep Things To Yourself
Everyone wants to be the hero and the reason why the group escapes, but don’t let that affect your teamwork. You will want to share everything you find and solve with the entire group. That way everyone is on the same page. No matter how smart or good you are at escape rooms, you will not be able to solve everything on your own.
The groups that perform the best in escape rooms are the ones that are organized and efficient in the way that they communicate with each other.
Never put a clue or key in your pocket. It’s easy to forget about when you might need it later. If that were to happen, it can absolutely waste a whole bunch of time and lead your group not to escape. Trust me. You don’t want to be the reason why your group fails an escape room.
9. Don’t Leave The Room
Most escape rooms only give you an hour, and you want to try and stay in the room that entire hour because there’s a lot to do and so little time to do it. Try to go to the bathroom before entering the escape room so you don’t have to leave during it to save some time.
There will of course be exceptions, like taking a child to the bathroom to change a diaper. However, keep in mind, if you’re leaving and entering an escape room, you’re not only breaking your concentration but the entire group’s concentration.
10. Don’t Bring Food Or Drinks
Escape rooms do not allow food or drinks inside the escape rooms, so expect not to be able to bring them in there with you. They should allow food or drink in the lobby area and that’s about it. Escape rooms want to keep their props, puzzles, and rooms nice and clean for all the groups that will be participating that day.