If you’ve played an escape room before, you know that sometimes strong and surprising parts of people’s personalities come out during the game. While watching games, our Game Masters have noticed that an incredible shift happens in the last minute. Your otherwise nice, calm friends transform into completely different people when faced with the very real (okay, very fake) reality of being destroyed or captured forever.

 

We have identified 5 types of crisis personalities that take over during that final minute. See if you can identify your friends in this list—and then check out our recommendations to make that last minute count, or at least be enjoyable.

 

• The Screamers

When the minute mark strikes, these people race into a mad panic. We call them “The Screamers,” because usually they are literally screaming things like “We’re all gunna die!” or “WE ONLY HAVE ONE MINUTE LEFT.” Or “WHY ARE WE SO DUMB!” (An escape room isn’t a direct measure of intelligence so much as it is about mental dexterity—stay tuned for another blog post on that subject!)

 

Sometimes, the Screamers manifest their energy in yelling at their group, believing that unfaltering screaming to be the key to group motivation. Some Screamers bang on the door and beg for freedom. Still other screamers believe it is their critical, God-given task to let everyone know they have seconds left to live—and keep reminding them, lest they forget in those few seconds.

 

• The Doom-Sayers

This personality type is the first one that says, “We’re dead guys.” (Usually at which point the Hyper-Focused shouts back, “NO, we still have a minute left!”) They’re like the stereotypical guy on the street with a sign that says “Doom is nigh.” They become despondent or start joking about how great the afterlife will be, and tell others not to waste their time because it’s all hopeless anyways.

 

The Doom-Sayer might’ve been right on the verge of cracking a puzzle, or just discovered a critical clue—but they’ll drop what they’re doing immediately when that sense of doom hits. They don’t even want to try anymore, because they know their death is inevitable.  We’re all just going to decay and turn to dust anyways, man, so just accept it.

 

• The Button Mashers

Have you seen those memes where someone shouts, “LET’S TRY RANDOM NUMBERS”? Yeah, these are those people. In desperation and with a questioning faith of their team’s ability to logic, they believe they will have better chances guessing random combinations in their final moments.

 

Often button mashers will also head over to another random unlocked object, or other prop they have yet to interact with—and start doing strange things with it. Have you played the game “100 uses for the Chair”? In this game, people come up with alternative ways a chair can be used—perhaps as an umbrella, perhaps as a walking cane—that a chair normally wouldn’t be used for. While not a bad instinct in an escape room in general, Button Mashers enjoy playing this game with as many objects as possible in their last minute, in hopes they happen to stumble upon doing the right thing.

 

Sometimes the Button Mashers manifest this energy by trying the strangest things. In one of our rooms, we had someone face the door and repeatedly shout, “Open Sesame!” fully expecting the door to open.

 

THE LAB, we’ve seen Button Mashers start trying to fit different objects into a receptacle where they know something should go. Many times these are objects they’ve already tried a few times. But unfortunately if that solid object wasn’t fitting a minute before, it probably isn’t going to suddenly start fitting now, especially if you’re panicking.

 

• The Hyper-Focused

With a minute left, the Hyper-Focused persona goes into overdrive. Maybe it’s their natural type-A personality on steroids, or maybe it’s that last-moment spark of energy that comes when procrastinating things until the last possible second. Wherever their intensity comes from, this person doubles-down in on whatever puzzle the need to complete and stays 200% committed to escaping the room. They talk faster, move faster, think faster—maybe not in the correct direction, but they double or triple their pace with a determined fervor.

 

This person often becomes the self-appointed organizer of the group, telling people what they need to do or the can-do attitude they need to have. Sometimes, this is incredibly ironic. In one of our LAB games, we had one person getting shaky about angling a specific prop that needs to be placed at just the right angle. The Hyper-Focused one in her room immediately started giving directions, including “Don’t panic! STAY CALM! Breathe!” We guess the intensity must have worked, because they did make it out…with three whole seconds to spare.

 

• The “Oh, That’s Nice”-ers

These people are the antithesis of The Screamers. They’re the ones who look up at the clock when others are screaming and just say, “Oh, that’s nice.” They are completely unphased by the chaos of the rest of their group around them, and fall into an apathetic state. Maybe they’ll still get out and save the world. Maybe they’ll die to poison gas. These alternate realities seem so weigh about as heavily as their decision to have a burger for dinner afterwards as opposed to pizza.

 

Unlike the Doom-Sayers, they still move around and try things—they haven’t completely given up—and if they happen to get something, great. But if they die or lose their soul for eternity, oh well. And maybe they didn’t feel that way a few minutes ago, but now facing eternal death, they have found inner peace. Who knew Escape Rooms would be so great for inducing such a meditative state?

 

No matter what last-minute personality comes out, there are a few tricks you can employ to put that final minute to good use.

 

Screamers, use that vocal energy to communicate new finds. Yell about what you’ve accomplished so far, and pump your team up with how well you’ve done—or what new clue has just been uncovered that maybe people haven’t seen yet. Keep your group informed, pumped-up, and listening to the positive. And yeah, you can let them know you’re in crunch time, too.

 

Button Mashers, keep thinking outside the box. Maybe there is somewhere you haven’t looked, or a secret, critical clue that hasn’t been uncovered yet. Resist the urge to try random combinations or do things you’ve already tried, but your out of the box thinking is essential for success in any escape room.

 

Hyper-Focused types, put that speed to use, and quickly pass things people need around the room or double-down on translating those symbols. You can make up for any lost time or discouragement your group is facing. Encourage people to keep moving, but resist letting your intensity push others out of the way or overwhelm them with stress.

 

Doom-Sayers, help keep the panic at bay. Remind people to stay calm, and not lose their heads.  Maybe resist the urge to tell them that, despite their efforts, everyone turns still into dust at the end of it all, but use your perspective to try to see the bigger picture of what your group might be missing—including another way out or solving that final step.

 

Oh, That’s Nice-ers, you just keep plowing away. Your whole thing is you don’t care and you don’t change, so you stay just the way you are, you special snowflake you.

 

Remember, it’s never too late for a last-minute hint. Sometimes if you’re on the last puzzle, using a final hint can give you that extra boost you need to escape to freedom. More often than not, groups are a lot closer to escaping than they think they are. Above all else, keep in mind you’ve paid for that last minute of fun, so you might as well use it in whatever way makes you and your friends happy. 

 

Good luck escaping, and in the words of THE QUEEN herself, “Do enjoy your last moments alive.”