I 💖 puzzles! Most recently I've enjoyed The Enigma Emporium's post-card based mysteries and Escape from Quarantine's fundraiser for Food Banks Canada! My favourite puzzles are
the ones that are just frustrating enough, and leave you with a sense of satisfaction when you figure it all out! I've set up physical escape rooms & lock boxes in my classroom before (check out Breakout EDU for ideas), and it's always an engaging change from the everyday routines! Recently, 2020 brought on a new set of challenges, so I created two end-of-unit digital
escape rooms for my high-school science classes to review some of the course content: If these two examples have inspired you to create your own digital breakout room, this Instructable is a collection of the many, many resources, tips and tricks I used to build
them. Notes on link sharing/access: Notes on
game-play: Supplies
Step 1: Setting the Stage & Brainstorming Puzzle IdeasYour digital escape room can be as straightforward or as complex as you want it! The general steps are:
Build your escape room around a theme to hook your audience and give cohesiveness to your puzzles! If you are looking for some inspiration, check out the ThingLink Image library or some of the digital escape rooms or resources in the links below:
Now ask yourself:
Your digital escape room will naturally evolve as you build it. I tend to have a working copy of the Google Form and the individual puzzle going and populate the ThingLink simultaneously. Step 2: How to Use ThingLink & Create a Custom 360 Image Using Google StreetViewThingLink allows you to easily augment images and videos. Here's a quick demo on how to create and share a
ThinkLink of Angel's Landing in Zion National Park.
For more information on tag types, click here. You can change the image and colour of the tag, or upload a custom image. I use the text & media tag to embed links to the puzzles in Google Slide. I created a custom 360⁰ image for my chemistry breakout room. ThingLink will only work with:
I used Google Streetview and this tutorial by TechAngel to capture my image. For more information on capturing 360⁰ images for ThingLink, click here. Once you have your image, you can create an equirectangular image with the correct resolution (8192 x 4096 px) & aspect ratio (2:1) using a photo editor like GIMP using the following steps:
Step 3: Creating the Digital Locks With Google Form & Response-ValidationThe digital "locks" are created using Short Answer Questions and the Response-Validation within Google Form. I typically use:
The response-validation is case-sensitive so include any specific information in the question descriptions (e.g. No Spaces, ALL CAPS, First Name only, U=Up, N=North, R=Red, etc.) Some ideas:
Mark all questions as Required. If the wrong code is entered, you can enter a custom error code (e.g. Try again!) If you want additional clues to be unlocked only after a previous puzzle is solved, you will need a separate Google Form (e.g. the Phone in the Chemistry Lab). You can include a link to the next clue in the Confirmation Message under the Settings. Unfortunately, you cannot include an image or file directly, but you can add a link to a Google Slide, website, video with the appropriate information. For more information about Response Validation and Google Form, check out: Digital Escape Rooms using Google Forms Step 4: Creating Your Puzzles With Google SlidesI used Google Slides to design the puzzles because you can have multiple pages, and embed videos, audio clips, and animations to create interactive editable slides. This is similar to an interactive digital notebook or editable PDF. For this example, I will go through how I made the Chemistry Math Square in the images above:
Sometimes I come up with the code first and try to find a puzzle to encrypt it; other times I have a really cool puzzle idea and I try to come up with a code. Some ideas to get you started:
Time to let your creativity shine!! Step 5: Play Testing, Hint System & Next StepsThese digital escape rooms were designed to review course content, and present some cool extension material. Some of the puzzles are quite challenging so I didn't impose a time limit. I highly recommend having some people play test your escape room to work out any kinks, give feedback on wording and directions, and check for broken links! You can always add clarifying descriptions in the Google Form, add reference material in the Google Slides, and red-herrings throughout the ThingLink. When you are ready to share your escape room, click on the Gear for Settings. I use the Unlisted Privacy Setting.Then click on the blue Share button. I use the Share Link option. Feel free to choose Privacy Setting that suit your personal needs. Hint System:
What's Next?
Be the First to ShareRecommendationsHow do I create a escape room in Google forms?Here's how you can create your very own digital escape rooms using Google Forms!. Step One: Select a Skills Focus. ... . Step Two: Create the Tasks. ... . Step Three: Come up with a Story. ... . Step Four: Passwords & Locks. ... . Step Five: Let's Get Technical!. How do I create a virtual escape room?Follow these steps to make your own virtual escape rooms:. Step 1: Pick a topic for your virtual escape room. ... . Step 2: Create your form and add a title. ... . Step 3: Header Image. ... . Step 4: Write a clue. ... . Step 5: Add response validation. ... . Step 6: Add another section. ... . Step 7: Finish the remaining sections/clues.. How do you make an escape room activity?Step 1: Come up with a plan. Use backward design and begin with the goal in mind. ... . Step 2: Figure out how the kids can achieve the escape. ... . Step 3: Create that Disneyesque immersion experience to set the scene, lend atmosphere, and add urgency. ... . Step 4: Incorporate real learning tasks. ... . Step 5: Watch and enjoy!. |