Transitioning Escape Rooms to a Virtual Environment. (December 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Kutzin, Jared M.; Sanders, Jenny E.; Strother, Christopher G.
• Is Part Of: Simulation & gaming. Volume 52:Number 6(2021)
• Page Start: 796
• Page End: 806
• Publication Date: 2021-12
• Subjects: Escape Rooms -- Virtual Escape Room -- Online learning; Social sciences -- Study and teaching -- Periodicals; Simulation methods -- Periodicals; Game theory -- Periodicals; Sciences sociales -- Étude et enseignement -- Périodiques; Simulation, Méthodes de -- Périodiques; Jeu de rôle -- Périodiques; Éducation; Jeu d'entreprise; Jeu de simulation; Méthode de simulation; Sciences sociales; Théorie des jeux; Périodique électronique (Descripteur de forme); Ressource Internet (Descripteur de forme); 003.3
• DOI: 10.1177/10468781211035171
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1046-8781

Abstract

Escape room: games have gained in popularity in both entertainment and education venues over the past several year. The global health pandemic put an abrupt end to in-person escape room programs due to the enclosed space in which they take place. In an attempt to continue to utilize the escape room concept we set about to create a virtual escape room: using commonly available software and assessed its usability and participant feelings about the experience. The results indicated that the participants thought the escape room was engaging (88%), that they had to work as a team (95%), and that they overall enjoyed the experience (85%). Virtual experiences cannot completely replace in-person experiences, but there are ways to introduce important teamwork and communication concepts to participants and make online meetings and conferences more engaging.