Take a Break, Get a Clue
From Thurs Apr 25 to Tues Apr 30, Student Success, Student Activities, and Residence Life hosted an escape room in the Courtyard.
The story and directions for the activity were simple: A deserted ballroom. A missing professor. 25 minutes to figure out what happened. “Your mission is to find out more details about Mr. Body’s disappearance,” Nicole Bowen told groups as they entered the Clue escape room.
Just as in the board game Clue, participants attempted to find clue cards that eliminated people, places, and weapons from involved suspicion in the missing person case. To add a fun and familiar spin to the traditional game, however, the clue cards were people, places, and things familiar to DSU students. Dr. Mydland was Colonel Mustard, an ethernet cable was a weapon, and Beadle Hall was a location, for example. The cards were hidden throughout several rooms in the East Lobby of the Courtyard. Some were in obvious locations, but most were only accessible by solving puzzles that Nicole Bowen, Jordan Schuh, Rachel Novak, and Mandy Parpart created.
The escape room came just in time to be a getaway for students overwhelmed by finals. “It’s a stress reduction activity,” shared Bowen, “[participants have said] it’s a nice quick break.”
A group of 5 students, Austin Smith, Layne Meyers, Noah Healy, Nathan Huisman, and Racquel Meyer, took full advantage of the opportunity for a brain break. They finished the room in 17 minutes and 48 seconds, second only to the staff record of 12 minutes and 31 seconds. “It was the right amount of challenge for the time we had,” they added.
DSU will likely see escape rooms at least once per semester from now on. “Watch for it next year!” enthused Bowen. Anyone interested may even help create and plan the escape rooms in the future.
