5 Best Virtual Escape Room Team Building Activities

Have you been to an escape room? The game, as the name plainly implies, involves solving puzzles in order to escape a room. Escape rooms were first introduced to the U.S. in 2012, but the craze really picked up steam over the next few years. One study found that the number of escape rooms ballooned by 800 percent from 2014 to 2016.

Escape rooms aren’t just a fun date night or something to do with friends. The corporate world now uses virtual escape rooms for team-building exercises.

To encourage cooperation, build communication skills, and fuel a positive work environment, a virtual escape room is an original, engaging option.

What do you do in a virtual escape room team-building activity?

In a virtual escape room, your team meets online to solve a mystery together. Often hosted by a costumed character, teams are told a story, given clues to interpret, and puzzles to solve. Only by working together can you decode the mystery and “escape” from the virtual room.

How do you create a virtual escape room?

To create a DIY virtual escape room, you need the following components:

• Video conferencing software like Zoom.
• A good story to base the game around.
• Several different kinds of puzzles that teams can solve.
• A satisfying and logical solution to the puzzles and story.

As you can see, creating a virtual escape game from scratch can be challenging. If you’re strapped for time, you can reach out to a virtual team-building coordinator like Offsyte. You simply pick from a variety of different escape room themes, set a date and time, and the game is all mapped out and hosted for you.

What are the best virtual escape room team-building activities?

If you think your office would enjoy an escape room, take a look at these events:

Escape the Zoom

With a fun play on the ever-growing Zoom culture, this virtual escape room game requires teams to follow a string of clues left by a kidnapped boss. Only by solving puzzles and opening locked boxes can you rescue him.

Shackleton’s Great Escape From Antarctica - A Virtual Team Building Challenge

Loosely based on Shackleton's journey to Antarctica in 1914, in this virtual escape room team-building program you must help the explorer survive the conditions. This one-hour journey of twists and turns has multiple hosts to create an immersive, fast-paced escape game.

Space Defenders Collaborative Escape Room

In this other-worldly game, your team acts as protectors of the universe empowered by ancient crystals. When an alien criminal steals these crystals, it’s up to the Space Defenders to find and reclaim them.

Fear The Yokai - A Chilling Escape Room

During this virtual escape room exercise, your team must work together to stop a monstrous creature, known as a Yokai, from destroying a rural community in Japan. The 60-minute event encourages teamwork and is great for teams of up to 100 people.

Ghosts of Craven Manor

You and your family of ghosts took up residence in Craven Manor, scared the locals, made socks disappear, and messed with teenagers. But now the neighbors have had enough and hired an exorcist. Play with your team and stop the exorcist from vanquishing your ghostly group.

For more ideas on virtual escape room team-building activities, check out Offsyte's ‘Escape Room’ collection.