How To Win An Escape Room Like Sherlock Holmes In Five Easy Steps

Whether you’re in the market for some escape room cheat codes or some escape room puzzle examples, here are six steps on how to escape from an escape room like the master of inductive and deductive reasoning, Sherlock Holmes, himself. 

And by the way, none of these escape room spoilers are Escapology only based. So as much as we would love to see all of our participants win, we don’t want to spoil any of the magical mysteries that we have waiting in store for you. 

Step 1: Examine the Room before Finding The Lock

Pretty self-explanatory. After all, how are you going to know where everything is if you don’t take some time to glance around the room? 

Step 2: Examine the Lock Before Finding Any Clues 

Different escape rooms will contain different types of locks. So to crack the code, you need to know as to what kind of code it is that you’re trying to crack. Otherwise, you will risk wasting valuable time trying to find and solve clues that are actually red herrings. 

Here’s a list of some of the most common types of locks used in an escape room: 

1. Key locks - Basically, they’re a type of lock that requires you to put a key inside it and turn the key with it
2. Locker locks - Basically, they’re the type of locks that you would use back in middle and high school
3. Combination locks - They’re number locks that require users to punch in the correct numbers in the right order to unlock the lock
4. Word locks - They’re combination locks that use words instead of numbers to crack the code
5. Directional locks - They’re locks that require users to punch in the correct “directions” in order to unlock it

Step 3: Find the Clues Before Cracking the Code 

Pretty obvious, right? Well, keep in mind that as you’re looking around the room and finding clues, some of the clues are actually red herrings. So even if you manage to get an idea as to what kind of key/code you’re looking for, watch out!  

To give you an example, let’s say that you and your gang of four are stuck inside a room filled with 1950s cereal box replica sitting on top of the kitchen counter and a dog bowl sitting on the floor right next to the kitchen sink.

A monopoly board with a metal dog piece on top sits on the table with a note underneath it. You and your team have five minutes left to escape from the room. You’ve already used up all of your hints. 

You all run to the door to check out what kind of lock you need to open up. To your relief, it’s a standard key lock. However, as for the key itself...let’s just say that it’s well hidden. 

Pressed for time, you and your team run to the board and take out the note that’s underneath it. On it is a poem written by Robert Frost about two roads diverging along a forest road, followed by some empty spaces.

Puzzled by the spaces, you and your teammates struggle to figure out the meaning of those spaces. As it turns out, they all form the letter, “C.” 

Under a normal situation, you and your teammates would have figured out that the letter, “C,” is for the cereal box. However, because you all were busy trying to figure out the meaning of the poem, that in itself is a red herring. 

Side note: Here at Escapology, we don’t require any of our patrons to have a historical background or any type of experience to play any of our games. 

Step 4: Record Your Answers on a Piece of Paper(if necessary) 

Pretty self-explanatory. 

Step 5: Punch the Code into the Lock 

Again, self-explanatory. 

Step 6: ESCAPE! 

Might we say more?

And now...THE MAGICAL MYSTERY BONUS: 

5 Fun Facts about Sherlock Holmes: 

1. Sherlock Holmes was inspired by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s surgery professor, Dr. Joseph Bell at the University of Edinburgh

2. Sherlock Holmes is NOT British. Instead, he is Scottish

3. Sherlock Holmes is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry 

4. Sherlock Holmes NEVER said, “Elementary, my dear Watson.” Instead, he either says, “Elementary” or “My dear Watson.”

5. Sherlock Holmes was originally called “Sherrinford.” However,  due to having some well-known cricketers named Sherwin and Shacklock, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle changed the name

Conclusion

So tell us, fellow readers, what did you think of our tips for solving escape room puzzles like Sherlock Holmes?

Did you like the magical mystery bonus at the very end? Let us know on any of our social media pages! 

Better yet, come on down to Escapology if you would like to play any of our games and test out these steps for yourself! If you want to learn more about us, visit our website or connect with us on Facebook!