How to solve escape room puzzles: tips for kids and families

Search the room properly

Look at everything, not just what looks important: drawers, the backs of pictures, under cushions, inside a coat pocket. Anything with writing on it is worth a second look, and so is anything that looks out of place: a picture hanging crooked, a flowerpot that has been moved, a bell still swinging.

In a game it helps to go back to rooms: a new item or a new clue often makes something you've already seen useful.

Know what each lock wants

Before hunting for an answer, look at the lock. It tells you what kind of answer to find:

• Number dials: a year, a date, a count of something. Four dials often means a year.
• Letter wheels: a word, usually a name.
• A clock: a time written somewhere else in the room.
• Things in a row: an order (oldest to youngest, the colours of a rainbow, the steps of a recipe).
• A keyboard or musical notes: a tune written down, or shown in a picture.

Puzzle types you'll meet

Hidden ink: writing that only shows under a special light. Riddles: "I come out at night without being called…" (the answer is stars). Light and mirrors: turn mirrors so a beam reaches its target, following how it bounces. Combining: two halves of a torn note, three pages of a song. Sequences: notes or stars tapped in the right order.

Hollow Hill Manor uses all of these across its eight chapters, and every chapter is checked by a solver so that every clue is in the house before you need it and you can never get stuck for good.

Working as a team

Split up the searching, then come back together and say what you found out loud. Someone remembering "the card said quarter past nine" is often what cracks the clock. If you're stuck, take the smallest hint first: a nudge often helps more than the answer.