Escape Room: The Game – Wild West Express
Escape Room: The Game – Wild West Express Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1. Setup
Put three fresh 1.5V R6 batteries into the Chrono Decoder and place the 16 keys next to it.
Decide on an adventure and prepare the matching envelopes. Play the adventures in the following order: The Basement (15-minute tutorial), Wild West Express, The Break-In, Alice in Wonderland, Another Dimension.
Set out the Hint Decoder and place the hint cards of the chosen adventure face down next to the Chrono Decoder. (For The Basement, you will find the hint cards in the envelope.)
Switch on the Chrono Decoder using the switch on its underside. The time display only starts running once you press the START button.
If you are playing The Basement, you must first set the Chrono Decoder to the 15-minute timer. To do this, hold the START button down for about 3 seconds.
Get paper and a pencil ready so that you can take notes.
Before each adventure, look carefully at the details on the keys and on the Chrono Decoder. This can save you precious time later!
2. Objective
Each adventure (except The Basement) consists of three parts and sets you special tasks. To complete a part, you must find a code, which consists of four keys, and enter it into the Chrono Decoder. If you enter all three codes correctly within 60 minutes with the help of the keys, you have successfully completed the adventure and won!
3. Web App and Website
To play thematic background music for the respective adventure on your smartphone, go to the web app at app.escaperoomthegame.com. The web app also takes you to the website www.escaperoomthegame.com, where you will find introductory texts for the adventures, solutions, downloads for the materials used up in play, and FAQs.
4. Gameplay
As soon as you are all ready, take the envelope for Part 1 of the adventure you are playing and read the introductory text aloud, calmly. Then you may open the envelope. Make sure that everything listed on the envelope is included. Then press the START button on the Chrono Decoder. The time display now starts counting down. You have exactly 60 minutes to find the codes!
Look at all the components carefully (and do not forget the reverse sides!). Look for information, codes, puzzles and other mysterious signs. Work together to understand the logic behind the tasks. Remember: you are always looking for a four-digit code. If you find, for example, four tasks, it is quite possible that each of these tasks stands for one puzzle. Always pay attention to the assignment given to you on the envelope. It too can contain valuable hints.
As soon as you have found the first of the three codes, you must insert the four correct keys into the Chrono Decoder (see 5. Keys). If the code is correct, you will hear a fanfare and may now take the envelope for Part 2. (The components of Part 1 still belong to the game; you may still need them, so do not put them away entirely.) Now read the text on the envelope aloud as usual, and then take out all the components. In Part 2 you proceed exactly as in Part 1: you again look for a four-digit code. If you have entered it correctly, you may take the last envelope, read the text aloud, and take the components out of the envelope. As soon as you have entered the third code correctly, you will hear victory music and the countdown will stop.
Every envelope has a short note telling you when you may open it. Never open a part if you have not yet met the conditions for it!
Some components you must label, fold, or use in a "creative" way. You will recognise them by the printer symbol. You can download them from the homepage after the adventure and print them out.
5. Keys
The game contains 16 keys – four different keys with six different sides. Eight keys (those with a circle or a square) have the same front and back, while the other keys (with a triangle or a parallelogram) differ on the front and the back.
Each key shows various features such as numbers, arrows, dots and letters. The codes consist of some of these features and are entered using the keys. If two keys match in one feature, they match in all features, and it does not matter which of the two keys you insert into the Chrono Decoder. Since each key exists four times, features can also appear more than once. Look carefully at the keys before the start of the adventure!
The printed illustration on this page shows the key designs, each marked "vorne" (front) and "hinten" (back), with the features labelled as follows: Roman numeral, dot, arrow, letter, zigzag edge, key bit (Schlüsselbart), number, and shape. Each design appears four times ("4×"). The individual feature values of every key are shown only in that illustration and are not reproduced in this text.
Entering a Code
If you think you know the correct code, you must insert the four correct keys into the Chrono Decoder from left to right. If the code is wrong, you will hear a failure signal and lose one minute of your time. Try again with a different code! You can only move on to the next part of the adventure once you have entered the correct code. If the code is correct, you will hear a fanfare and may move on to the next part. Then remove the keys from the Chrono Decoder.
Example: If you think that the correct code is B I 2 ■, you must insert the following keys into the Chrono Decoder (in this order!), as shown in the illustration: the key with the letter B (Roman numeral III, number 6), the key with the Roman numeral I (number 3), the key with the number 2 (Roman numeral II, letter D), and the key with the square (letter A, number 1).
6. Chrono Decoder
In the adventures you will repeatedly come across the designation ER. This means that you must use the inscriptions on the Chrono Decoder.
The Chrono Decoder contains several decoding systems (see illustration). You only need the inscriptions when you see the ER symbol. Look carefully at the inscriptions before the start of the adventure!
The decoding systems shown in the illustration are: number wheel (Zahlenrad), alphabet wheel (Alphabetrad), Freemason alphabet (Freimaureralphabet), Polybius cipher (Polybius-Verschlüsselung, marked M = 32), Morse code (Morsezeichen), and a ruler (Lineal) marked from 0 to 12. The wheel and table drawings themselves are shown in the illustration only.
7. Hint Cards
For each adventure there are hint cards. The Chrono Decoder will notify you at regular intervals with an acoustic signal that you may take a hint card, the first time after 5 minutes. Take a hint card and place it in the Hint Decoder. Read the entire hint carefully! It will set you on the right path if you get stuck.
It can happen that you get stuck completely in one part – that is bad, but not too bad! On two of the hint cards, you will see on the reverse the correct code for the previous part when you insert the card into the Hint Decoder. Enter that code to move immediately to the next part of the adventure without losing too much time!
The illustration shows an example hint card, with the Hint Decoder shown beside it. On the Hint Decoder, the example is marked: "THIS IS ONLY AN EXAMPLE OF A HINT." The example card is labelled with the following notes:
- A – The number indicates the order in which you may take the hint cards.
- B – Take this hint card only once the time display has already dropped below this time.
- C – Each hint card belongs to a specific part. Only look at it when you are already in that part!
- D – If you are still in the previous part, you can enter the code to move immediately to the next part.
8. Winning the Game
If you enter the three correct codes within 60 minutes on the Chrono Decoder, you will hear a fanfare and have mastered the adventure! You win!
If not all three codes were entered within 60 minutes, you have unfortunately lost. That is not so bad, though! The Chrono Decoder then counts upwards, and you can keep trying to enter the correct codes. It will stop when the third correct code has been entered.
9. After the Game
At www.escaperoomthegame.com you will find the complete solutions, including all codes and hints. With them you can review your adventures.
In addition, you can download the components marked with the printer symbol from the homepage and print them, so that another group can play the adventure too.
Have you played all the adventures? Then many exciting hours with the expansion adventures await you!
10. Tips for a Successful Escape
TIP 1: Talk, talk, talk! Communication is the key to success! Sometimes the dumbest ideas are the right ones…
TIP 2: Do not forget that you may label and fold components marked with the printer symbol.
TIP 3: Take notes. You may be able to see connections from them.
TIP 4: Do not forget: you are always looking for a four-digit code.
TIP 5: You may use aids such as calculators, phones and flashlights. Anything that could help you is allowed!
TIP 6: Look at the features on the keys and on the Chrono Decoder once more carefully before the game.
TIP 7: Do not forget that in Part 2 or Part 3 of the adventure you may also go back to components from envelope 1 or envelope 2!
TIP 8: It can happen that you become frustrated, but that is part of an escape room! Find your way back to the right path, for example by going through the hints again. Look everything over once more carefully.
TIP 9: Never give up! Believe in yourself! Communicate a lot and look at everything carefully! You can do it!
Contents
Contents of the box, as printed on the cover:
- Chrono Decoder
- 16 keys
- 8 hint cards per adventure (2 for The Basement)
- Hint Decoder
- 5 adventures (the cover shows a difficulty bar for each):
- The Basement (15 min.) – introductory adventure
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- Wild West Express
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- The Break-In
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- Alice in Wonderland
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- Another Dimension