Escape Room: The Game – Family Edition: Time Travel
Escape Room: The Game – Family Edition: Time Travel Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Dear Adults!
This Family Edition of ESCAPE ROOM The Game can already be played with children from 10 years of age. We recommend that you play the game together with the children. Help your team see the big picture, distribute the tasks and read the clue cards aloud. The adventures are designed so that both you and the children have fun and enjoyment. Older children and teenagers can of course also try to escape without your help. Have fun on the time travel!
Web App and Website
To play thematic background music for the respective adventure on your smartphone, go to the web app app.escaperoomthegame.com. Via the web app you also reach the website www.escaperoomthegame.com, where you will find introductory texts for the adventures, solutions, downloads for the consumed materials, and FAQs.
Contents
- Electronic Chrono Decoder
- Clue decoder
- 16 keys
- 3×8 clue cards
- 4 exciting adventures (with increasing difficulty):
- House Arrest (15 min.)
- The Present
- The Past
- The Future
Difficulty is based on the age rating 10+.
In addition, this box contains a mirror card and a string, which are needed for some expansions of ESCAPE ROOM THE GAME.
Important Information!
Read the rules carefully. If you do not do this thoroughly, it may be impossible to escape!
IMPORTANT: READ, LOOK CLOSELY AND COMMUNICATE!
Game Setup
- Insert three new 1.5V R6 batteries into the Chrono Decoder and lay out all 16 keys.
- Have all components ready that belong to the adventure you want to play.
- Play the adventures in the following order: House Arrest, The Present, The Past, The Future. House Arrest lasts 15 minutes, the other adventures 60 minutes.
- Switch the Chrono Decoder on at the back; 60 minutes will now be shown on the time display. The time only starts to run when you press the START button.
- Have pens and paper ready so that you can take notes. All team members must be able to see the game material well.
- Before every game, look closely at the details on the keys and on the Chrono Decoder! Have you not played for a while? Then we recommend inserting new batteries.
- Keep the game box and the game instructions ready throughout!
Object of the Game
Every adventure consists of three envelopes (parts) of the same colour. In each part you must find a code, which consists of four keys. Insert these in the correct order into the Chrono Decoder. If you have entered three correct codes within 60 minutes, you win the game!
The introductory game "House Arrest" consists of only one envelope and you also need only one code. You win if you find it and enter it correctly within 15 minutes!
Course of Play
Take the first part of the adventure you wish to play and read the introductory text in peace. Only then may you open the envelope. It also contains the envelopes for the second and third part of the respective adventure. Make sure that everything is included as stated on the envelope.
Then press the START button on the Chrono Decoder. If you are playing "House Arrest", you must hold the START button on the Chrono Decoder pressed for three seconds so that it switches to the 15-minute timer. Now the time begins to count against you; you have only one hour and it has just started!
Look closely at all contents (do not forget the back!). Search for information, codes, puzzles and other mysterious symbols, and work together to understand the logic behind the tasks. As soon as you have found the first of the three codes, you must insert the four correct keys into the Chrono Decoder (see "Keys"). If the code is correct, you hear a fanfare and may now open the next part of the adventure. As soon as you have cracked the second code, you may open the third part. When you have entered the third code correctly, you will hear victory music and the countdown will stop.
On all parts you will find a short note stating when you may open them. Never open a part if you have not yet fulfilled the conditions for it!
Keys
The game contains 16 keys. The sides of the keys bear various features such as numbers, arrows, dots and letters. Some of these are found again in the adventures. If you look closely at the keys, you will see that those marked with a circle or square have the same front and back. On the other keys, front and back are different. Look at the keys closely before you start the adventure!
The keys are shown in the rulebook as follows (4× each):
- Keys with a different front and back ("front" and "back"), e.g. a key showing the Roman numeral II, the letter D and the number 2 on one side, and X, C and 5 on the other.
- Keys with the same front and back ("front & back"), e.g. L / A / 1 and III / B / 6.
- Further keys with different front and back, e.g. I / F / 3 on the front and V / E / 4 on the back.
Features of a key: shape, letter, Roman numeral, dot, arrow, number, zigzag edge, key bit.
Entering a Code
If you think you know the correct code, you must insert the four correct keys from left to right into the Chrono Decoder. If the code you entered is wrong, the Chrono Decoder will sound a failure signal and subtract one minute from your time. Try your luck again with another code! You can only get to the next part of the adventure once you have entered the correct code. If the code is correct, you will hear a fanfare. Then remove the keys again, take the next envelope and set off on the search for the next correct code!
Example: If you think the correct code is B I 2 (square), you must insert the following keys (in this order!) into the Chrono Decoder: the key with B (and III, 6), the key with I (and F, 3), the key with 2 (and II, D), and the key with the square (L, A, 1).
Chrono Decoder
In the adventures you will repeatedly encounter the ER symbol or the capital letters ER. If this symbol or ER in capital letters appears, you must use the inscriptions on the Chrono Decoder! On the Chrono Decoder you will find several decoding systems (see illustration in the rulebook). For each adventure you need only one of them. You need the inscriptions only if a puzzle is marked with ER (as a symbol or in capital letters). Look closely at the information before the adventure; this saves time!
The decoding systems on the Chrono Decoder are:
- Number wheel
- Alphabet wheel
- Freemason alphabet
- Polybius cipher (M = 32)
- Morse code
- Ruler (0 to 12)
Clue Cards
For each adventure there are 8 clue cards (except for "House Arrest", where there are only 2). At regular intervals the Chrono Decoder will tell you by an acoustic signal that you may take a clue card. To read the clue, you must place the card into the clue decoder. Always read the whole clue carefully and read it aloud! If the clue confirms your assumption, you are on the right track.
Clue Card
- Number: shows the order of the clue cards
- Part: the clue belongs only to this part of the game
- Time: the time at which you may read the clue card at the earliest
- Solution: here is the code for the last part you can enter in order to get to the next part!
Solutions to the First Two Parts
Should you get stuck at any point or no longer know how to continue at all, you will find on two of the eight clue cards of each adventure the solution for part 1 or part 2 of the adventure respectively. To do so, you must put the back of the card into the clue decoder to make the correct code visible. Decide together as a group whether and when you want to see the solution.
You will find the correct code for part 3 on none of the clue cards, but it is in the solution to the adventure at www.escaperoomthegame.com/de-de.
End of the Game
If you have entered the three correct codes into the Chrono Decoder within the 60 minutes, you will hear a fanfare. You have mastered the adventure! Why not take a photo of yourselves with the time display on the Chrono Decoder and share it on social networks! In "House Arrest" you win by entering a correct code, but you also have only 15 minutes.
If not all codes were entered within 60 minutes, the device will inform you of your defeat. The Chrono Decoder will then count upwards and you can continue trying to enter the correct codes. If you were not successful, or if you want to look at the exact solution path once more, you will find all solutions and clues on the Internet at www.escaperoomthegame.com.
Of course another group can also play this adventure. For this you only have to download the components marked with the printer symbol from the page and print them out. Make sure that you put all parts into the correct envelopes. And once you have played all four adventures, further exciting puzzles and secrets await you in the expansion adventures!
Important Tips
- Tip 1: Communicate all the time, do not keep any information to yourself, every second is important!
- Tip 2: On some parts you may write or fold them. You recognise these parts by the printer symbol.
- Tip 3: Make as many notes as possible; perhaps this will let you recognise connections!
- Tip 4: No prior knowledge is needed to solve the puzzles!
- Tip 5: Of course you may use objects such as flashlights or calculators.
- Tip 6: Read the rules aloud and carefully before the game and keep them ready during the game in case questions arise.
- Tip 7: At certain points you may be slightly frustrated, but that is part of an escape room! If you cannot get further, go through all clues once more and consider whether at some point you drew an illogical conclusion.
Look closely at all components (front and back!) and compare your notes. All answers are right in front of your eyes!
AND MOST IMPORTANT: NEVER GIVE UP! TOGETHER YOU WILL MANAGE IT!
Batteries
Batteries are not included. Use only the specified batteries (3 × 1.5 V R6). Insert them with the positive and negative poles in the right place. Remove empty batteries from the toy. Non-rechargeable batteries must not be recharged. Rechargeable batteries must be removed from the toy before charging and may be charged only under adult supervision. Do not use different types of batteries and do not insert new and used batteries together. Do not short-circuit the supply terminals. Do not mix new and old batteries, nor alkaline, standard (carbon-zinc) and rechargeable (nickel-cadmium) batteries. (The disposal notices that follow in the rulebook are given in German, French and Italian and are omitted.)