There are over 2,300 escape rooms throughout the country. While more of these rooms are popping up throughout the world, people continue asking, "What is an escape room?"
We have the answer! Keep reading to learn more about escape room before you're voluntarily under lock and key.
By learning more about escape rooms, you can also discover the many mental and health benefits of these puzzles.
Ready to make a quick escape? Keep reading to learn everything you need to know about the benefits of this challenging puzzle game!
What Is an Escape Room?
First, what is an escape room? An escape room creates an immersive experience by encouraging teamwork and problem-solving to complete an objective. Usually, that objective is to escape a locked room within a specific time-frame.
How does escape room work?
Escape rooms usually involve cognitive and learning experiences. You'll need to work as a team to solve complicated puzzles and gain clues. Then, you can use those clues to escape the room.
Escape rooms also provide a tantalizing gaming experience.
Some escape rooms involve different themes, such as a Sherlock Holmes theme or Jumanji theme.
Either way, you'll deal with different, educationally-enriching scenarios in order to work your way out of the room. Solving these puzzles can help you feel happy, content, and intelligent. However, those are only a few brief reasons to try these escape rooms.
The Benefits of Participating in Escape Rooms
Now that we've answered the question, "What is an escape room?" here are a few benefits to consider.
Improved Memory
First, solving problems helps reinforce connections between your brain cells. At the same time, puzzles help your cells form new relationships. Both effects help improve your mental speed and thought process.
By improving your thought process and cognitive speed, you're also improving your short-term memory.
Your short-term memory helps you remember shapes and colors. It also helps you visualize the bigger picture to determine how pieces work together. This applies to jigsaw puzzles as well as the different components of an escape room puzzle.
Better Problem-Solving Skills
If you plan on doing an escape room, you're going to need to creatively solve problems. You'll also need to think critically to solve complicated puzzles. Good escape rooms can sharpen your mind to help you develop stronger problem-solving skills.
It can take a few different tries and different approaches before you can solve a problem. As you complete these attempts, you'll formulate theories and test hypotheses. Then, you'll change your perspective before finding the right fit.
These skills can apply to your work life by making you more innovative and adaptable to different situations.
Improved Visual-Spatial Reasoning
Solving escape room puzzles sometimes requires learning how different pieces fit within the same space. These puzzles can improve your visual-spatial reasoning.
Improving your visual-spatial skills can help with other tasks, including:
- Driving and marketing
- Using a map
- Packing boxes or suitcases
It can also benefit people in different fields, including surgeons, artists, engineers, and architects.
More Education Opportunities
Doing an escape room can sharpen your mind. Puzzles can help improve your vocabulary, including your spelling, language, and research skills.
As you develop these problem-solving skills, you might also discover new educational opportunities.
Try an escape room and challenge yourself. You'll discover new ways to solve problems, which can help you think more logically in school or at work.
Increased IQ
Puzzles also help boost our vocabulary, memory, and overall reasoning. As a result, escape rooms can help raise your intelligence quotient, or IQ.
Adults can even boost their IQ by four points after spending 25 minutes a day playing puzzle games. To learn more about how the IQ works click here: How to test your IQ.
Delay Dementia and Alzheimer's
Keeping your brain active by solving problems and puzzles can also delay the symptoms of dementia and Alzheimer's disease.
Remember, solving problems increases cell growth.
Keeping the brain active through puzzles and problem-solving activities can reduce brain cell damage that occurs in Alzheimer's patients. In fact, puzzles can support the growth of new nerve cells, strengthening the connections between them.
The sooner you start completing escape room puzzles, the better!
Improved Mood
Escape room puzzles can also increase your brain's dopamine production.
Dopamine is a natural neurotransmitter that regulates your mood. When your dopamine levels are higher, you'll feel happy and optimistic. Dopamine also affects memory, motivation, and concentration.
Each time you successfully complete an escape room puzzle, your brain will release more dopamine. Then, you'll feel more encouraged to continue solving puzzles and escape the room.
Lower Stress Levels
You might feel invigorated and challenged in an escape room. However, answering the question "what is an escape room" by trying one yourself can also help you relax.
Our brains switch from "Beta" or wakeful to "Alpha" when we solve puzzles. The Alpha state is similar to what we experience when we're dreaming. When you're in the Alpha state, your stress will decrease.
The Alpha state can also improve your mood and mindset while increasing your self-confidence.
Increased Attention to Detail
In order to solve a complicated escape room puzzle, you'll need to pay attention to details.
An ability to pick up on minute details can help you in your daily life. You'll become more detail-oriented and precise. This, in turn, can improve the quality of your work.
Increased Productivity
Boosting your mood and reducing your stress makes it easier for you to concentrate. When your concentration improves, your productivity will, too.
If you're struggling to concentrate and remain productive, solve a puzzle or schedule time in an escape room!
Better Collaboration
Escape rooms also benefit your ability to collaborate with others. In order to solve an escape room, you'll need to work as a team. Otherwise, you might all find yourself stuck together for a while.
What Is an Escape Room?: The Best Health Benefits to Taking on the Challenge
What is an escape room? It's an opportunity to boost your mental health, relieve some stress, and have some fun! With this invigorating challenge, you can try a new experience that benefits your mind at the same time.
Stress has also been known to cause an increase in dihydrotestosterone (DHT) levels. Increased DHT levels are the main reason behind male-pattern hair loss. Therefore, lower stress levels can also help in men's grooming.
Looking for more ways to improve your health? Explore the Fitness section of the blog today!
