This is a pocket escape room themed around New Year’s Eve. It’s only two pages to print (one if you print double-sided!), with each puzzle fitting in your hand or pocket. Easy to take with you, or to play in a small space, or to play in other non-ideal circumstances (such as candlelight).
It has 10 puzzles, structured around the famous countdown (10 … 9 …). Yes, this means the puzzles are very “mathy”: you don’t need to read anything, but you surely need to know your numbers and addition/multiplication. Similarly, Each puzzle has a clever “answer check” that allows you to know if you did it right without consulting the solutions or some complicated codex.
You can solve different puzzles “in parallel”, which is nice for larger groups. Yes, the puzzles get harder as you go on, and some might ask you to look at another puzzle (or some other part of the material) for clues. But you never need the solution to an earlier puzzle for the next one.
This was one of the very first escape rooms I ever made. I wondered how tiny and accessible I could make it, while still providing 10 solid puzzles that will take you around an hour. The first version, tested by my family on New Year’s Eve, was way too hard ;) This final version, I believe, has a nice difficulty curve that works well with the increasing tension of the countdown.
Have fun!
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Product Contents
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- Introduction page (explanation, simple example)
- Solutions page
- 10 puzzle sheets (small rectangles you could keep in your pocket); a countdown