Room Escape Artist

Earth. Fire. Air. Water. Each of these materials presents challenges so unique that under most conditions most escape room creators should never use any of them at all.

Today we’re going to explore “earth” or well, sand… but I’m trying to do a bit here.

In the case of sand, “forbidden” may be slightly dramatic, but it’s not far off. There are a number of materials that seem alluring to escape room designers, but end up being far more trouble (or danger) than they are worth. Sand is probably at the top of the list of, “how hard can it be?”

Kids play with sand. It’s basically a toy, right?

No. Sand is a nightmare monster that wants to destroy everything that it touches. Never trust sand.

The Anakin Principle

The Star Wars prequels may not have good dialog… and this may be one of the cringiest “romantic” scenes ever written… but Baby Vader speaks absolutely nothing but truth:

“It’s coarse and rough and irritating, and it gets everywhere.”

In the case of escape rooms, “everywhere” means all of the stuff that you bought and built. And once it’s inside, you’ll never get it all out.

And you know what else sand is good at? Wearing things away.

“Sanding” Your Escape Room

Whether we’re talking sandpaper, sandblasting, or just a little bit of sand in your shoe, if you want less material, add some sand into the equation.

It will wear you down. Wood, metal, glass, your body, sand doesn’t care.

Sand will work its way into your locks, jamming up their innards. It will disappear the paint that you so carefully applied to your game. And sand will eat away the mechanisms that you so carefully built… from the inside.

“But how will it get inside of everything?”

(You might ask).

Great question. Your players will put sand in everything.

Why would they do this?

Sometimes innocent curiosity will lead them to think, “Sand is everywhere… maybe the answer is sand!”

Others will think they want to play with the sand because it evokes a feeling of childhood… and like children they will spread it everywhere.

“Oh, but not my players… they won’t do that.” Of course you sweet summer child. Either way, once sand is in an environment, it finds a way. Grain by grain it will claim every nook and cranny of your game until all is part of its sandy kingdom.

“But… there are iconic escape rooms with sand???”

Yes… Escaparium’s Lost Island of the Voodoo Queen as well as 13th Gate’s Cutthroat Cavern and Tomb of Anubis have sand. And yes, they are iconic games. The truth is that the sand does add a certain joy and authenticity to the spaces. However, here are some other truths:

1. As a player, the sand gets everywhere and it’s incredibly annoying. In the case of these games, it’s worth it because the games are worth it.
2. Most other games that we have played with sand weren’t worth the hassle.
3. Most of the owners who I have spoken to over the years that worked with sand won’t do it again.

Sand is a giant mess that’s impossible to truly contain. Don’t design with it unless you’re:

1. Going to do something truly special with it.
2. You’re willing to live with the costs, annoyances, and consequences.

Longtime listeners of our podcast, Reality Escape Pod, know all of this because the nightmare of sand has come up in multiple episodes and in our Patreon-exclusive Bonus Show over the years. The Anakin Principal has become a running joke both on the shows and in our Discord.

The moral and financial support of our community truly is the engine that keeps us running. I really am planning on doing a few more Forbidden Materials posts on fire, air, and water. Two of those will be a lot less playful than this post. We’ll likely be talking about them in our Patreon chat, and I hope that you join us.

Thank you to everyone who supports our work.

Special shout out to those who joined this month: Michael Larson, GeekyMcFangirl, Cameo Wood, Lauren Jacobson, Tyler Robinson, Jo Perron, and 303 Escape

To those of you reading who have the means, we hope you’ll consider joining this wonderful group of supporters.

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