Are you looking for the most interactive and effective team building activity for remote teams? Encourage your colleagues to work together and build problem solving skills with Confetti's Virtual Escape Quests. Read on to learn more!
Escape rooms have become increasingly popular in recent years as a fun and challenging activity for friends and families to enjoy. But did you know that escape room puzzles can also be a valuable tool for team building in the workplace?
By bringing colleagues together to solve puzzles and work together towards a common goal, team members can improve their communication, collaboration, and problem-solving skills. We sat down with the Confetti Games Team to give you a glimpse into Confetti's Escape Quests and the unique benefits they offer your virtual teams. Keep reading to learn more!
Escape rooms have gained immense popularity over the last several years, and for good reason. These physical, cooperative adventure games are designed to challenge your problem-solving abilities, teamwork skills, and creativity.
The concept of escape rooms is simple. You and your team are “trapped” by a unique challenge (physically or virtually) and must use your wits to solve puzzles, uncover clues, and unlock secrets that will ultimately lead you to the key to escape.
The challenge is that you only have a limited time to finish before the clock strikes zero. Rather than being an individual, or team-based game, the idea of an escape game is that you're working as a group towards a shared goal. Escape room puzzles can range from math problems to word puzzles, hidden object searches, and riddles told through immersive storytelling, graphics, soundscapes, and more.
Escape games are perfect for employees looking to have an incredible team building experience that improves their connection, communication, and collaboration skills in the process.
When talking about the benefits of escape rooms Tyler, Confetti's Senior Games Coordinator and Games Development Specialist, started by saying "When you gamify, instead of competition-based work, you’re building camaraderie, you’re building kinship, you’re putting emphasis on the celebration of learning and growing together vs. doing things for the simple reward.”
He then went on to elaborate on how Confetti measures customer satisfaction and where participants see these benefits differently in VEQ compared to other game structures. “Pitting employees against each other never works well,” Tyler said. “In game design, there’s often a winner, but we’re building experiences where winning is the least you remember about the experience. We’re creating moments where everyone can flourish and shine. We want people to forget who wins at the end.”
Savvy, Confetti's Head of Games, believes it's the most collaborative game-making experience that the Confetti Games Development currently has. "We find ourselves falling in love with individual moments of games, like one puzzle or one graphic that we think is so much fun."
Tyler can put his theater background to good use by writing new stories, adding elaborate sound design, and better overall narrative to the game structure. "The level of immersion they can get into with our Virtual Escape Quests gives us a leg up from other competitors," said Savvy.
A Virtual Escape Quest experience has the capacity to be the most multi-dimensional experience for teams. For example:
In Virtual Escape Quest, Confetti's game team "creates puzzles that appeal to different thinkers and has the capacity to give individuals a moment to shine," says Tyler.
Gamifying tasks can be a fun and effective way to increase motivation and engagement during the workday, especially when doing repetitive, tedious, or difficult tasks. Start by identifying the tasks that you and your team find less enjoyable or more challenging to do. These are the tasks that can benefit the most from gamification.
Here are some ways to gamify tasks:
Uh-oh! Looks like Dave from IT decided that hacking your laptop was the best way to cure his boredom. Solve his 4-letter code hidden message to get back in!
Everyone's familiar with jigsaw puzzles, but many common escape room puzzle types are utilized in Confetti's Virtual Escape Quest.
Here are some categories of puzzles (more than your average jigsaw puzzle ideas) to get you started thinking of your own DIY escape room puzzles and other gamification strategies:
Create printable escape room puzzles if you'd like to come up with a tactile experience for those working in your hybrid office!
If you're looking for an immersive and engaging way to bring your virtual team together, Confetti's virtual escape quest experiences are the way to go. In Escape Quests, Confetti offers a unique and thrilling team building experience that will challenge your team's problem-solving skills, creativity, and collaboration, all while having a blast and making unforgettable memories.
Does your team have what it takes? Turn your colleagues into expert escape room players with Confetti's Virtual Escape Quest!
Savvy is a game designer based in Princeton, NJ. She is passionate about women's representation in the gaming industry, and is beyond thrilled to be on the Confetti internal team as their Head of Games. She and her team are also behind the content for all of Confetti's games, including Virtual Escape Quest, Coworker Feud, Trivia, and more.
Tyler graduated from NYU with a degree in Theatre Education, and spent a decade teaching and making theatre with young artists around the world in public and private schools and with the Lovewell Institute for the Creative Arts. He was one of Confetti’s first game hosts in 2020 and is now the Senior Games Coordinator and Games Development Specialist.
