The escape rooms came back to Sonoma State University for the third semester due to popular demand and stumped almost every group. Only a few groups were able to solve the puzzle and escape the rooms safely, but the majority said they were only a few clues away from figuring out their room. 

The scenarios in the ballrooms were the physical versions of the “escape the room” video games and were held in the ballrooms of the Student Center from Thursday to Friday 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. The rooms are meant to make students think in a different way and use teamwork and communication to solve a puzzle. 

Mo Phillips, the Director of Student Involvement, has coordinated the event for the past three semesters. The first escape rooms were held in spring 2017 and have taken place every semester since then. “We brought it back because the students loved it,” said Phillips. “They came out of the experience and whether they beat the clock or not, they were excited.” 

This year, the company Escape Rooms provided four different rooms called Patient Zero 1, Patient Zero 2, BOOM and Snow Globe. 

In the ballrooms, there are five rooms that ran all night Thursday and Friday from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Each year has been a huge success, there have been around 550 people each semester the event has been put on. 

Escape rooms are not a new idea. “My kids had actually gone to an escape room experience in Richmond and they loved it, it challenged them, had them working together and they had to use critical thinking skills,” said Phillips. She thought it would be a great event for the students.

All types of students participate in the games. Phillips loved that friends came, campus staff signed up and clubs and organizations used the escape rooms as a team builder. “It’s an event that a diverse group of community members enjoy it each time we bring it,” said Phillips. 

Amy Saduddin, a junior, participated in the “BOOM” escape room. All based on fiction, she explained that her room’s task was to figure out who killed a detective in a certain amount of time by using the clues in the rooms before a bomb went off. 

She heard about the event from her sorority that used the event as a bonding event for their chapter, but unfortunately the group was not able to finish the task. “It was really fun but it was hard to figure out the clues,” said Saduddin. “Everytime we found a hint we couldn’t see how it related to the puzzle.” 

Some of the participants this year had also attended previous years. Lexi Macario, a junior, took part in the escape rooms spring 2018. “Last year they had more things to do inside the rooms like puzzles,” said Macario. She felt that making the rooms too difficult took away the fun. 

The escape rooms were a great time for all the participants despite the majority not being able to solve them. 

The Director of Student Involvement explained that the goal of the escape rooms, like the other events put on by Student Involvement are to build community, increase school spirit and creating new and continuing traditions.