Everyone knows them, or has at least heard of them: escape rooms – for birthday outings, team-building events or family gatherings. Sometimes cringe-worthy, sometimes funny, loved or hated – opinions are divided.

It’s much the same in political education. Even we in the team weren’t sure at first and debated whether to give the method a go. The answer is set out in a bit more detail here, but in short: yes, escape games can be a useful method for political education. However, it requires a clever interplay of content, narrative, puzzles and design to ensure the method provides valuable food for thought on politically relevant issues.

In any case, escape games have made the transition from team-building events to a recognised method in political education and are becoming increasingly widespread. They come in many forms: from scenarios linked to the classroom, through purely digital game formats, to elaborately staged rooms from which the world must be saved. What they all have in common is that they are designed to transform learning into a playful adventure.

This is precisely where the fascination lies: the suspense of the story, the collaboration within the group, and the time pressure under which problems must be solved. The method takes participants out of their everyday learning routine, and in some learning environments, that alone is a benefit that should not be underestimated. Many participants are delighted to escape the school or seminar room and unpack secret documents from envelopes, decipher coded messages and discuss how various pieces of evidence fit together.

The playful, creative appeal of the method is obvious. And yet the question arises: what’s the point of it all? Why do we use escape games in political education? What is our understanding of the method here at planpolitik?

Why escape games at all?

Escape games are highly engaging. The prepared setting allows participants to immerse themselves, without major hurdles, in a story through which they navigate together. In doing so, they engage with the topic at hand, perhaps without even realising that they are learning. They do so, so to speak, ‘incidentally’.

This ‘low threshold’ approach has a different effect on different learning styles. After all, there is something for everyone in an escape game: for creative thinkers and those who think outside the box; for learners with a keen eye for detail; for tinkerers who love to tackle tricky puzzles; for visual learners who get more out of images than text; and for those who enjoy deciphering texts.

Compared to other learning methods such as traditional classroom teaching or group work, this approach can help draw otherwise reserved learners out of their shells and break down established routines and settings. This methodological ‘door-opener’ then provides a narrative framework in which the group is confronted with challenges, conflicts and dilemmas and works to solve problems. For this to succeed, the logic of the game (as a rule) requires the group to work together, so that common approaches to solutions are developed and decisions are made through consultation.

Ideally, both elements interlock: a story that arouses curiosity and encourages participation, and tasks that are not only tricky but also logically coherent in terms of content and address relevant aspects of the topic. Participants then remain engaged throughout the game and enjoy this form of teamwork. An experience-based learning situation emerges in which the group experiences its own actions as significant for the story – that is, the political or social context.

What needs to be borne in mind during development and implementation?

Escape games that do not meet these requirements often fail to provide new impetus for learning. If the logic behind the solutions follows only existing puzzle mechanics, or if solving the puzzles becomes an end in itself, the game can convey very little in terms of content: the theme of the story becomes a backdrop rather than the subject of discussion. If the puzzles are too difficult or time-consuming, the puzzle-solving takes centre stage to such an extent that there is hardly any attention left for the learning content. Some escape games, which are designed to be played in too short a time, often remain superficial in terms of content; others, by contrast, aim for too much in terms of content and, with this ambition, end up overwhelming players rather than stimulating them to think.

However, escape games not only require a sound educational concept but should also be embedded in a suitable learning context: Whether in a museum in conjunction with an exhibition or in a classroom setting, followed by an evaluation and contextualisation of the experience. As a stand-alone method, much potential remains untapped; without evaluation or another form of contextualisation, the format lacks the necessary distance to enable reflection, further thought and the transfer of learning to the participants’ own reality.

It is important to be aware of this limitation: escape games are very well suited as an introduction to a topic and can provide food for thought that can be built upon during reflection or in the wider learning process. On their own, they are not a method for in-depth engagement with content or for developing democratic skills – nor should they attempt to replace these.

Highlights: Our most popular escape games

What next?

There are many other scenarios in which escape games can be a successful addition to political education programmes. Whether in history education, to explore historical contexts; in media education incorporating elements of research and source criticism; in education for sustainable development to delve into the complexity of global conditions and sustainability efforts; or in the prevention of extremism to highlight the mechanisms of radicalisation.

Do you work on these or similar topics and would like to develop an escape game? With our teaching experience, our variety of methods and our enthusiasm for new approaches, you’ve come to the right place for new developments! We look forward to hearing from you.