This is our list of the best virtual team escape rooms for online team building in 2021!
What are virtual escape rooms for teambuilding?
In case you’ve never done a virtual escape room or even a real-life escape room, a virtual escape room is an online room you must solve with a group of people – your colleagues, friends or family – in an online web-based program or app which you can access with your computer, tablet or phone conducted through conferencing platforms such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, Webex or others, usually led by a host.
The objective is always to escape the room as fast as possible whether against other teams, yourself or against a time limit. To escape the room teams must solve challenging puzzles, riddles and conundrums which require teamwork, collaboration, communication and leadership skills.
Virtual escape rooms are a fun team bonding experience that can be done while being apart and are therefore a great way to bringing team members closer together, especially during a time of lockdown, social distancing and remote work.
What are the different types of virtual escape rooms?
You can find countless escape rooms online with a great variety of gameplay and themes.
Many of the so-called virtual escape rooms are only text based which are basically a series of questions or riddles at most and often cause for disappointment especially for those who have already experienced real-life escape rooms.
The somewhat more advanced escape rooms will have you go through different web pages and ‘rooms’ with a different puzzle to solve in each room to finally escape the last room. Some might enjoy these types of rooms the most. An example of this type of room is the Egyptian – Escape the Pyramid.
The best and most advanced type of virtual escape rooms are those that have you actually look through a virtual 360 room whereby you see the whole room with all the items and evidence you need to escape it. An example of this type of room is Sherlock Holmes.
How to choose a virtual escape room?
The biggest point to consider when choosing a virtual escape room is the type of game play as described above. The most advanced rooms will have a virtual 360 gameplay which will give for a real-life feel as if you’re actually in the room. Others might prefer a room whereby you go from one web page to another.
Whatever your preference is, always make sure you know what you buy by reading reviews or requesting a demonstration, the best companies that offer virtual escape rooms will also give you a demonstration if you ask them.
Here’s our list of virtual escape room themes
Egyptian – Escape the Pyramid
Sherlock Holmes
Sci-fi – Escape the space station
Indiana Jones
Night at the Museum
LOST – Island Escape
Beat the Virus!
Matrix Escape
1920s Gothic Horror
Zombie Apocalypse
Conclusion
The best virtual escape room experience is the one whereby remote teams and virtual workers bond, communicate and improve teamwork while working on relationships and skills, especially during a time of lockdown and social distancing.
Other types of virtual team building activities and games
For a list of other virtual team building activities similar to the virtual escape room such as the Virtual Amazing Race, Virtual Treasure Hunt and Murder Mystery Online, check out our other articles or visit our activities page.
FAQ
Here’s a list of the most commonly asked questions and answers about virtual team building and escape rooms.