Saturday, April 15, 2017

Breakout Fever!

This past year I celebrated a significant birthday. When asked what I would like to do to mark the occasion, I replied that I couldn't think of anything I'd rather do than be locked in a room with my in-laws, and be forced to stay there until we worked together on some problems.

I got my wish; we played an escape room game at Breakout Belleville. We weren't literally locked in the room, but we did have an hour to look for clues, solve riddles and figure out a pile of locks to finally win the game. Our game hostess was fantastic (thank you for the hints under the door when we were pulling our hair out), and the venue and staging was great too. It was interesting to see how each person had a different perspective, how our personalities really came out, and how ultimately we worked together to win the game (with just two minutes to spare). Here we are immediately following our successful break out. I think those are pretty happy faces for a family that just spent an hour "locked" in a room together.


This was the second escape room game I had played. The first was at a Google Apps for Education Summit that I attended in the fall. There we had the opportunity to play a game designed by the folks at Breakout EDU. Breakout EDU brings all of the excitement and challenges of a breakout game into the classroom. Rather than trying to break out out of a room, players need to break in to a locked box. All you need is the Breakout EDU kit, and you can play any of the hundreds of free games on their site (www.breakoutedu.com).

We now have boxes at a couple of the schools where I work. I have set up many games for students and staff, and even made a custom game for a class review for a test. I've learned more than I ever thought I could about setting, troubleshooting and sometimes even, ahem...um, yes, decoding (ie. picking) locks. It has been fun to watch the players enjoying the games. They are learning, making connections, and working cooperatively. I love seeing the lightbulb moments, and seeing how each one contributes to the group. Even when there are tense moments, when a group successfully "breaks out" I almost always see the same kind of smiles as in our picture above. Who knew learning could be so fun?

This weekend I am setting up an Easter Breakout for my family. It will be a new twist on the old Easter egg hunt. In about a month I'll be heading to Ottawa to present Breakout at the Ontario Association of Library Technicians/Association des bibliotechniciens de l'Ontario 44th Annual Conference. You could say I've got Breakout fever. Don't worry though Breakout Belleville, I will be back. I want to be able to play sometimes too!

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