A school trip to an escape room

An escape room works for a school trip if you split the class into small teams that play at the same time in several rooms. At Gamescape, at ul. Kościuszki 74, a single room holds from 2 up to 5, 6 or 8 players, depending on the scenario, and a game lasts 65 or 90 minutes. Gamescape welcomes schools with children aged 8 and over, and makes the puzzles easier for younger pupils if needed. If you want the whole class to play one scenario at the same time, a city game is often the better choice. Below you’ll find what to agree with the organiser, how to split the class and how to make use of the trip back at school.

What to tell the organiser when you book

Before you choose a scenario, get a few details ready. The organiser can only plan the rooms and the schedule once they have them:

• the number of pupils and staff, because it decides how many teams and rooms you need,
• the pupils’ age, because some rooms have age restrictions,
• the date and time you’ll arrive, including time for travel, gathering and a break,
• the language of the game, because the scenarios can also be played in English,
• the purpose of the trip, whether it’s about team bonding or working on a specific topic,
• pupils’ relevant needs, for example anxiety about tight passages or dim lighting.

Gamescape’s school offer says that teachers and staff are welcome to play along free of charge. The operator also mentions the possibility of support for pupils who can’t afford a ticket, once you describe the situation in an email. Check current prices and terms before you book.

A goal you can put into words

“The pupils will have a good time” is an understandable hope, but it’s not a learning goal. If communication is what you care about, you can come back to how information was passed around after the game. If the topic is history, check what the scenario actually covers and what sources it’s based on.

Having puzzles in a game doesn’t prove it improves school results or career skills. The game creates a situation for working together, and the teacher can help pupils notice it and talk it through.

Matching the scenario to the class

The theme should make sense to the group and be one they’re happy with. In its school offer, Gamescape gives two examples: Enchanted Amulets for classes that like fantasy, and Chimera Protocol for groups that want something closer to Krakow’s art, because real paintings by Krakow’s master painters are part of its puzzles.

Before you book, read the notes on the room pages:

• Enchanted Amulets is dimly lit.
• Chimera Protocol, Dragon’s Curse and House of Krak have tight spaces and narrow passages, unsuitable for anyone with claustrophobia.
• Anatomy of Crime 2 is a crime thriller for ages 16 and over, so it isn’t suitable for a primary school.
• Dead Man’s Chest is a pirate adventure described as child-friendly, with no warnings about tight passages or dim lighting.

Not every pupil wants an intense crime story, and different rooms can involve different stimuli. It’s worth collecting relevant needs before the final split, without publicly labelling anyone.

Splitting the class is part of the planning

Each room has its own player limit. According to Gamescape’s room pages: Dead Man’s Chest takes 2 to 6 players, Enchanted Amulets 2 to 8, Dragon’s Curse 2 to 5, Chimera Protocol 2 to 6, and House of Krak 2 to 6, with a 90-minute game instead of 65. The school offer says a school group can have from 15 to 52 people, and playing time is from an hour to an hour and a half.

For example, a class of 24 could, on paper, be split into four teams of six. That’s only an organisational idea. You still need to confirm that four rooms holding six players each are free at the same time, and decide where pupils who finish early will wait.

Plan supervision, too. Gamescape’s game rules (in Polish) require a pupil under 14 to play together with an adult guardian who is taking part in the game. For organised groups, the number of guardians is agreed individually with a Gamescape staff member, depending on the number of participants. With younger classes, ask directly whether each team needs an adult in the room.

Also agree where each group finishes and how you’ll gather the class again. The booked playing time doesn’t automatically cover the whole visit, travel and getting everyone together.

A city game for the whole class at once

When the class is large, or you want everyone to start and finish at the same moment, look at a city game. Teams solve puzzles along a route through the city, so you don’t have to split pupils by room capacity.

• In Gamescape’s city games for schools, each team gets an iPad with the route and puzzles, including augmented reality. The game takes about two hours and can be run in English.
• EscapeCity for schools runs games in the Old Town, in Kazimierz or in Nowa Huta, and says it can host up to 280 pupils at once, so nobody waits in a queue.
• The Krakow Legends app is a self-guided game on a phone with GPS. A full game takes about one and a half to two hours, there’s no time limit, and one access covers a group playing on one phone. So if you split the class into teams, each one needs its own phone with access.

On a city route, spread the staff across the teams and agree a meeting point at the finish.

If the trip should support a particular subject

The lesson topic doesn’t turn up in the game by itself. If the trip is meant to support maths, history or science, the tasks should genuinely require the relevant knowledge. A code, an old letter or a picture of a plant doesn’t prove that on its own. Ask the organiser to describe the kinds of tasks without giving away the solutions.

In a fantasy game inspired by Krakow, it’s especially important to separate legend from historical fact. A story about a dragon or King Krak can spark interest in the city, but it doesn’t replace knowledge of a particular period. After the game, you could give pupils two short texts about the same event and ask them to mark what comes straight from the material and what is guesswork.

During the game, taking part is what counts

Encourage pupils to talk about what they discover and to take turns working with the materials. Someone may need a moment to read a task or put an idea into words. There’s no point judging them against the most experienced player.

If teams play in different rooms, their results aren’t a simple class ranking. The scenarios have different tasks and different difficulty levels. A shared finale can be about telling the story of an interesting moment, rather than naming winners and losers.

After the trip: one specific question

Ask pupils when information from someone else helped them move forward. A short example from the game shows teamwork better than a general slogan about working together.

You can also pick one task and ask a team to retrace their route to the solution: what the clue was, which idea they dropped and how they spotted a mistake. Their answers will show what the group really understood. That way the trip stays an adventure, and the conversation helps pupils draw their own conclusions from it.