Ideally, your escape room will end with you and your group successfully defeating the mystery before time elapses and then having your photo taken to share with your friends on social media. However, many escape rooms are highly challenging, which means that there's a good chance you won't get out in time. When the room defeats you, an escape room employee will arrive and offer to quickly walk you through the rest of the mystery. Here are some dos and don'ts for approaching this discussion.

Do: Get A Walkthrough

When the room stumps you, there's a good chance that you'll spend a significant amount of time after leaving the escape room thinking about where you went wrong or what clues you missed. To avoid occupying your mind in this way, ask the employee to give your group a walkthrough. You don't necessarily have to have this walkthrough, but you may find that it's cathartic and informative.

Don't: Take Notes Or Photos

There will likely be lots of "a-ha" moments as the employee breaks down the various clues that you failed to successfully get through, and this may compel you to take notes or perhaps even snap a subtle photo of something with your cellphone. It's ideal to avoid the temptation to do either. For example, you might want to attempt the room again, and having notes or photos to consult before doing so would be cheating yourself.

Do: Ask Lots Of Questions

Don't be afraid to ask a bunch of questions of the employee as he or she walks you through the rest of the mystery. This is especially valuable if you're fairly new to the escape room experience. The answers to the questions that you answer will help you to better understand what types of clues and solutions exist, and this can help you to think more creatively during future escape room challenges.

Don't: Go Over The Answer As You Leave

When your group realizes where you went wrong, everyone will likely be talking about the challenge. You want to be careful about doing so when you leave the escape room, however. There may be another group in the lobby that will be entering your room shortly, so the last thing that you want to do is make the challenge easier for that group because you were loudly talking about one of the clues as you walked through the lobby.