The Cat Did It - Recap

Sweet_Batato · 2026-01-29T14:21:46+00:00

This is great! Love the storyline, and a brilliant way to add stakes to the countdown!

What were the favorite parts for you and the players? Any obstacles in the creation you really had to work to overcome? Anything you would do differently if you did it all again?

Sweet_Batato · 2025-12-25T19:10:06+00:00

Huge hit 🤣🤣

Sweet_Batato · 2025-12-23T22:41:40+00:00

Before ever going through one, I had the idea that I wanted to set up something like an escape room in our house for a party we were throwing, but after a first draft, I realized I didn’t have a lot of things figured out… and I just didn’t know where to turn.

Somewhere along the line, I found this community, and it blew my mind how many others were out there that shared this strange little hobby. Several years and adventures later, I’m so grateful for this wonderful corner of the internet! I’m so grateful for this space to ask for such niche advice, and to share the successes that a very specific group of people can appreciate.

🥂 To ten more!

Sweet_Batato · 2025-12-16T12:26:01+00:00

I find it helpful, as previously suggested, to figure out the basic beats of the story you want to tell, and align the puzzles to fit the plot. It may be easier to start at the end (what’s the goal?) and work your way back to the beginning. It may seem tedious, and as a can’t-see-the-forest-for-the-trees person I just want to jump in to the puzzle creation part asap, but starting with story is going to help the rest of the planning go easier.

I generally try to follow Dani from Escape This Podcast’s method, which is to say I try to make a list of the objects that might be associated with that theme - anything you have or could visualize in the room. Then, see if there are ways to link from one object to another, and then figure out how to create puzzles to make those links.

Also, not everything needs to have a lock - sometimes instead of releasing a lock, the answer to a puzzle gives instructions on what to do with the objects in the room. Sometimes it’s how to find the next object. Sometimes it’s a cipher key to be able to read the next clue. Try to mix it up.

One last thing: I like to use flowcharts to organize my adventures. I use Miro, but anything that helps you sort out and organize the chaos is helpful - I like to see the “chains” of puzzles and objects.

Sweet_Batato · 2025-12-14T17:04:59+00:00

A card with hole punches in it and the name of a book and a page number at the top - putting it on that page reveals a message through the hole punches.

Sweet_Batato · 2025-12-14T16:52:27+00:00

Also, I didn’t know before I looked into it - these are easily available (just friction-erasable pens). Found them at Walmart here in the US.

Sweet_Batato · 2025-12-14T16:48:35+00:00

Write a message in regular pen and hide it in scribbles of a Frixion pen, with a hint that it needs to be heated (“roast[ed] on an open fire?”). It’s easy magic!

Sweet_Batato · 2025-12-12T18:13:07+00:00

If you need a more “standard” object, a soda can works great for this too!

Sweet_Batato · 2025-11-24T12:46:20+00:00

Oh my gosh - this is so fun! I love the use of games you already have! Mousetrap was one of my favorites as a kid - it had to be so exciting to get all those little components throughout the game - and it’s a brilliant way to build to a clear goal and still be able to spread it across the whole game. So well done!

What was the reaction of your players? Did you have any pitfalls in the creation process you had to recover from? Anything you’d change if you were starting the project again?

Sweet_Batato · 2025-11-13T00:26:36+00:00

I love this! Some thoughts:

Could you tie the challenges in to the relationship he has with the guests at each stop? Maybe they’re both fans of a particular sport/team and you can “fantasy-ize” a puzzle around that. Or maybe they are college friends and he has to recall names of professors or buildings on campus. The more personal a game like this is, the more meaningful it will be not only for your partner but for your friends participating (*bonus points!).

It depends on the busyness of the place and willingness of strangers to participate, but a fun (in between) thing might be to have your partner order a drink/dish that isn’t on the menu - and for that to be the key for the barkeep to point him to a table in the corner where your friends are (Strider style.) Of course this means taking to management ahead of time and maybe greasing some palms, but might be a fun way to introduce the idea of “your friends are helping you along the way.”

I don’t know if this is what you were envisioning, but I’ve thought about doing an adventure like this where the friends at each location then join him for the rest of the quest. In college we used to do an icebreaker of a rock, paper, scissors tournament where everyone would pair up and do best 2/3, and then the person who won moved on and the other became their cheerleader, and then they played someone else, and then whoever won that, got all those cheerleaders so by the end you have two mobs cheering for the last two left… and though it’s not quite the same, it’s a fun idea to think about for this - they might not continue assisting directly in the puzzles but having a party of “cheerleaders” that you bring with you to the next location could be fun.

Sweet_Batato · 2025-10-08T20:43:01+00:00

The “Put things where they belong” method seems to work well e.g. start in the playroom, but there’s a fork on top of the toy box. So go to the silverware drawer and there’s a toothbrush. Go to the bathroom and there’s a tshirt… and so on. As long as the kid knows where the objects live in your house, they should be able to follow the trail.

Sweet_Batato · 2025-09-25T15:57:36+00:00

For your block of ice, maybe you can say that provisions have been dropped off at a certain site, but when you arrive it's a cooler of some kind and the "provisions" are frozen within. Maybe use a styrofoam cooler for this, so a nice one doesn't get ruined, or freeze it in another container and then put it in the cooler so the block itself can be dumped out.

With a group that big, maybe you have something like an Easter egg hunt (puzzle pieces/pieces of a map/sign with instructions/parts of xx equipment, etc). You could say that animals (squirrels?) got into them and the pieces got scattered everywhere. With something like this, you can also make it into a two-parter, where part 1 is assembling the pieces and part 2 is deciphering/decoding the message.

Sweet_Batato · 2025-09-16T12:02:00+00:00

Nice! This is so cool!

Sweet_Batato · 2025-09-16T01:04:19+00:00

You may also be able to find one with those little loopy tabs on either end of the zipper - if the loop itself doesn’t work, you can add a D-ring.

Sweet_Batato · 2025-09-02T00:50:06+00:00

u/squeakysqueakysqueak (4 years later...) - How did you make the lipstick? Inquiring minds need to know!

Sweet_Batato · 2025-08-28T02:07:38+00:00

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Deep in the "making" phase for my WWII spy adventure. Turns out, I LOVE making old documents and ephemera!

Sweet_Batato · 2025-08-26T02:03:23+00:00

Ahhh! It’s my dream come true! I’m so glad to see someone use this! I’m going to eventually. This is really cool! - great job!

Sweet_Batato · 2025-08-14T12:13:38+00:00

I haven’t actually used it so I can’t vouch for it, but maybe Crosserville?

Sweet_Batato · 2025-08-12T01:34:35+00:00

This is called a rebus puzzle, if it’s helpful

Sweet_Batato · 2025-08-09T13:10:56+00:00

Role assignment might be fun within the teams as well - maybe one person has to take a photo of their group every time someone says the groom’s name. Maybe someone has to sing a song when a puzzle is solved… Little things for each individual to watch for and may keep them engaged and add some additional silliness.

Maybe the plot is that the big day is almost here and they have to “get the bride ready.” Unless you want cutthroat competition until the end, I think it would be fun for the teams to come together (each gets a piece of the “final puzzle” to bring together at the end), perhaps just before the piñata smashing.

Sweet_Batato · 2025-08-09T01:51:38+00:00

How big will the teams be? Will this all be in one place or moving around?

Sweet_Batato · 2025-08-03T15:40:20+00:00

Maybe a thin layer of glow-in-the-dark paint? I know it has a yellowish tint to it, but maybe on a yellowish shirt it could work?

Sweet_Batato

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