Getting Prepared

For our In Person escape rooms, you really just needed to show up.  Unfortunately, that’s not the way live escape rooms work.  We do depend on you having a few things.  And some things we really recommend.

Required Items:

• A zoom capable internet connection
  
• A device capable of running both Zoom and a web browser

Strongly recommended items per person:

• 1 laptop or desktop per person (OPTIONAL: Second screen or tablet.  phones are NOT recommended)
  
• Headphone / microphone 
• Zoom installed and working on one device.  And a web browser on the other device
• A good internet connection
• Paper & pen

On the day

At the appointed time (or maybe a minute or two early), everyone should fire up their devices, click on the link from the email and see something that looks like this:

At this point you can fire up zoom by clicking Start Zoom.

Zoom should show up after you go through whatever screens you need to get Zoom to show up.  And if you don’t have to install Zoom now, pat yourself on the back for following the instructions earlier!  You’re well on your way to saving the world!

If this is your only device, resize the two windows so that you can see the browser window on half of the screen, and Zoom on the other half.  Something like this might work:

If you have a 2nd device, follow the link from the email on the 2nd device.  Enter your name and click “Play” and then make this browser full sized on the 2nd device.  Go back to your Zoom session device, close the browser and make Zoom full size.  Bask in your awesomeness.  (If you want to run inventory on the 1st device, then don't click Start Zoom on the 1st device, click that on the 2nd device)

If you have headphones or a microphone, we highly recommend using them now.  Extra random sounds are not usually helpful.

After the game

I hope you had an awesome time!  Now we’d love to get a picture of your group.  Show how much you enjoyed it!

And please,  please, please, let us know what you think by emailing us at info@foxinaboxchicago.com or me personally at vince@foxinaboxchicago.com.  This is really new and we want it to be awesome.  If you had a bad time in any way, let me know directly so we can fix it and make it better for everyone!  I read and take personally every single message I get from guests whether it is direct or via some review website.  I want us to be the very best we can be, and for that, I need your help.

FAQs

Does everyone really need their own device?

Not really.  However, if people are sharing devices they either need to connected multiple pairs of headphones so there is not feedback, or they need to mute often.  We find muting causes people to disengage and have less fun.  And far more people have an extra device than have headphone splitters.  If you have a headphone splitter, have at it!

Can we all sit in the same room with different devices?

Yes, you can.  But you will definitely need headphones.  Otherwise, you will get audio feedback and you will not be happy with that.

Why do I need 2 devices?

With two devices (and we include a second computer screen counting as a 2nd device), you can more easily see what’s going on in zoom while also seeing what’s going on with the inventory system.  You can get away with a single device, but you will need to resize both your browser and the zoom session to see what is happening.  It works, but it’s less than optimal.

What do you mean by devices anyway?

Why can’t I use my phone?

It’s really small.  Also, you will want to run both the inventory system and a browser.  Some phones are able to run two apps at the same time, but it’s a pretty poor experience.  If you want a phone as your 2nd device, then we recommend using Zoom on your phone rather than the inventory system.  If you have two phones and no other devices, you can try it.  But we do not recommend it.

Can everyone gather around a single computer?

You can, however, people feel less engaged with a shared screen, and also players sharing a computer end up having to take turns with the inventory system (and that often makes the other person feel less engaged).  If you’ve ever had a zoom call where 3-4 people are gathered around a single screen, I’m sure you have seen how those people won’t really engage with the Zoom group -- they’ll engage with each other.  As for taking turns on the inventory system, your guess is as good as ours how to manage that.

What are some wacky setups that actually worked?

One group had everyone in a living room with a big TV which was running zoom.  Everyone also had a laptop or tablet running the inventory system.  And they had their phones connected with headphones running zoom.  And there was one good open microphone in the room.  It actually worked.  No crazy feedback.  Everyone could mess around with the inventory system on their laptop, and they had their headphones on to listen to zoom.

Why paper & pen?

Because it’s really cool to be able to write things down when they occur to you.  It also helps immensely with math. 

Math?  Can I use a calculator or computer instead?

Sure.  But paper and pen is a great way to exercise your math skills from junior high.

Can we add more players?

Yes!  Give us a call before your game to take care of payment.  No one wants to share credit card information over a party line.

What is the maximum number of players?

We have a limit of 10 players per game.  We would love to take more but the telescape live system which handles inventory has a limit of 10.

Can we have a few people huddled around one computer and just pay for one person?

We do require payment for every person participating -- not based on the # of zoom sessions or telescape sessions.  To be completely transparent, we’re not making any money off of this.  This is a way to pay our staff and hopefully not lose so much keeping our lease so we can come back strong when in person games are allowed.  

Can we record the game?

Unfortunately not.  This is intellectual property that is critical to the survival of our company, and recordings are not allowed.  If you really do want to record an escape room and can pay for a one time new design and complete implementation of a room, please let us know. :)

Can we stay on the Zoom call after the game?

You can stay on for a bit, but not more than 10-15 minutes.  We will hopefully* need to take back the zoom session for our next guests.  Zoom is not so understanding about people staying on a call for a long time.

*hopefully because we really want our employees to make some money and for our business to survive, and us needing the room back means we have more guests.  Huzzah!

What's with the +1 on your phone number?

Kudos to you for reading to the end of the FAQ!  The + on a phone number indicates that a country code is being used.  And 1 is the country code of both the US and Canada.  Since we now can offer our remote rooms worldwide, it makes sense to include a +1 in front of our area code.  And IMHO it’s also just cooler.