HOW YOU CAN SET A KILLER NAME FOR YOUR ESCAPE ROOM TEAM

Give your team a unique identity and your teammates a drive to succeed with a well-chosen team name.

Choosing a name for our team? Peace of cake…

Yeah, that’s how folks think choosing an escape room team name is - as easy as ABC.

That is, until they actually get around to having to pick one.

That’s when the disagreements and the bickering starts as almost everyone in the group will have their own idea on what their team should be known as…and it’s rare for even two folks to have the same idea, much less everyone.

We’ve been hosting teams at our Chicago escape room for years, and we know how it goes.

So you have two choices.

One, become Kim Jong Un and force everyone else to accept your idea.

Two, read the rest of this blog post and find out how you can select a killer name for your team.

Quick note…as an escape room business, we’re going to be focusing on escape room teams here, but whatever we say applies to teams in general.

First…Should you even spend time over this? Why the escape room team name matters

Here’s the deal: having a name for the team that all the people in the group agree with can boost the quality of your escape experience by a few notches.

It’s key to team building

An escape room is a lot of things - a chance to immerse yourself in a dreamlike adventure, a great way to spend time with loved ones, the weekend activity that beats most other weekend activities by a mile…

But above all, an escape room is a group experience; a team building activity.

And while the bulk of the team building happens inside the escape room, you can make a start before your adventure begins…by choosing a name for your team.

Looking to bond with loved ones? Here are some impactful group bonding activities you can choose from!

It gives you all an identity

Your team name is a testament to who you are.

Consider the Chicago Bears (choosing an example everyone - veterans of escape rooms or otherwise - will be familiar with).

Of course the team doesn’t metamorphose into actual bears, but it matches with their symbol/logo - that of a bear, and gives them a sense of who they are.

A team name gives the people in the team an identity - not their personal one - but as part of the team.

Getting an identity and being valued as a member of the team is a key reason why you should take part in team building activities.

It boosts competitive spirit

By giving the people in your group an identity as part of a single team, your team name becomes a point around which team members can rally around.

This creates a competitive, us-vs-them spirit, giving the entire team a drive to do their best so the team can escape the room in time.

In fact, growing this competitive spirit, a.k.a. “killer instinct”, is a key reason why team building is important for businesses.

Time to “christen” your escape room team

Well, you can always have a random discussion and see where it leads…but why do that when you can make an event out of it?

Here’s a process you can follow to come up with a name for your escape room team:

• Give everyone in the group two index cards.

• Ask them to write down their 2 top choices for the team name, one on each card.

• They shouldn’t initial their cards; the choices must remain anonymous.

• Once everyone is done, throw the cards into a bowl.

• Then pick them out one at a time and see which name has been suggested the most.

• If all the choices are different, try to group them into themes.

• Pick the most popular theme and vote for the most popular name of that theme.

Things to consider when choosing a name for your escape room team

Here are some factors to consider when thinking about a snappy name for your group.

Do you want the team name to reflect the escape room concept?

With some creativity, you can work the mystery room concept into your team name, without making it something bland like Team Escape.

A mystery game is your own movie-like adventure, so you can go for something like The Adventurers.

Want to focus on the “60 minute adventure” aspect? Go for something like Gone In 60 Minutes.

Looking to capitalize on skills required to beat an escape room? Here’s an idea - Code Breakers.

You can make it an adventure-specific name

OK, let me expand on that.

We have four escape room adventures you can choose from.

So, for example if you were opting for our bank heist themed escape game, your team could be called The Real McCoys. If you’re taking part in our serial killer themed mystery room, you could call yourselves ETK, for Escape The Killer and a play on a famous serial killer’s name.

You can focus on something that’s common among all of you

For example if you’re a group of parents who’ve engaged babysitters to enjoy a night out, call yourselves Escaped The Kids.

If you fancy yourselves as blessed with creative and artistic abilities, call yourselves Escape Artists. OK, that’s a bit #cringe, but I think you get the idea.

You all work in the software industry? Try out something along the lines of Codeaholics Anonymous.

Some things to keep in mind when deciding what to call your team

A few tips and tricks that you can follow to come up with some really amazing ideas for your team name:

• Keep it short: Unless you have a really good reason, make it something snappy that anyone can mention easily, without having to stop and think.

• You can make it punny: Sometimes, a pun is all that’s needed to add an extra zing to the team name. For example, The Whodinis, or Jeepers Keypers (for a horror themed adventure room).

• Include a strong adjective: Remember what I said about the team name boosting killer instinct? Understanding the science of how puzzles boost your brain health can give you insights. A superlative qualifier like “Pro” (for example Pro Planners) or “Max” (for example Max Escape) will put that on steroids."

A few more examples of killer escape room team names

1. Dr. No Chance - for James Bond fans, especially if they’re new to escape rooms and don’t fancy their chances of a successful escape.

2. The Masterminds

3. Mission Possible: Escape Mission

4. Sher-Unlock Holmes

5. Escape Pros

6. Right On Time

7. Breakout Kings

8. The Locksmiths

9. Escape Conquerors

10. The Good Fellas

11. Risktakers

12. The Brainiacs

13. T.E.A.M. (The Escape Adventure Monsieurs)

14. American Escape Story

15.  The Great Escapers

Now, over to you.

What are YOU proposing to call your team when you head over to challenge Chicago’s best-loved escape room?

Do let us know!

Featured image by Mimi Thian on Unsplash.