We share our experience on how we produce puzzles for escape rooms.

If you want to build a puzzle for the escape room yourself, then we highly recommend reading this article.
Every point in it has been suffered and tortured by our ten years of experience in the ER industry - more than 640 projects have been implemented and more than 3,000 puzzles have been made.
Therefore, we present you the instructions "how to build a puzzle for an escape room on your own (hints)».
Let's start with the material of the body, possible options:
- Solid wood (furniture board)

- Plywood
- Reinforced foam
- plastic sheets: acrylic/polystyrene
- Aluminum Composite Panels
We actively use the first two options as the most versatile and easily processed, but at the same time strong.
For decorative overlays, sheet plastics, MDF/HDF and veneer can be used.
Designing the body itself:
- To provide full access to the electronics, keep in mind that a small viewing hatch will not be enough. It is important to remember that the more space inside, the better.
- Design a sufficient space inside the enclosure, which will be sufficient to accommodate all the components.
- Avoid small and protruding parts — players will break them off in the first couple of weeks. Unless you additionally reinforce them from the inside with a metal pin



- If self-tapping screws are needed on the part of the puzzle visible to the players, then do not use standard PZ/PH heads, use self-tapping screws / screws with a hexagonal head or a semicircular head, so that it corresponds in some way to the general style and theme of the puzzle.
- Linings and any additional external elements must be attached mechanically in addition to glue! Players will defeat any glue!
- If there is a choice between a beautiful and elegant detail versus a large and more "rounded" one, please choose the last one.
The electronics inside puzzles:
- Controller: arduino / Rasberry or PLC — it all depends on your skills and approaches to designing electronics for escape rooms.
- All the electronics inside must be mechanically fixed. Even if you use glue that has never failed you, screw in a couple of additional screws. Trust us, everything comes off.
- Good cable management. Careful laying of wires and their marking, firstly, is just a good manner. Subsequent maintenance and troubleshooting are greatly simplified.
- The location of the electronics should be such that there is convenient access to the replacement of components/sensors.
- Keep in mind the cables: power/signal/audio, etc. Take them out from below, behind or to the side, it all depends on how the puzzle will be located in the escape room. And just remember that these cables exist in principle.
- The controllers have various connectors: LAN, USB, aux 3.5, be careful not to place the electronics with these connectors against the walls.

Electronics outside (gaming electronics):
- LCD screens should be protected by an additional layer of 3-6mm thick acrylic (depending on the screen size)
- Use only two types of buttons: vandal-proof and "for slot machines" (arcade machines)
- Various rotating switches, potentiometers, for the most part have a plastic base and will fail very quickly, we highly recommend using only those that have a metal "base".
All the best,
EcoDecor team
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