If you are looking for an escape room idea for large or small groups, you have come to the right place. Whether you are searching for a game or activity for a youth group, team-building event, classroom, or birthday party, this pirate escape room is great for both youth and adults.
Want another escape room idea? Check out my Roaring 20’s Escape Room Fundraiser.
Escape Room Idea for Large or Small Groups
Being a youth leader has been a big part of my life. Every winter, kids get to go to winter camp. For a number of those years, I helped lead an escape room as one of the camp activities. While I haven’t posted these ideas in the past, I figured why not share the one I helped set up for this year?
My claim is that this is an escape room idea for large or small groups. “How large?” you may ask. Well, this escape room accommodated 120 kids at high school winter camp. While the makers of this escape room, Mystery Locks (affiliate link that gives you $5.00 off your order), didn’t create it for this large of a group, I have modified it to work for these numbers.
I wanted to share this modified version because escape rooms are often made for smaller groups. I wanted to encourage leaders that there are creative ways to adapt ready-to-use DIY printable escape rooms for big groups.
The escape rooms at Mystery Locks can be printed out and prepared quickly for small groups, families, or even individuals. Alternatively, they can also be modified to build an epic escape room experience that would be more typical of the escape rooms you’d go to and pay for entry. In this post, however, I’ll show you how they can be altered for large group experiences like youth retreats, team-building events, or classroom fun.
Materials You Need for this Pirate Escape Room
Note: Affiliate links are provided for your convenience. Everything you purchase through these links goes to support the free resources I provide at Meaningful Mama. Thank you for your support.
Just to re-emphasize, this escape room can be done really simply. You can buy, print, and assemble the experience with just a few materials and a small amount of time. I wanted to take the escape room to the next level, so I will be sharing all the things purchased to bring the escape room to life. Invest as little or as much as you want into your own pirate escape room adventure.
Note: The first four items on this list are all you need to do the pirate escape room in a simplified way.
- The Pirate Box Mystery Escape Room – <<<< Get $5 off your purchase of $30 or more. This printable kit comes with all the paper puzzles and instructions you need to set up the escape room.
- Hot Glue, Glue Sticks, Double Stick Tape, or Glue Dots – I found the hot glue as the best way to assemble some of the 3-D pieces, but be careful when applying.
- Paper Cutter and/or Scissors – I love having a paper cutter around!
- Heavy Cardstock Paper
- 9 Boxes or Bags that Can Be Locked with a Padlock – I found plastic toolboxes at Dollar Tree, which I transformed into treasure boxes. The treasure box DIY post is coming soon. If budget weren’t a thing, I would have ordered these treasure chests. Here is a less expensive alternative. Dollar Tree was the win for me.
- 9 – 4 digit padlocks
- Small Envelopes
- Pirate Hats, Swords, and Eye Patches for added fun.
- 5 pieces of Foam Board – While I linked to Amazon here, this was a Dollar Tree find for me.
- Spray Adhesive
- Free Introduction Script – Best experienced in a pirate costume with a pirate voice. This sets the rules and instructions for the large group format.
- Note Pads to help teams solve puzzles
- Pens or Pencils to help teams solve the puzzles
How to Set Up Stations for this Large Group Pirate Escape Room
To help you create this escape room for large groups, I am going to provide a breakdown of the setup for each station. After the written description, there will be a video showing the set-up.
For our group, the flow was that in each treasure box, there were the clues for the next puzzle and the leader they would need to find. This leader was manning the next station. Those leaders would be fitted with the hints to solve the puzzle given in the previous treasure box.
There are alternatives to setting up stations. Rather than leader names, one could send participants to station numbers or to various rooms of a house or retreat center. One of the reasons I have had it set up with leader names is that I think it is fun to have a component where kids have to run around camp to find the next leader. It does add time, so it just depends on your group parameters.
In our main room, we had different stations set up. These were stations 1, 4, 8, and 10. Also in this room were posters. I printed the posters larger (how you want to size them is up to you) and used spray adhesive to adhere them to the foam core board to make them more durable and reusable. The posters I printed out for the main room were:
- A large poster (right and left half) of the room with the clues (pdf pg. 16 & 17).
- A large poster of the 4×4 letter clue (pdf pg. 19 top half).
- A large poster of the sheet with the phrase, “I locked my desk with a 4-digit code…” (pdf pg. 23 bottom half).
Other Posters for Other Stations:
- A large poster with a grid that has shapes along the top and side, and numbers within the grid (pdf pg. 18 top half). This will be placed at station 3.
- A large poster of the pirate picture (pdf pg. 20). This will be placed at station 5.
- A large poster of the pirate picture with a grid over the top (pdf pg. 21 top half). This will be placed at station 5.
The posters were hung on the wall using velcro Command Strips or set on the table at the station.
The main room also contained items that needed to be passed out to each team: a notepad, pencil, puzzle cube, initial envelope, and pirate attire. Each team also had a “hints needed” sheet (free printable). This was a place where leaders could write down and initial how many hints were needed at each station.
As a reminder, we had five teams running at a time so that is the reason we had five envelopes in each treasure box.
Station 1 (main room):
- Starting Envelope 3926
- Inside Envelope 3926, 5 brown envelopes each containing puzzle 1 storyline (because we had 5 teams running the escape room at a time)
- A cube for every team
- A “Hints Needed” sheet for every team
- Large poster (right and left half) of the room with the clues (pdf pg. 16 & 17). There also will be a large poster of the 4×4 letter clue (pdf pg. 19 top). Also, provide a large poster of the sheet with the phrase, “I locked my desk with a 4-digit code…” (pdf. Pg 23 bottom half).
- The leader at Station 1 should have the hints for Puzzle 1.
- Treasure box with lock set to the solution to puzzle 1. The treasure box at this table will contain envelope number 2854. Within the skull and crossbones envelope, there will be 5 brown envelopes each containing the Puzzle 2 storyline and the half-circle decoder. The treasure box will also say the leader’s name who is at Station 2.
Station 2
- The leader at station 2 should have the hints for Puzzle 2.
- Treasure box with lock set to the solution to puzzle 2. The treasure box at this table will contain envelope number 1265. Within the skull and crossbones envelope, there will be 5 brown envelopes each containing the Puzzle 3 storyline. The treasure box will also say the leader’s name who is at Station 3.
Station 3
- In this room, there should be a large poster with a grid that has shapes along the top and side, and numbers within the grid (pdf page 18 top half).
- The leader at station 3 should have the hints for puzzle 3.
- Treasure box with lock set to the solution for puzzle 3. The treasure box at this table will contain envelope number 7391. Within the skull and crossbones envelope, there will be 5 brown envelopes each containing the Puzzle 4 storyline. The treasure box will also say the leader’s name who is at Station 4.
Station 4 (main room)
- In the main room, kids will need to reference the right side of the large poster as well as the 4×4 letter grid to solve the puzzle.
- The leader at station 4 should have the hints for puzzle 4.
- Treasure box with lock set to the solution for puzzle 4. The treasure box at this table will contain envelope number 8361. Within the skull and crossbones envelope, there will be 5 brown envelopes each containing the Puzzle 5 storyline. The treasure box will also say the leader’s name who is at Station 5.
Station 5
- Hanging in station 5 should be the pirate poster as well as the pirate poster with the grid of letters going across and numbers going down.
- The leader at station 5 should have the hints for puzzle 5.
- Treasure box with lock set to the solution for puzzle 5. The treasure box at this table will contain envelope number 1263. Within the skull and crossbones envelope, there will be 5 brown envelopes each containing the Puzzle 6 storyline, the circle decoder, and the 6 small rectangles with numbers and words. The treasure box will also say the leader’s name, who is at Station 6.
Station 6
- The leader at station 6 should have the hints for puzzle 6.
- Treasure box with lock set to solution 6. The treasure box at this table will contain envelope number 2835. Within the skull and crossbones envelope, there will be 5 brown envelopes each containing the Puzzle 7 storyline, the card with keys, and the 4 thin strips of paper. The treasure box will also say the leader’s name, who is at Station 7.
Station 7
- The leader at station 7 should have the hints for puzzle 7.
- Treasure box with lock set to the solution for puzzle 7. The treasure box at this table will contain envelope number 1621. Within the skull and crossbones envelope, there will be 5 brown envelopes each containing the Puzzle 8 storyline. The treasure box will also say the leader’s name, who is at Station 8.
Station 8 (main room)
- Kids will reference the right half of the large poster and the poster “I locked my desk with a 4-digit code…” to solve this puzzle.
- The leader at station 8 should have the hints for puzzle 8.
- Treasure box with lock set to the solution for puzzle 8. The treasure box at this table will contain envelope number 5921. Within the skull and crossbones envelope, there will be 5 brown envelopes, each containing the Puzzle 9 storyline and the map. Also within the box are 5 x 3-D compasses. The treasure box will also say the leader’s name, who is at Station 9.
Station 9
- The leader at station 9 should have the hints for puzzle 9.
- Treasure box with lock set to the solution to puzzle 9. The treasure box at this table will contain envelope number 2845. Within the skull and crossbones envelope, there will be 5 brown envelopes, each containing the Puzzle 10 storyline, the rectangle base, and the four turtle hints. Also, within the box should be 5 X 3-D prisms with the pointing ghost. The treasure box will also say the leader’s name, who is at Station 10.
Station 10
- The leader should inform the kids they only have one chance to get the final answer right. One envelope will congratulate you, while the others have an x, indicating you lost. The actual printable from Mystery Locks Escape Room contains paper with an x that says try again. Because we had teams competing and racing, we decided to provide 3 of the envelopes with an x. You can get that free printable here.
- The four small ending envelopes. The ending solution is 8542. The other envelopes should contain a letter X indicating they lost the game.
Video Tutorial Showing Large Escape Room Station Setup
Hopefully, the station setup section was helpful, but if there is clarity still needed, here is a video I put together to help.
How to Run an Escape Room for Large Groups
Goal
Teams will compete to get the farthest, the fastest, and with the fewest number of hints. Teams will be given an hour to run the escape room.
Team Setup
We had 120 high schools running this escape room. The teens were broken into 10 groups of 12.
For this experience, we had two activities happening simultaneously – the escape room and the snow sculpture competition. Therefore, we only had 50+ kids actually running the escape room at one time. Once the hour was up, the groups would switch activities.
Therefore, we had 5 groups of 12 kids running the escape room, thus the 5 envelopes at each station. It’s also why I made posters so I didn’t have to duplicate those materials. To prepare this escape room, you will be doing a lot of printing, cutting, and pasting, as many of the materials need to be used for 5 different teams.
Within the teams, the kids are encouraged to break into small groups of 3-4 kids. The purpose here is to give everyone an opportunity to take the lead in a puzzle.
Essentially, for each team, one group of 3-4 kids who are identified by the pirate hats, patches, and swords, take the lead on the first puzzle. Once they solve the first puzzle, they switch out the next group of 3-4 kids within their team (handing costumes to the new crew), and that new group works to solve puzzle 2. Keep rotating through the team for maximum participation. If the lead puzzle solvers get stuck, other team members can help.
Running the Large Group Escape Room
Get your stations set up and leaders in place. Make sure leaders are familiar with the puzzle they have the solutions for.
Read the beginning script provided in the materials section of this post to participants. This can be acted out and pre-recorded in video format if desired.
Ask participants if they have any questions.
Hand each team their puzzle cube, notepad, pencil, pirate gear, and starting envelope.
Each puzzle, when solved, provides the team with a four-digit code. This code will unlock a treasure box, which contains a skull and crossbones envelope. Within the envelope will be 5 envelopes with five puzzles. Each team will take only one envelope and leave the others for the other teams. Some treasure boxes contain an additional item. They are to take one of those. Additionally, there will be an indication of where to head next (a leader’s name, station number, or room).
Leaders at each station will have hints and solutions for their station. They should write down how many hints each team needed at their station.
If a team arrives at a treasure box occupied by another team, they will need to wait their to to try their code.
The game continues in this manner: solve the puzzle, uncover the four-digit code, open the treasure box, take what you need to solve the next puzzle, head to the next station, and repeat.
The final station has 4 envelopes. Only one of them is the correct answer and reveals the end story.
Again, the team that got the farthest, the fastest, and with the fewest amounts of hints after an hour, wins. You can allow more time if that works for your group.
Feedback After Running this Large Escape Room
We did it! We ran 120 kids through an escape room. MysteryLocks gave me the bones, and I paired it up to accommodate a large group. After all the planning, how did it go down? Is there anything I would do differently?
Some of the answers to these questions depend on the participants, space, and time you have available, but below I will share my thoughts.
- An ideal team size is 3-5 people. 10 was pushing it with kids needing to swap out as the main puzzle solvers for any given puzzle. While the main puzzle solvers were solving the puzzle, the rest of the team were checked out of the process. So, there was little to no awareness of what components had already been used for previous puzzles. Therefore, each new team subset had to orient themselves and start from scratch. If space allows, I’d encourage teams to stay together and stay present, paying attention to what their team members did in the previous clues.
- Encourage kids to read their clues carefully. They are helpful.
- Ideally, this would be spread out over several large rooms.
- If time allows, staggering the start time for teams would be beneficial to provide a bit more breathing room.
- You inevitably are going to find kids that are naturally bent toward this kind of game. Some people have been exposed to and/or naturally gravitate toward the problem-solving and puzzling world. Others won’t. That’s OK. In youth ministry, specifically, there are often high-energy games that rely on more athleticism. Switching it up gives other kids opportunities to shine. Think of it as a positive opportunity rather than a negative one.
- One of the youth leaders said that her feedback would be to have fewer people doing the escape room in general. She suggested simultaneous activities going on. The idea is that kids could decide what members of the team would like to compete in the escape room while the others chose to compete in a different activity (relay races, snow sculptures, minute-to-win-it, etc.)
- In this large group setting, high school and up were probably the perfect age. In smaller settings with more time, I’d say 12+ is a good age rating.
- You might be wondering how the kids did. With a given hour, no one was able to get through all ten puzzles. The best team achieved 9. The average was puzzle six or seven.
I hope you are inspired to create your own escape room after getting a peek into our adventure.
Want More Escape Room Ideas?
The Mystic Mansion Escape Room
Jodi, thank you so much for sharing your set-up with your readers! We absolutely love how well you integrated our game into your camp activity! Creative and well put together. Can’t wait to read more of your ideas in the future!
Thanks! Thank you for providing such a great base to work with.