Tips and Tricks

Best Things to Do in San Francisco

06/19/2019

Palace Games’ Best Things to Do in San Francisco This Summer

Looking for something fun to do in San Francisco this summer? We’ve got you covered! Check out our list of the top 5 things to do in San Francisco this summer below.

Play the Great Houdini, Roosevelt, or Edison escape rooms at Palace Games! Our escape rooms are located inside on of San Francisco’s most beautiful landmarks – The Palace of Fine Arts – and pay homage to the building’s history. Enjoy a walk around the gorgeous Palace lagoon before or after your game.
Explore Lands End for a hike, a beautiful view at Lands End Point, and a walk through the Labyrinth or the Sutro Baths ruins.
For those that love music and nature, enjoy the two together during San Francisco Botanical Garden’s Flower Piano program in the summer.
With a name like Treasure Island, who wouldn’t want to go? Go for Treasure Fest to shop, eat from awesome food trucks, and enjoy drinks and live music.
If you’re looking for a one of a kind workout, try a yoga class at Grace Cathedral or a silent disco yoga class on the beach.

The Importance of Escape Team Names

05/29/2019

What is the first puzzle every team needs to solve at Palace Games?

It’s not in the escape room. It is a combination of letters and numbers. And the answer has stumped even the most experienced players. Any idea?

Here’s a hint: It starts with a simple question asked by the room host. The same question is repeated by the team organizer.

“What’s your team name?”

“Team name? What’s our team name? Uh. Oh. Um… Guys, we need a team name.” the team organizer asks over the excited chatter of players assembled in the guest parlor. “Guys. Guys? GUYS! What’s our team name?”

A name as good, or as terrible! as the team, requires creativity, a willingness to embrace the absurd – or not – and builds consensus before teams walk into the room.

We’ve been fortunate to host thousands of teams in the past four years. Seen everything from Rough Riders for The Roosevelt Escape Room players to a clever Hou-dis? for The Great Houdini Escape Room and Let Them Eat Lightbulbs for The Edison Escape Room.

Here are a few of our favorite team names:

Strutting Happy Savages
Spice Squirrels
Regular People From LA
Spherical Cows
Eyeless Molar Muppets
More Bongos
The Optimistic Longshots
Jar Jar Thinks
I Didn’t Come Here To Make Friends
Chicken Feet

Why come up with a good, creative team name? At Palace Games, it puts you in the running to have original, whiteboard artwork drawn on the spot by your host and featured in your team photo. Like… this one.

Goldfish Team Sign

Escape Room Tips and Tricks

09/13/2018

First time players and escape room veterans alike have a tendency to ask one question before starting a room at Palace Games: “Do you have any advice?” The Palace Games crew, it turns out, does indeed have advice, for we’ve seen it all.

Thrilling and swift escapes, tense down to the wire victories, and costly communication errors are all part of a day’s work for San Francisco’s escape room company located in the historic Palace of Fine Arts. With the demand for insight so high, we are happy to present our collected escape room tips and tricks.

Palace Games Escape Room Tips and Tricks:

1. Read, read, read.

And read carefully! This tip is essential. There is nothing more facepalm inducing than realizing the answer was right in front of you, if you only you had heeded the clues.

2. Collaborate with everyone. And we mean EVERYONE.

Any escape room host can tell you about a common and unfortunate circumstance. A leading team member guides the group in the wrong direction while a quiet participant mutters the correct solution to the scenery.

If you’ve got an idea, be confident! If you find yourself grasping, try giving it up to the room.

3. Don’t be afraid of experimentation.

This tip is for the skeptics. Sometimes the answer may seem improbable. Sometimes a member of the team will voice that opinion, with a quick, “That will never work!”

An escape room can be a magical thing, but you have to say yes to it first. Give that crazy idea a try! (Just don’t break anything, and keep your clothes on.)

4. Organize yourself.

Some puzzle pieces are hard won. Why scour the room for them a second time? A good trick for organization is to designate areas of used and unused items. At the very least, let teammates know what you have and where you’re going with it.

And NEVER pocket ANYTHING. You will likely forget about the clue or end up hiding it from someone looking for it!

5. If you see something, say something.

Hot take: communication is key. Everybody’s synapses fire differently. Observed something you can’t make sense of? It might be all your teammate needs to solve a tricky puzzle.

6. Trust your game master.

Some teams don’t want any help. It’s a perfectly valid, if somewhat bold, choice. But every team is given an introduction and a set of rules from their game master. Your GM will not lie to you. If they say there’s nothing out of reach, they mean it.

Palace Games GMs want you to escape just as much as you want to escape!

7. Arrive on time and with a clear head.

We all know how troublesome Bay Area transportation can be, so make sure you budget your time conservatively. Ensuring you arrive on time and with a clear head (drinks before the game are not a good idea) will remove the unnecessary external tensions.

If you take these Palace Games collected tips and tricks to heart, you’ll be set up for success. The rest is up to you. Learn them well and tell your friends. Then have fun! We’ll see you at the Palace of Fine Arts!

Escape Room Questions

08/14/2018

New to escape rooms? Wondering if they are all the same as the one you played? We’ve got answers to some of the top escape room questions!

Top Escape Room Questions

What is an escape room?

Escape rooms (sometimes called room escapes, puzzle rooms, or mystery rooms) are immersive game experiences where players work together to gather clues and solve puzzles in order to escape the room before time runs out. It is like being inside a real life video game!

Games vary from place to place. Some room escape games are high stakes escapes such as reaching the exit before a bomb is detonated. In others there are mysteries to solve, or challenges to complete.

What if we don’t escape?

At Palace Games, teams that don’t escape are not in fact locked in the room forever! If time allows, our hosts may answer your questions or show you some things you may have missed after your game.

Are Escape Rooms Scary?

Yes and no. Some escape rooms have scary storylines and themes featuring zombies, serial killers, insane asylums, haunted houses, and other horror elements.

Other escape room games are not scary at all. These may transport you into experiences inspired by history, science fiction, literature, or pop culture.

Escape room themes and styles become more diverse as they become more popular. An escape room name and description should give you a good idea about whether it is scary or not!

Palace Games rooms are historically themed challenges of wits, NOT scary escape games.

Do I have to be “in shape” to play and escape room?

Normally, no!

There may be some escape rooms with intense physical challenges, but at Palace Games and most of the rooms we are familiar with, you don’t have to be in peak physical condition to play. The Roosevelt Escape Room and The Edison Escape Room contain some physical elements, but generally nothing strenuous.

If you have questions about physical requirements in a particular escape room, reach out to the business to discuss your concerns. At Palace Games, we are always happy to make any special accommodations needed.

How big is an escape room?

Escape rooms come in many different shapes and sizes. Some contain only one room, some have multiple rooms, and some have additional secret rooms and chambers that will be unveiled throughout the game.

Escape Rooms have set capacities based on the size of the room and the puzzles that need to be completed. These size restrictions / suggestions are set to make sure you have the best – and safest – experience.

At Palace Games, all of our escape rooms are designed to accommodate large group games. They fit groups of up to 8 or 10 players AND have enough puzzles to keep all players engaged.

What are some occasions for playing an escape room?

People book escape rooms for team building, fun with friends, birthdays, family gatherings, bachelor and bachelorette parties, and many other occasions!

Because they are so fun, many people have escape room birthday parties, and the teamwork, communication and problem solving required in escape rooms makes them great team building activities for large groups.

Field Notes from a Successful Escape

05/29/2018

While combing through some of Luther Burbank’s documents, the Palace Games crew came across this entry, regarding the Great Houdini Escape Room!

“March 10, 1915

The morning began with another stroll through the Palace of Horticulture. A truly remarkable structure, home to still more remarkable marvels of botanical ingenuity. Before long, I made the short journey to the Palace of Fine Arts, to answer an intriguing request from none other than Harry Houdini, the renowned escape artist and sometime magician.

Upon my arrival, I learned that my invitation was not wholly unique, as seven other innovators had also been called upon to an adventure that would challenge our wits and nerves. The Great Houdini Escape Room he titled it: a wondrous room, rife with puzzles and contraptions. A quick introduction was made, a time limit was set, and the doors were promptly locked. It was up to us to escape. To come to it quickly, we did just that.

Having somewhat of knack for subtle observations, I decided to make note of certain attitudes and attributes which contributed to our success. For how often does one encounter such minds assembled in the wild? Below I have catalogued my findings.

Communication: Communication was essential for our progress to maintain a satisfactory pace. Even young Miss Keller took pains to express clearly and specifically what she had discovered and where she had discovered it.
Attention to text: Mr. Houdini was generous with his clues and riddles, a careful perusal of which revealed a hidden meaning and a way to proceed.
Delegation: Mr. Ford was quick to intuit when it was most beneficial to separate into smaller groups or work individually. There were many puzzles hiding all together, and had we been afraid to separate, there would have been little chance of solving them all.
Experimentation: A virtue exemplified in Mr. Edison. When faced with an exceedingly opaque puzzle, he spent no time preemptively sinking an idea which could otherwise float. He simply tried whatever came to his mind, given that it was within the parameters of our host’s stated rules.
Attention to text: I have included attention to the text twice, for some texts cannot be grasped at first pass. These riddles required redoubled analysis.
Sobriety: Excepting perhaps Mr. Cody, none of our intellects had been dulled by the consumption of spirits. Mr. Houdini is clever, and his challenges difficult. I believe alcohol could have been the ruin of our happy escape.
Positivity: No truly daunting obstacle may be overcome without some modicum of hope. The moment you have given up, you have lost. Luckily, fortune, or perhaps Mr. Houdini, blessed us with our own little Tramp to keep the spirits up.

It was a morning well spent. While I cannot fathom what Mr. Houdini counts as his reasons for creating such a diversion, I maintain confidence that, should we be challenged again, replication of my observations will produce further successes.

Luther Burbank”