Edu-Escape rooms: Comparison
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Escape Rrooms are cooperative games in which players must find clues, solve puzzles, and perform a variety of some tasks within a limited time. The goal is usually to escape or leave a room, place, or environment. When the Escape Rescape-rooms have a pedagogical purpose, they are usually called Edu-Escape Rrooms and can be related to gamification and Game-Based Learning (GBL). The potential for student engagement and motivation is one of the main advantages of Edu-Eescape Rrooms.

  • active methodologies
  • gamification
  • game-based learning
  • educational games
  • escape room
  • breakout
The European Higher Education Area advocates the implementation of active learning education methodologies complementary to traditional ones in order to face the new socio-educational context

1. Introduction

The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) advocates the implementation of active learning education methodologies complementary to the traditional ones to face the new socio-educational context

[1]

. Active methodologies are one of the most interesting approaches to developing cooperative learning and student involvement in the classroom

[2]. Everything related to games occupies a prominent place within these methodologies. Game is meaningful, spontaneous, and motivating

. Within this type of methodologies, everything related to games occupies a prominent place. Game is meaningful, spontaneous and motivating

[3][4]. In this regard, Piaget and Vygotsky

. Both Piaget and Vygotsky

[5][6] highlight the role of game in cognitive development, as it allows the incorporation of strategies, norms, and values in personal development.

highlight game roles in cognitive development, as it allows the incorporation of strategies, norms and values in personal development.

Among the advantages offered by the games, it is worth highlighting their important didactic potential, which ranges from adapting to different learning rhythms, allowing mistakes, receiving instant feedback, and developing creativity to increasing the motivation and socialization of the students. Likewise, games enhance the student’s commitment and participation in tasks as well as in the acquisition of skills

Among the advantages offered by the games, it is worth highlighting their important didactic potential, which ranges from adapting to different learning rhythms, allowing mistakes, receiving instant feedback, developing creativity as well as increasing the motivation and socialization of the students. As well as their commitment and participation in tasks and the acquisition of skills

[7][8][9]. Among the drawbacks of the educative use of the games is the risk of potential excessive competitiveness and inadequate time management; this, along with other particular aspects of each game, should be taken into account

. As disadvantages or difficulties, excessive competitiveness or inadequate time management, along with other particular aspects of each game should be taken into account

[10].

.

In Education, there are three important concepts linked to the game: gamification, Game-Based Learning (GBL) and serious games. Although they are all related, they have different characteristics.

  • Gamification is the most known, and it is often used to designate any activity in which playing and education or training are related; however, this concept is not precise. Gamification consists in the use of elements and mechanics of playing in non-playful contexts [11][12]. It is often implemented with help of online platforms such as Classcraft or Classdojo [13][14].
  • Serious Games are those games designed with a formative purpose rather than playful one. This term appeared in 1970 thanks to Clark C. Abt, an American researcher. He refers to serious games as an approach or simulation that starts from a real situation that develops as a game with an educational intention.
  • Game-Based Learning (GBL) refers to complete games that are designed with playful intent and are used in teaching [15][16].  Also, within the wide range of Game-Based Learning (GBL), we can consider the Serious Games, and also the Escape Rooms.
From an educational perspective, there are three important concepts linked to games: gamification, Game-Based Learning, and serious games. Although they are all related, they have different characteristics.

2. Origins 

Gamification is the most known. It is often used to designate any activity in which playing and education or training are related; however, this concept is not precise. Gamification consists in the use of elements and mechanics of playing in non-playful contexts

The Escape Rooms or Escape Games are playful activities that offer an immersive experience. They are activities that are carried out in groups in a cooperative manner, in which they propose to solve enigmas or puzzles to escape from a fictitious situation [17]. There are variants such as breakouts, in which it is not necessary to escape from a place but to manage to open some boxes that contain a treasure or the answer to a mystery [18][1119]. The origin of these games

[1220]. It is often implemented with help of online platforms, such as Classcraft or Classdojo

is not clear, and there are diverse interpretations. Probably one of the most relevant antecedents is the computer game "Origin", from 2006, which achieved a certain success in the USA and Asia. Other computer games from the 80s and 90s, such as graphic adventures, are outstanding milestones. With these precedents, in 2007 the first real escape room appeared in Japan, outside the virtual environment of a video game. Later, these games arrived in the West, specifically in Eastern Europe. But there are not only precedents in the world of video games. Other activities such as theme parks, films (from detective films based in Agatha Christie's or Sherlock Holmes' novels to others as The Name of the Rose, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Cube, Saw, etc.), television shows with live tests, live role-playing games (LARP), etc., have had a notable influence on their development

.

When Escape Rooms arrived to Europe, they were configured in a similar way to what we understand today. In large part, this is due to the influence of the Flow Theory

[1422]. Nowadays, gamification has become frequent inside educational research

. Flow refers to the balance between the challenges faced and the skills with which users must overcome them. Csíkszentmihályi

[1522] and business training

considers that there should be an optimal balance in which learning occurs. When a game maintains a balance between skill and challenge it gets the flow, and therefore maintains attention and motivation

.

3. Benefits

The creation of these Edu-Escape Rooms requires taking into account a series of aspects, such as type of students, time, material, objectives, etc.

[1723]. Very often this implementation consists in using some narrative and some system for rewards, usually with experience, levels, or gold; for example, Classcraft

. As a counterpart to the questions to be taken into account in their preparation, Onecha, Sanz and López

[1424] lets students personalize characters and real-life powers. These powers are privileges gained by a student’s scholarly efforts; these efforts are shown through tasks or quests to achieve within a plot (defeat a final boss or persuade her to make peace with the peasants, or any other idea similar to the fantasy adventures of games like, for example, World of Warcraft, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG); Dungeons & Dragons, a pen and paper role-playing game (RPG); or Skyrim, a computer role-playing game (CRPG)). To win, they have to complete some academic task. This is the main difference. They are not playing indeed. After they do the task, they receive rewards (experience points), and with enough experience points they level up and obtain powers.

point out the advantages or possibility of their educational use:

  • Improve problem-solving skills
  • Encouraging collaborative work
  • Learning to think
  • Facilitating motivation and learning by doing
  • Improve learning immersion
  • Developing the imagination
  • Enhancing the vision of the whole
Serious games are those games designed with a formative purpose rather than a playful one. This term appeared in 1970 thanks to Clark C. Abt, an American researcher. He refers to serious games as an approach or simulation that starts from a real situation that develops as a game with an educational intention.

4. Conclusions

Game-Based Learning refers to complete games that are designed with playful intent and are used in teaching

Sierra Daza and Fernández-Sánchez [17] underline the growing interest in Higher Education for Escape Rooms. This may be due to the need for methodological changes in the European Higher Education Area

[18]

.

Motivation seems to be their main asset, in line with what is expected

[1912]. Game-Based Learning creates a fun, motivating, and interactive virtual learning environment, using gaming technologies [2024]. It is important to understand differences between gamification and Game-Based Learning. Above it is said that gamification

. Undoubtedly, gamification, Game-Based Learning, Serious Games and Escape Rooms provide an attractive perspective for teaching, especially for interventions that encourage student participation and motivation, which are fundamental aspects of learning

[145] works like an “almost-game”. There are several game elements, like story, rewards (experience points, levels, gold, etc.), characters/avatars, and characters’ class, but there is not really a game. It is like going to play to Warcraft, Skyrim, Catan, Cluedo, or Dungeons & Dragons (or any other game, these are only examples of very well-known games) and doing everything before playing and after playing but, indeed, not actually playing. In Game-Based Learning [196] you play, because play activity is important, in these cases, for learning.

. 

Within the wide range of Game-Based Learning, we can consider serious games, and also Escape Rooms, as a cooperative activity based in solving puzzles to progress in the plot during a limited amount of time.

The Escape Rooms seem to have an important educational appeal for developing various skills [24] by solving challenges or enigmas collaboratively [17]. 

The objectives of this paper cover the following:

It is a growing interest although up to now we have found a small impact of prestigious journals, most of the articles being pedagogical experiences. This may be related to the very nature of the Escape Rooms, which are more suitable for activities of limited duration that may make it difficult to transfer them to the scientific literature. It would be interesting to contrast how many related activities of this type are carried out in non-university education.

  • Define and understand Escape Rooms, including their origins and influences.
  • Identify the advantages, areas of action, and associated problems throughout the implementation of Escape Rooms.
  • Identify key issues with Escape Room design and the differences between conventional Escape Rooms and Edu-Escape Rooms.

To conclude, we must point out that this kind of activity reflects changes in teaching methodologies, and it can help to observe and verify the evolution of educational processes.

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