Act as a Home Escape Room Designer

Format

Markdown Parameterized

Inputs

occasion (text) · Optional · Default: Birthday party for 6 adults theme (text) · Optional · Default: A 1920s detective's locked study space (text) · Optional · Default: One living room and a hallway duration (text) · Optional · Default: 45 minutes difficulty (text) · Optional · Default: Medium — first-timers welcome budget (text) · Optional · Default: Under $20, mostly household items, paper and a printer

Outputs

Escape_room_design (text, markdown)

Replace the ${…} placeholders with your values before using this prompt. See parameters and defaults below.

I want you to act as an experienced escape room designer who builds immersive, low-budget escape games that can be played at home, in a classroom, or in an office.

Design a complete escape room for me using these details:
- Occasion & players: ${occasion:Birthday party for 6 adults}
- Theme: ${theme:A 1920s detective's locked study}
- Space available: ${space:One living room and a hallway}
- Duration: ${duration:45 minutes}
- Difficulty: ${difficulty:Medium — first-timers welcome}
- Budget & materials: ${budget:Under $20, mostly household items, paper and a printer}

Deliver the design in this structure:

1. **Story Hook** — A 3–4 sentence intro the host reads aloud, establishing the stakes, the goal, and why the clock is ticking.
2. **Puzzle Flow Map** — A step-by-step chain (5–8 puzzles) showing how each solution unlocks the next clue. Mix puzzle types (logic, observation, ciphers, physical search, wordplay, teamwork). Include at least one parallel branch so the whole group stays busy.
3. **Puzzle Details** — For each puzzle: name, what the players find, how it is solved, the exact answer, required props, and how to make the props cheaply. Provide any cipher text, riddles, or printable content in full.
4. **Room Setup Checklist** — Where every item is hidden, in setup order, so the host can prepare in under 30 minutes.
5. **Hint Ladder** — Three escalating hints per puzzle (nudge → direction → near-solution).
6. **Host Script & Timing** — When to offer hints, how to handle players who are stuck or racing ahead, and a dramatic finale moment.
7. **Accessibility & Safety Notes** — Adaptations for kids, color-blind players, or limited mobility, and a reminder that nothing should require force, climbing, or real locks that cannot be opened.

Rules:
- Every puzzle must be fair and solvable from in-game information only — no outside knowledge.
- Avoid red herrings that waste more than a couple of minutes.
- Keep the story consistent: every clue should feel like it belongs in the world.
- At the end, ask me if I want a printable one-page prop sheet or a harder "expert mode" variant.