Escape rooms have gained popularity over the years as they challenge one’s problem-solving skills and teamwork spirit. But did you know that you can create a digital version of it on Google Slides? Sounds fun, right? Today, we will guide you step by step on how to make your very own escape room using Google Slides.
Step 1: Planning
Before you dive into creating your escape room, it is essential to plan it out first. Determine a theme, the clues, the puzzles, and the overall storyline. Ensure that all clues and puzzles lead to the next until they reach the end. Having a storyboard can also help a lot in visualizing your escape room.
Step 2: Setting Up Your Google Slides
Once you have your plan, it’s time to set up your Google Slides. Create a new Google Slides presentation, and for each slide, this will represent a room or a puzzle. You can use Google Slides’ built-in design tool or import images to design your rooms.
Step 3: Create Interactive Elements
The core of an exciting escape room is its interactive elements. You want your players to click on certain objects or areas in the room to reveal clues, questions, puzzles, or to move to the next room.
To do this, you create shapes (like boxes or circles) over the areas you want to be interactive. You then make these shapes transparent by clicking on the paint bucket tool and select Transparent. The idea is to make these shapes invisible so they won’t interfere with your design but are still clickable.
After that, right-click on the shape and select Link. This will allow you to link this shape to another slide (room) or a website (for clues or puzzles). Once the shape is linked, test it to make sure it works correctly.
Step 4: Adding Clues and Puzzles
You can add clues and puzzles on the slides themselves, or you can make them pop up when a player clicks on an interactive element. To do this, add a text box on the interactive shape, type in your clue or puzzle, and then make the text invisible by setting the color to transparent.
Whenever a player clicks on the interactive shape (even though it’s invisible), the clue or puzzle will appear. Remember to link the correct answers to the next slide (room) or to a “Congratulations” slide if it’s the final puzzle.
Step 5: Testing
Finally, once you’ve set everything up, test your escape room to make sure everything works correctly. Make sure that all links lead to the correct slides, all clues and puzzles are solvable, and the overall flow of the game is smooth.
There you have it! You’ve just created your very own escape room in Google Slides. This not only brings fun and excitement to the players, but it also showcases your creativity and resourcefulness. So go ahead, start creating your escape room now!
