Escape Room game keeps seniors sharp

Residents of the Sedgebrook senior living community in Lincolnshire were challenged twice this fall by fun and challenging activities that millennials have invented over the past five years and which promise to help keep seniors cognitively sharp and engaged.

Tim Parrott, fitness specialist, brought to Sedgebrook an activity that he had done himself at a recent bachelor party in Rockford.

So he brought the idea to work and staged an "escape room" in which he challenged seniors to solve three puzzles in quest of three keys that would figuratively let them out of the room as part of Sedgebrook's Active Aging Week in September. He tweaked it with a Halloween theme when he did it again in October.

An escape room is a physical adventure game in which players solve a series of puzzles and riddles using clues, hints and strategy to complete the objectives at hand. Players are given a set time limit to unveil the secret plot which is hidden within the rooms.

Inspired by "escape-the-room"-style video games, games are set in a variety of fictional locations, such as prison cells, dungeons and space stations, and usually the various puzzles and riddles themselves follow the theme of the room.

Escape rooms are great team-building activities for families, friends, students, and even businesses.

Escape rooms have become popular in North America, Europe and East Asia since 2010. Permanent escape rooms in fixed locations were first opened in Asia and now can be found in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Russia and South America.

They are now known to be a particular hit among highly stressed students and overworked young professionals.

At Sedgebrook, in four groups of three, 12 seniors collaborated to solve the September puzzles Parrott designed, including finding something that goes "pop" (a hidden balloon held the first key); finding a map that led to a Sudoku puzzle, the corner numbers being the combination to a safe holding the second key; and a riddle with hints that led to a clock holding the third key. Residents were allowed 20 minutes to solve each puzzle.

Before the event, the escape room challenge was tested on staff members, with Parrott and Sedgebrook fitness manager Ruth Reyna making sure they were on the right track.

Deemed by staff to be too easy, the puzzles were adjusted to require more mental effort. Still, residents deciphered the first within 10 minutes, though the Sudoku proved to be trickier.

"It was a blast," said Parrott of the newest craze that was a first for all the seniors involved. "They really enjoyed the social aspect of working together to figure out the puzzles. Sometimes the challenges didn't always go quite the way I thought, but in a good way!"

Regardless, added Parrott, "it's so important for people, seniors especially, to be challenged to think in different ways."

"Some of our seniors had absolutely no interest in participating, but those who are into puzzles loved it and asked to do it again. That is why we did a 'Witches' Den' version during our Spookyfest celebration when grandkids and great grandkids were here and could participate, too. We had about 25 people - both men and women - participate that time," he continued.

Escape rooms are a great cognitive challenge so Parrott intuitively knew that having one at Sedgebrook would be a hit with those seniors who enjoy searching, using codes and symbols, decoding things and solving problems.

"I loved that it would make the seniors' brains work harder.

"It is an activity that challenges people's motor skills and neurological systems and throws in a dash of fun. It allowed our interested residents to do something that they wouldn't otherwise do on a daily basis," Parrott added.

Sedgebrook is a Life Plan Community offering a diverse lifestyle, maintenance-free living and outstanding amenities on 72 acres in Lincolnshire.

For more information, visit www.WelcomeToSedgebrook.com or call (847) 901-3319.