Mission difficulty is in fact difficult to assess. There is no industry standard rating scale, so ratings represent our staff’s assessment of the missions. Every team is unique in their problem solving experiences, but after five years we think our difficulty assessments have been fairly accurate. While playing, teams can observe and process information or items in the room differently.
We try very hard to rate our rooms based on the general feedback during testing and during the first few months of a mission being open.
For Beginners: Rating 1-6
Tourist Trap, or any of our other 30-minute sessions are designed with the intention of being a good entry-level game for less experienced or younger players. This doesn’t mean it is a “gimme” by any means – but rather has a reduced amount of information to process and puzzles to solve at any one point in the game. Success rates are not tracked for 30-minute games because they change twice a year.
When we opened our doors in 2016 with The Playbook, we intentionally made a beginner level game as the concept of escape rooms were new to the community.
Rating 3:
Santa’s Spoiled – 2022 Holiday Game
Santa’s Suituation – 2021 Holiday Game
Reindeer Revolt – 2020 Holiday Game
Santa’s Inbox – 2019 Holiday Game
Santa’s Workshop – 2017 Holiday Game
Rating 4:
Tourist Trap (2023)
The Doghouse (retired – 2022)
The Scarecrow (retired – 2021)
Zoo Eggstraction (retired – 2019)
Santa’s Grounded – 2018 Holiday Game
Art of Gold (retired – 2018)
Rating 5:
Comic Relief (retired – 2020)
The Playbook Greensburg (retired – 2016): 45% success
For Intermediate: Rating 6-8
Most of our 60-minute games fall into a general difficulty range of 6-8 for the intermediate player. The puzzles in these rooms are designed to engage groups in significant critical thinking and creative solutions. When supplemented with the 5-hints from our trained gamemasters, these games have a general success rate of 30-40%.
It’s our philosophy that an escape room is a premium entertainment experience and when a group pays for a 60-minute session, they expect to encounter enough puzzles for (almost) and hour of enjoyment. Think of it this way – our 60-minute games have roughly 13 steps, which each average about 5 minutes to accomplish. That is 65 minutes of play. Teams should collaborate, multi-task, and communicate to get everything done within the 60-minute time limit as the goal.
Rating 6:
Boss Level: 42% success
Double Dared: 39% success
Rating 7:
Spellbound: 38% success
Rating 8:
Black Widow: 31% success
Bloodthirsty: 35% success (retired – 2019)
Death Toll: 27% success
Director’s Cut: 28% success (retired – 2019)
Photo Bomb: 31% success (retired – 2021)
The Playbook 2.0: 35% success (retired – 2021)
Advanced: Rating 9-10
These games are rare at 60 Minute Missions and there may not always be an advanced option. Designed with experienced players in mind, these missions employ puzzles that may have multiple steps to them which result in a lock answer. Keen observation and creative thinking are important skills to have within your escape room team.
For instance, a puzzle could require a team to decode the message, apply a pattern and unscramble the result – all to open a single lock.
Rating: 9
Crossfire: 28% success (retired – 2023)
It is possible for ratings to change over time or puzzles to adapt to the average player. 60 Minute Missions is proud to offer a wide range of 6 missions across our 2 locations. Visit us in Greensburg or Murrysville to experience one of our current offerings.