‘Everyone shone in their own way to solve the escape room.’ You are at a house party, and you are pretty wasted. Your friends are also present. Are you able to find them when it’s time to bounce? And who has had which drinks or drugs? Is anyone able to drive you home safely? That is the common thread in an online escape room explicitly designed for students—the game centres on alcohol and drugs in traffic. You can play the game free of charge during the next three weeks.
Of course, every student knows that you should never drink and drive. But there is frequently some room between what we practice and what we preach. ‘Drugs or alcohol play a part in ten per cent of the serious road accidents in the Netherlands. Students also occasionally drive home while under the influence’, says Tom Paul of TeamAlert, a youth team for road safety. The online escape room Escapable was co-commissioned by several provincial governments. It aims to increase awareness amongst students of the risks and prompt them to consider what they can do.
Solve together
Student teams from Gelderland, Overijssel and Zuid-Holland can play the (Dutch language) escape room on 12, 13 and 14 April from 20.00 to 21.30 p.m. There is no free and prizes are available. Registration is mandatory. Several students beta-tested the escape room. According to game expert and Leiden student Sjors van Dijken, Escapable is ‘sufficiently challenging’. ‘A different team member figured out what we were supposed to do in each room. Everyone shone in their own way to solve the escape room.
