Game Studio · With Tek
How to make an escape room game
This course shows your kid how to make an escape room game: a haunted house with locked doors, hidden keys, and one secret way out. In 6 short films, Tek covers locks and keys, clues that make sense, and secret doors, all planned on paper first. Your kid then builds it in Game Studio as the Escape the haunted house project, about 1–2 hours of making.
- Ages
- 6 to 13
- Time
- 6 films, about 6 minutes, then 1–2 hours of making
- Host
- Tek
- You need
- Paper, pencil
- Status
- Coming soon. Kids vote in the app for the courses they want first.
The intro film
Tek's 50-second intro film is coming soon. Here's what Tek says in it.
Transcript
Psst. It's Tek. Can you hear that creak?
You're inside a haunted house. The front door is locked. Now what?
Today, you make a game where the player has to escape.
First, you draw the house on paper. Three rooms and one way out.
Then you hide keys. A key in the kitchen opens a chest in the attic.
You write clues. Good clues help, but they don't tell the answer.
And you add a secret door. Shh. Only smart players find it.
Then you test it on someone. Can they get out?
Ready? Grab a pencil. Don't let the ghosts see your plan.
The 6 lessons
Lesson 1. The way out
Every escape game starts with a locked door and one way out.
- Decide who is trapped and why
- Draw the house from above with three rooms
- Mark the exit door with a big X
Where: Game Studio · Game Design
Lesson 2. Locks and keys
A lock is a question, and the key is the answer hidden somewhere else.
- Pick three locks, like a door, a chest, and a painting
- Hide each key in a different room
- Draw an arrow from each key to its lock
Where: Paper
Lesson 3. Clues that make sense
A good clue points the way without giving it away.
- Write one clue for each key, one line each
- Read each clue to a grown-up and ask them to guess
- Change any clue that's too easy or too hard
Where: Paper
Lesson 4. The secret door
A secret door is a surprise the player earns.
- Pick one wall to hide a door in
- Put one small hint near it
- Turn each room into a level, with the secret door last
Where: Game Studio · Level Design
Lesson 5. Spooky, not too scary
Draw the ghosts and pick sounds that give a fun shiver.
- Draw a ghost that guards one room
- Pick Spooky music
- Pick a creak for the secret door
Where: Game Studio · Art
Lesson 6. Can they escape?
Watch someone play, and fix the room where they get stuck.
- Hand the game to a grown-up and watch
- Notice the clue they can't solve
- Fix it, then launch your game
Where: Game Studio · Playtest
What your kid makes
Your kid ends with a playable haunted house game: three rooms, hidden keys, clues in their own words, and a secret door, all drawn on paper first. It launches from Game Studio so family can try to escape, and the house plan works as the start of the next game.
Free guides to practise with
Questions parents ask
Is this too scary for a younger kid?
Your kid decides how spooky it gets. The house can hold a friendly ghost and a creaky door, and the challenge is the puzzles, not the scares.
How is this different from Make a game?
Make a game teaches the whole path from idea to launch. This course goes deeper on one kind of game: puzzles, keys, clues, and hidden doors, the thinking that makes an escape game work.
Does my kid need to know escape rooms already?
No. The first film explains the idea in one line: you're locked in, and you find the way out. Most kids get it from the first locked door.