One of the questions we get asked most often — usually by a parent who’s not sure whether to include a younger child, or by someone who’s never done an escape room before — is some version of: “Will we actually be able to do it?”

We’ve spent a lot of time making sure the answer is yes. Here’s how.

The problem with some escape rooms

A lot of escape rooms are designed with one type of player in mind: experienced, adult, and happy to walk away having failed. The puzzles are hard, the hints are rationed, and if your team doesn’t crack it in sixty minutes, that’s the intended experience.

That approach works for enthusiasts. It doesn’t work particularly well for a family with a ten-year-old, a nervous first-timer, or a group of friends who just want a good afternoon out.

Others will aim to make the game more successful, resulting in a lack of challenged for more experienced teams.

We designed Brewster’s Millions differently.

Where it all started

The inspiration for Brewster’s Millions goes back to Budapest in 2017, where a few of the Valley Escape team played some of the city’s original escape rooms.

Budapest is widely credited as the birthplace of the modern escape room, and those early games had a quality that’s easy to overlook in today’s increasingly high-tech venues: they were simply designed. Rustically charming, you might say. No elaborate electronic systems, no theatrical special effects — just clever, well-constructed puzzles in a room full of character.

They were also brilliantly engaging, as the puzzles were the stars of the show. The simplicity was the point. And it stuck with us.

When we came to design Brewster’s Millions, that experience (and our non-profit village community budget!) shaped everything. We weren’t trying to compete with city-centre venues on production values. We were trying to build something with the same quality at its core — puzzles that reward observation and logical thinking over technical knowledge or prior experience. A game that works because the design is clever, not because the room is flashy.

Two ways to win

Every team that plays Brewster’s Millions has two goals available to them.

The first is opening the safe. This is the primary objective, and we engineer the experience — through the difficulty of the puzzles and the way we deliver hints — to give every team the best possible chance of getting there. Around 95% of teams open the safe. That’s not an accident. It’s a deliberate design decision, because we want almost everyone to leave with a sense of achievement.

Inside the safe, teams find the instructions for the expert escape — a second, harder objective that takes over the remaining time. Around one in four teams complete it. Those that do earn full Millionaire status and the right to exchange their in-game bitcoin winnings for a prize from Eloise Brewster’s personal collection.

Two routes. One experience. Something for everyone.

Side quests and the bitcoin economy

Running alongside the main escape are a series of side quests — additional puzzles available throughout the game that earn your team in-game bitcoin. Many of these are available from the very start, which means larger groups always have plenty to keep the whole team occupied rather than everyone crowding around the same puzzle.

Opening the safe unlocks a few more of these, adding fresh challenges at exactly the point when the expert escape begins. The result is that whether your team is working through the main story or chasing every last bitcoin on the board, the full sixty minutes is used. Nobody stands around waiting for something to happen.

Deceptively simple

Here’s something that surprises a lot of players: many of our puzzles are not as complicated as they first appear.

The logic behind most of them is fairly straightforward once you see it — and seeing it often comes more naturally to younger players than to adults. Children tend to approach puzzles without the overthinking that trips up experienced teams. They look at what’s in front of them, try the obvious thing, and more often than not get it right while the adults are still debating the deeper meaning.

A ten-year-old can walk past three adults staring at a puzzle, glance at it, and solve it in thirty seconds. It’s one of our favourite things about running the game.

What we do for younger groups

For younger teams — typically aged 14 and under — we go one step further. Rather than watching from outside the room, our host comes in with the group to help guide them through the experience. That might mean explaining a puzzle slightly differently, working through a challenge alongside them, or simply being there to keep energy and confidence up when things get tricky.

It’s not about making the game easier. It’s about making sure every player — whatever their age or experience — gets the full Valley Escape experience rather than spending an hour feeling stuck.

Players from the age of 7 have engaged with and contributed to the game in a family setting. With the right support and encouragement, children surprise us regularly.

What this means in practice

Whether your group is a family with a mix of ages, a bunch of friends trying an escape room for the first time, or a team of experienced players looking for their next challenge — Brewster’s Millions has been deliberately built to give everyone a route to a successful, satisfying game.

The 95% of teams who open the safe leave feeling like they’ve cracked it. The 1 in 5 who fully complete the expert escape leave feeling like Millionaires.

And the ones who get stuck? Eloise always has a message for them.

Ready to find out which category you fall into?