Have you ever played Exit Room games? You’re locked in a room, and you have to solve various puzzles and find clues to escape before the time is up. This can be a useful strategy in education as well, and Breakout EDU has capitalized on it by creating a version you can use in the classroom.

We have been playing these games at various points throughout the year, and I have found that they are useful both in terms of developing the Core Competencies of the BC curriculum and giving students a chance to engage with curricular content. My grade eights have the most experience with both of these types of games, having played several of them, and I’ve asked them to comment below so that teachers can read their feedback and thoughts around the games.

I’ve asked them to talk about the following areas:

• their personal reactions to playing the games;
• the usefulness of the games in developing the Core Competencies, such as communication, and critical and creative thinking;
• the ways the games prompt a focus on learning and problem solving;
• how they have developed personally in their skills at playing the games;
• and anything else they think will help teachers make a decision about whether these games may be useful in their own classrooms.

To my students: thank you for providing your honest feedback!