Educational escape games: puzzles in the service of learning

Digital escape games have become a staple of game-based learning. With Moiki EDU, teachers have every tool they need to build complete escape games.

Digital escape games have become a staple of game-based learning. With Moiki EDU, teachers have every tool they need to build complete escape games (codes to find, variables, inventory, win conditions), all without writing a single line of code. The visual editor makes creation accessible to everyone, even without technical skills.

The escape game format mobilises valuable cross-curricular skills: logic, persistence, teamwork, careful reading. Built into a teaching unit, it turns revision or the discovery of a topic into a motivating challenge.

Concrete examples

Chasseur d'infaux !

With 3,584 views, Chasseur d'infaux ! is one of the most popular escape games in the catalogue. Created by fenetresur (Claire Cassaigne), it plunges students into a media and information literacy path where they have to identify and take apart false information. At each step, students face a suspicious claim and must use their fact-checking skills to move forward.

This project is a perfect illustration of how the escape game format can serve a concrete teaching goal: learning to exercise critical thinking in the face of information.

Sans issue !

This mini escape game makes the most of Moiki EDU's routines. Routines let you build recurring mechanics (a timer, an attempt counter, a lives system) without duplicating blocks. "Sans issue !" shows that an effective, compact escape game experience is possible, ideal for a one-hour session.

MoikiS'cape

With 918 views, MoikiS'cape is a showcase of what Moiki EDU can do for educational escape games. This project, linked to the S'cape team (the French reference for educational escape games), demonstrates the range of mechanics available in the editor.

The built-in tools

Moiki EDU natively includes the essential escape game mechanics:

Code system: students must enter a code to unlock the rest of the path.
Variables: follow a student's progress, count their mistakes, gate access to certain steps.
Inventory: students collect objects along the way and use them at the right moment.
Conditions: show or hide choices depending on earlier actions.

All of this is set up in the visual editor, through menus and forms. No line of code is needed.

Subjects concerned

Media and information literacy: fact-checking, critical thinking, digital literacy
Science: revision escape games, handling experimental data
Mathematics: problem solving in the form of puzzles
History and geography: historical investigations, exploring places
All subjects: playful revision at the end of a unit

Practical advice

Write the scenario before building it. Sketch your escape game on paper before creating it in Moiki. Identify the puzzles, the clues and the possible routes. A good scenario makes a good escape game.
Plan progressive hints. Not all students will solve puzzles at the same pace. Build in a help system: after two failures, offer an extra hint using variables.
Test it with colleagues. Before offering the escape game to your students, have colleagues try it. They will spot the ambiguities and blockers you no longer see.
Keep it short. An escape game of 20 to 30 minutes works better than an hour-long path. The narrative tension has to stay high.

What teachers say

"I presented three ways of repurposing the Moiki tool for teaching." Mélanie Fenaert, S'cape