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There’s something quite satisfying about making a font, and for this challenge, I wanted to create one that solved a problem I often encounter when giving hints in puzzles. Hints are essential for players, but they can be tricky to manage. On one hand, you want them to be readily accessible. On the other, they need to be disguised so they’re not too obvious. No one enjoys a puzzle where the answers—or even the hints—are sitting in plain sight. There are lots of ways to approach this. Some puzzlers set up online forums or webpages where hints can be accessed....

This week’s project takes a tactile turn as we explore hidden relief plates that sit beneath your desk, designed to be discovered by touch alone. From 3D printing challenges to laser-cut precision, follow the journey of building a satisfying, secret puzzle you can feel before you see. A must-read for escape room makers, puzzle lovers, and creative tinkerers alike.

This week, the focus was on building a custom air vent grill for the Escape Key project—designed to hide a secret message revealed when the grill is slid open. Behind the vent, LEDs flash through holes spelling out letters, drawing attention and encouraging discovery. While a diffuser and switch are planned for future versions, this prototype is already functional.

The grill was designed using both Shapr3D (powerful but frustrating due to a steep learning curve) and Tinkercad (simple and ideal for basic shapes). After seven design iterations, the pieces were successfully 3D-printed using a Bambu X1 Carbon printer, with each part costing around £1 each in PLA.

The design fits a standard UK wall junction box, making it easy to install. The lighting circuit was built using an Arduino Uno and seven LEDs. A challenge arose with light bleeding through the plastic, which was solved by applying insulating tape to block stray light and highlight the letters.

Future improvements include:

• Using diffuser plastic for better light distribution

• Adding a foil switch to trigger the light only when the grill is moved

• Being more careful with measurements to avoid reprints

The project blends storytelling, electronics, and hidden-in-plain-sight puzzle design—an exciting step forward for the Escape Key series.

Logic puzzles promote reasoning and deduction—and with the right setup, they’re easy to build. This blog post walks you through the process of designing your own puzzle using just three categories, a simple logic grid, and no more than nine well-crafted clues. Whether embedded in a wider escape room narrative or used as a classroom challenge, logic puzzles bring curriculum content to life through structured problem-solving.

Immersive narratives in primary escape rooms have a unique, almost magical ability to engage pupils in learning. The term spellbound is apt—not simply for the theatrical nature of these experiences, but for the transformative way they reframe how children interact with curriculum content. By embedding puzzles within story-driven experiences, we can elevate participation, deepen understanding, and encourage collaboration in ways that traditional lesson formats often struggle to achieve.