To some, “Math Escape Room” sounds like the title of a horror film. To the School of Business, however, the name represents an enjoyable way to practice mathematical and critical-thinking skills in friendly competition.

A math escape room presents a group of students with a real-life scenario in which they have to solve a series of math problems or puzzles to “escape” from the room. The students work collaboratively and compete with other groups to solve the challenge as quickly as possible.

The debut of Neumann’s math escape room is scheduled for February 7, 2025, at 11 a.m. It’s a space in the Academic Coaching and Tutoring Center (Bachmann 30) that is currently being refurbished to accommodate the competition.

According to Dean Eric Wellington, “The escape room is a fun way for students to apply classroom theory to pragmatic business situations.”

The in-person escape room concept can be traced back to 2007 in Japan as a form of entertainment. It has been popular for years in elementary and secondary education as a way to teach math skills and teamwork, and it has recently been trending at the university level.

Cecelia Mick, a graduate assistant with the School of Business, is the project manager for Neumann’s escape room. She has collaborated with Drexel University and the University of South Australia to learn how they created and operate their rooms.

For the spring semester, Mick is creating 8-10 games, all organized around the theme of mergers and acquisitions. She is working with business faculty to edit and polish the games so that they test key skills and concepts. Those faculty members will participate in a demonstration test run before the opening in February.

The escape room will be open to all students in the spring. In the fall, however, the plan is to expand escape room games to other majors and make the games available only to students in specific courses.

“The room is designed to be used by groups of four, and the games will have a 30-minute time limit,” says Mick. “We will also have a leaderboard to show which groups have escaped in the least amount of time.”

It will be equipped with a large digital screen, a whiteboard, posters with hidden QR codes, and a collection of keys that open small safes and lockboxes with additional clues.

Thanks to the math escape room, Neumann students will soon be able to step into carefully crafted business situations where they will work together with a simple goal: Solve the challenge before time runs out.