Thinkabara

📝 Escape room: The Missing Exam

Google Classroom

An escape room for teens: the exam papers vanished! A number sequence, a cipher, a clock angle and a logic grid reveal who took them.

The story

On exam morning the teacher opens his bag, and the exam papers are gone! Four students were seen in the corridor at break. Help the teacher find out who took the papers and where they are, before the bell rings.

Half the class hopes the papers stay lost. The other half actually studied.

Run it at home or in class

What to prepare

  • Printed station sheets
  • A blank logic grid (4 students × 4 places)
  • A wall clock or a drawn clock
  • An envelope with a 4-digit code lock

Tips for the facilitator

  • Print the logic grid large and let each team mark it with X and ✓.
  • Hide the coded note in a clean bin in the classroom (with a few blank notes as decoys).
  • Put a birthday card for the teacher inside the envelope in advance; it makes a lovely ending.

Difficulty level

The story clues stay the same on every level; harder levels add more locks in between. You can ask for a hint at every stage.

0 of 6 stages solved · Easy · 15–25 minutes

Stage 1: The half-erased board

1/6

A half-erased number sequence is left on the board: 3, 6, 11, 18, 27, …

3, 6, 11, 18, 27, ?

Run it in real life too

Print a facilitator kit for the easy level: a sheet with the opening story, the setup and every answer, plus a big card for each of the 6 stages.

📝 The Missing Exam: facilitator kit

Teens 13+ · 15–25 minutes · Level: Easy · 6 stages

Opening story: On exam morning the teacher opens his bag, and the exam papers are gone! Four students were seen in the corridor at break. Help the teacher find out who took the papers and where they are, before the bell rings. Half the class hopes the papers stay lost. The other half actually studied.

Setup

  1. Printed station sheets
  2. A blank logic grid (4 students × 4 places)
  3. A wall clock or a drawn clock
  4. An envelope with a 4-digit code lock
  5. Print the 6 stage cards and put them in order, or hide each card around the room so every answer leads to the next one.
  6. Read the opening story to the group and start a timer.
  7. When the group gets stuck, give one hint from the table, one at a time.
  8. Print the logic grid large and let each team mark it with X and ✓.
  9. Hide the coded note in a clean bin in the classroom (with a few blank notes as decoys).
  10. Put a birthday card for the teacher inside the envelope in advance; it makes a lovely ending.

Answers and hints (facilitator only)

StageAnswer / codeHints
1. The half-erased board38Look at the gaps between the numbers: 3, 5, 7, 9…
2. The note in the binlibraryM is the letter after L, and J is the letter after I.
3. The classroom clock90The minute hand is on 12 and the hour hand on 3. · Every hour on the clock is 30 degrees.
4. The suspect gridMayaDraw a grid. · Start with Sam, then Ethan, then Noah.
5. Warm-up route · The symbols on the lock4Every symbol is a number. What is one symbol worth? · Add: 2 plus 2.
6. The locked envelope3890Put the two answers together, with no space.

Read at the end: The envelope opens, and inside are the exam papers and a giant birthday card for the teacher. Maya only wanted to delay the exam by half an hour for the surprise. The teacher is moved… and the exam goes ahead anyway.

📝 The Missing Exam · Stage 1 of 6

The half-erased board

A half-erased number sequence is left on the board: 3, 6, 11, 18, 27, …

3, 6, 11, 18, 27, ?

What is the next number?

✍️ Our answer:

📝 The Missing Exam · Stage 2 of 6

The note in the bin

In the bin you found a coded note: MJCSBSZ. In this cipher every letter was replaced by the letter after it in the alphabet (A became B, B became C, and so on). To decode it, replace each letter with the one before it. The alphabet: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z.

M J C S B S Z

Which place is written on the note?

✍️ Our answer:

📝 The Missing Exam · Stage 3 of 6

The classroom clock

Another note says: “The papers were hidden at exactly 3:00.” The math teacher wants to know the angle between the hour hand and the minute hand at that time.

How many degrees are between the hands at 3:00?

✍️ Our answer:

📝 The Missing Exam · Stage 4 of 6

The suspect grid

Four students, Noah, Ethan, Sam and Maya, were in four different places at break: the library, the cafeteria, the sports field and the lab. Whoever was in the library took the papers (remember the note?). Sam was in the lab. Ethan was not in the cafeteria or the library. Noah was on the field or in the cafeteria. Maya was not in the cafeteria.

Who took the exam papers?

✍️ Our answer:

📝 The Missing Exam · Stage 5 of 6

Warm-up route · The symbols on the lock

On the way to the last clue of “The Missing Exam” you find another corridor of locks. Every 📝 is worth 2. Add two symbols.

📝 + 📝 = ?

Which number opens the lock?

✍️ Our answer:

📝 The Missing Exam · Stage 6 of 6

The locked envelope

Maya hands back a locked envelope with the papers. The code: the answer from station 1, followed by the answer from station 3. For example, if the answers were 12 and 45, the code would be 1245.

What is the code?

✍️ Our answer:

Facilitator guide: 📝 The Missing Exam

What the room practices

Number sequences, a shift cipher, clock angles and a logic grid.

The 5 stations (without the answers)
  1. The half-erased board: What is the next number?
  2. The note in the bin: Which place is written on the note?
  3. The classroom clock: How many degrees are between the hands at 3:00?
  4. The suspect grid: Who took the exam papers?
  5. The locked envelope: What is the code?

Age and group size

Best with teams of 4–6 players. With more people, split into two teams racing the clock, each with its own kit.

Giving hints in this room

Online the hints open one at a time; in the printed kit they sit in the facilitator table next to each answer. Give the first hint after a couple of minutes of silence, not at the first wrong guess.

Questions and answers

What age is “The Missing Exam” for, and how long does it take?

It was written for teens 13+, at medium difficulty, and usually takes 30–40 minutes. It has 5 story stations, and online you can choose between three difficulty levels that add more locks.

What do I need to run “The Missing Exam”?

A printer and these props: Printed station sheets; A blank logic grid (4 students × 4 places); A wall clock or a drawn clock; An envelope with a 4-digit code lock. The printable kit includes a facilitator sheet with every answer and a card for each stage.

What if the players get stuck?

Every stage has graded hints. Online they open one at a time; in the printed kit they sit next to each answer on the facilitator sheet. The first hint never gives the answer away.

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