Making an escape room in Google Docs

Specialized tech isn’t required to make an educational escape room: My co-designer, Maddie Shellgren, and I created the escape room below in Google Docs and then turned into a PDF!

We wanted learners (players) to be able to make choices with different outcomes.  To achieve this, we linked to various parts of the document and included page numbers for anyone who prints out the escape room.  Keep reading to see how we added internal document links in Google Docs.

What Happened to the Lady in Green?

An escape room for learning + behind-the-scenes tour of its design

We created this resource so you can experience a text-based escape room for learning and explore one way of building without a lot of specialized tech!  The escape room itself is designed to cultivate problem-solving and critical thinking skills while introducing some content around life in 1800s Europe.

Escape Room Navigation in Google Docs: Using Internal Document Links

We chose to create this text-based escape room in Google Docs (and then convert it to a PDF).  We used internal document links to give the players choices with different outcomes. Think “choose-your-own-adventure.” Depending on which link they click, a player is taken to a different part of the document.

How to add internal document links in Google Docs

1. Label each section or location.  Set these section titles as Headings.

2. Right click on a Heading and select “copy heading link.”

In the example below, I’ve right clicked on “The Society Times,” which is set as a heading.  I want players to be able to click a link and jump back to this section later on.

3. Add the link elsewhere in the doc.

Highlight the text that you want to add a link to. Right click and select “insert link.” Paste the link you copied into the pop-up window.

4. Repeat the process as needed