Education5 min read

Escape Game for Press Week at School

Create an educational escape game for Press and Media Week at school. Develop students' critical thinking about information.

February 22, 2026

Press and Media Week in schools is a major educational event that raises students' awareness about how media works and the importance of critical thinking when faced with information. But how do you captivate teenagers on a subject they think they've already mastered because they spend hours on social media? The educational escape game is the answer. By transforming media literacy skills into puzzles to solve, you engage students in active, collaborative, and memorable learning that far exceeds traditional lectures.

Why an escape game for media literacy

Media and information literacy sometimes suffers from a paradox: students who need it most are often those who consider themselves the most competent. A teenager who spends four hours a day on TikTok is convinced they can distinguish truth from falsehood. The escape game bypasses this resistance by placing students in an active situation where their certainties are tested through play.

In a well-designed media literacy escape game, students discover through practice that verifying a source takes time, that images can lie, that catchy headlines often distort content, and that their own judgment is fallible when faced with cognitive biases. Learning from mistakes in a playful context is far more effective than a theoretical lesson. To go further with this approach, check out our guide on educational escape games.

Ready-to-use scenario: the sabotaged newsroom

The pitch

The editor-in-chief of a newspaper has been targeted by a hacker who modified all of tomorrow's articles. If the newspaper is published as is, false information will reach thousands of readers. The students, as apprentice journalists, have 45 minutes to identify the sabotaged articles, find the real information, and save the newspaper's credibility.

The journey steps

First puzzle: identify fake headlines. Present a dozen article headlines, some real and others invented. Students must sort the headlines by verifying sources. The code for the first lock corresponds to the number of fake headlines identified. This step works on the skill of critical reading of headlines and quick information verification.

Second puzzle: trace an image back to its source. Show a viral photo with a caption. Students must use reverse image search to find the photo's real context. The gap between the caption and reality gives them the elements to unlock a letter lock. This step concretely teaches image manipulation and visual verification techniques.

Third puzzle: analyze a biased article. Provide an apparently serious article but riddled with disinformation techniques (emotional appeal, numbers taken out of context, anonymous sources, sweeping generalizations). Students identify the biases and techniques used. Each spotted technique gives a digit of the final code. To structure this type of journey, explore our guide to create a multi-lock puzzle path.

Try it yourself

14 lock types, multimedia content, one-click sharing.

Enter the correct 4-digit code on the keypad.

Hint: the simplest sequence

0/14 locks solved

Try it now →

Adapting the escape game to different levels

For elementary and middle school

Simplify the articles used and guide students more with clear visual clues. Use color or emoji locks on CrackAndReveal to make codes more accessible. False information can be about topics close to their daily lives: fake news about their town, a hoax about a celebrity they know. Provide help sheets available in case of blocking so the game remains motivating.

For high school

Increase complexity with authentic articles, more subtle disinformation techniques, and multiple sources to cross-reference. Add a dimension of work on algorithms and filter bubbles. Students may need to analyze a reconstructed news feed to understand how platforms select the information presented to them. The final lock can be a text lock where students enter a keyword related to a major media literacy concept.

Additional resources and tools

Base your escape game on CLEMI resources, which offers educational kits each year for Press Week. Partner newspapers often make free copies available that you can physically integrate into your puzzles. For the digital dimension, CrackAndReveal allows you to create locks that secure revealing content: the real article behind a fake headline, the original source of a manipulated image, or a congratulations message when students correctly analyzed content. Also discover our article on media literacy escape games for additional ideas.

Frequently asked questions

How much time should be planned for a media literacy escape game?

Plan 45 minutes to 1 hour of actual gameplay plus 15 minutes of debriefing. Debriefing is essential to anchor learning: ask students what surprised them, what mistakes they made, and how they can apply these reflexes daily. For a 2-hour session, add a creation phase where students invent their own false information that other groups must uncover.

Can this escape game be organized without computer equipment?

Yes. Print articles, images, and clues on paper. Use physical numeric or letter locks. Printed QR codes can point to CrackAndReveal virtual locks accessible from students' smartphones, even without computers in the room. The hybrid paper and digital format is often the most engaging because it varies media and interactions.

What learning objectives should be documented for assessment?

The media literacy escape game covers several common core skills: researching and processing information, exercising critical thinking, cooperating and working in groups, using digital tools responsibly. Document the skills worked on in an observation grid during the game and complete with an individual reflective questionnaire after debriefing to assess each student's learning.

Conclusion

Press and Media Week at school is the perfect opportunity to offer an escape game that transforms media literacy into a collaborative adventure. By confronting students with real disinformation techniques in a playful context, you develop critical reflexes that will serve them well beyond the classroom. CrackAndReveal's virtual locks allow you to create an engaging digital journey in minutes, adapted to all levels. Give your students the tools to navigate a saturated information world, and do it through play.