The Unfinished Manuscript
Teen B2 learners repair a missing author's manuscript by working with narrative tenses, reported speech, adjective order, adverbs of degree and wishes. Each solved puzzle reveals one letter of the code.
A free Escape Room for Teens at CEFR B2 level. Topic: The full story - Stories use a range of tenses and grammar: the past continuous, the past perfect, the past perfect continuous, reported speech, direct speech, the past simple. Order of adjectives: opinion – size – shape – age – colour – origin – material.
Late one evening, your class was exploring the dusty archive of an old city library when the heavy oak door slammed shut behind you. On the desk lay a manuscript that a famous writer had been working on for years before she mysteriously disappeared. A note pinned to the first page said that the…
Solve five grammar and reading puzzles hidden in the manuscript to collect five letters, then enter the master code to unlock the archive door.
Puzzles
- 🗝️ The Mysterious Box: The first page of the manuscript describes what the writer found in her grandmother's attic, but one phrase has been smudged. Which option puts the adjectives in the correct order? 'Hidden under a pile of blankets, she discovered a ___ box that nobody in the family had ever…
- 🚨 The Empty Room: Complete the gap with the correct form of the verb in brackets. 'It was absolutely freezing that night. While the guard was sleeping in his chair, someone crept into the museum. By the time the police arrived, the thief ___ (already / escape) through the back window, and all that…
- ⏳ The Late Arrival: been hours. told she waiting me had She for
- 🌲 The Cabin in the Forest: Read the passage from the manuscript carefully. Decide whether each statement is true or false.
- 💔 The Final Page: The last page of the manuscript is written in code, where A=1, B=2, C=3 and so on. Underneath the numbers, the writer had added: 'If only I hadn't left without saying goodbye. I wish I had told her the truth while I still had the chance.' Decode the word that names the feeling…
Printable worksheet
This Escape Room comes with a free printable worksheet: 1 part for students to do after the game, and an answer key for the teacher. It prints at three levels (Support, Core and Challenge); this is the Challenge sheet. Sign in free to print the whole sheet.
What's on the worksheet
- Escape on paper · Open every lock. Fewer options to choose from this time.
Part 1: Escape on paper
Open every lock. Fewer options to choose from this time.
- 🗝️ The Mysterious Box The first page of the manuscript describes what the writer found in her grandmother's attic, but one phrase has been smudged. Which option puts the adjectives in the correct order? 'Hidden under a pile of blankets, she discovered a ___ box that nobody in the family had ever…
- 🚨 The Empty Room Complete the gap with the correct form of the verb in brackets. 'It was absolutely freezing that night. While the guard was sleeping in his chair, someone crept into the museum. By the time the police arrived, the thief ___ (already / escape) through the back window, and all that…
- ⏳ The Late Arrival been hours. told she waiting me had She for