Who Would Win an Escape Room Faster: Moira or Katniss Everdeen?

Both fictional characters are spunky, determined, and creative, but when it comes to logic puzzles who would really be faster? Would they even make it out?

Escape rooms have become really popular recently, and it’s not hard to see why. The idea is that you and your group have to solve a certain number of interconnected puzzles in order to shut off, for example, a device that will cause the world to get sucked into a black hole if not disabled in 60 minutes (no pressure). The puzzles you have to solve include a number of tasks like identifying patterns and answering riddles. So basically, if you’re the kind of person who enjoys logic puzzles–like the ones where you use a list of clues to figure out the respective ages, number of siblings, and favorite colors of Jane, Wade, Zélie, Dorian, and Sydney–and if you enjoy games like Taboo where you’re working against a time constraint, then you’ll probably enjoy an escape room.

Putting aside for now the question of whether or not Moira (from The Handmaid’s Tale) and Katniss Everdeen (from The Hunger Games) would actually enjoy an escape room, which one of them is more likely to have a better escape time?

1) First, there’s Moira.

She’s shown an impressive amount of creative intelligence by using a sharp piece from inside a toilet to threaten an Aunt before escaping in the Aunt’s clothes, since she knows the guards don’t look at them too closely. Would she be able to solve these types of logic puzzles, too? Who knows, she might even find a way to hack the room and not have to solve the puzzles. It’s been known to happen, and I wouldn’t put it past her.

2) Then there’s Katniss.

She’s been through a lot, too (understatement of the year). We know she’s been resourceful enough to survive the Hunger Games, using both her physical abilities with a bow and arrow and her knowledge of how the human psyche works (pretending to be in love with Peeta and then threatening to commit suicide with him at the end of the first Game). Would this ability to get inside people’s minds help her in the escape room? Much like how students tend to assume that test-makers won’t put 4 “C” multiple choice answers in a row, could Katniss solve the escape room’s puzzles more quickly by guessing what types of answers the makers of the room would be expecting or looking for?

3) But would either be able to escape?

Is either girl logically-minded enough that she would actually be able to solve any or all of the room’s tasks? There’s no single form of intelligence, after all. Resourcefulness and observation (Moira) as well as physical power and human insight (Katniss) don’t necessarily overlap with riddle-solving abilities. So while it’s safe to say that both girls are incredibly smart, is their smartness the same type that’s needed here?

It’s time to vote. Let me know in the comments why you chose what you did–and whether you think Moira and Katniss would ever do an escape room just for fun!

Some other questions to consider:

Who Would Make a Better Watch Dog: The Crocodile from Peter Pan or Fluffy?

Who Would Win in a Sword Fight: Peter Pan or Romeo?