## 1 Introduction
### VR Escape Rooms in Education and in EFL Contexts  
Despite VR educational escape rooms being a relatively new field, a review concluded that VR is among the variety of tools used in serious educational ER contexts, emphasising its ability to enhance social interaction and collaboration and to make learning more effective [23]. The increasing application of VRERs is evident in a wide range of disciplines, including computer science [24; 25; 26; 27; 28], biology [29; 30], chemistry [31], environmental engineering [32], history, arts and informatics [33] and even building energy simulation [34], as well as in the context of testing learners' problem-solving, critical thinking and observation skills [35]. With regard to academic performance and learning outcomes, learners, as well as educators, seem to consider VR escape rooms useful for learning [25; 31], with several studies concluding that learners' perceptions of their learning, understanding and overall performance improved [27; 28; 30; 32]. Learners' actual academic performance also seems to be positively affected, with a number of studies reporting on improved learning outcomes [26; 29; 30; 32]. In terms of participants' overall user experience, educational VRERs can increase learners' motivation [27; 28; 29; 30; 32; 33] engagement [24; 31; 34], enjoyment [24; 25; 27; 28; 29; 30; 32; 24], interest [27; 28], satisfaction [29; 32] and immersion [26; 34]. Learners can become more invested in the learning process due to the entertainment factor of such environments [31], which also helps maintain their attention to the task at hand and increase their curiosity [34].  
In EFL, research is still relatively scarce. A few examples can be found on digital escape rooms in purely EFL contexts utilising either desktop-based digital platforms [36; 37; 38; 39] or augmented reality [40]. Different areas of focus are observed, including vocabulary [36; 40], grammar [39], integrating language learning with history [38], introducing young adult literature [37] and enhancing receptive and productive skills [40]. Apart from a paper that only outlines assessment methods without implementing them [36], the rest focus on practical applications. Results indicate that both students' [37; 38] and teachers' [37; 40] perceptions of the effectiveness of such environments for learning are quite positive. Nonetheless, only one study talks about students' actual learning outcomes, observing significant improvement in scores from pre- to post-test [39]. Additionally, learners report higher levels of motivation and engagement in this setting [37; 38; 39], with teachers also viewing these experiences as capable of positively influencing such affective factors [37; 40].  
In virtual reality EFL contexts, one example described the development of a 360-degree interactive virtual tour of a university in Mexico during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was later transformed into an escape room to support English language learners [41]. The primary goal was to improve learners' English proficiency. However, the study lacks empirical data on the actual impact of this environment on language-learning outcomes, as no formal testing or assessment was conducted.  
A more thoroughly evaluated example of a VRER in English language education is SpEakWise VR [42]. This international telecollaborative seminar combined tandem language learning with gamification elements and social VR in an immersive environment. Tandem language learning is \"language-based communication between language learners who are native speakers of different languages, acquiring each other's language as L2\" [43] (p. 178). In this case, English and German were the target languages, and participants were tasked with solving multilingual collaborative puzzles structured in a way that resembled an escape room. The study found that the VRER had a positive impact on learners' motivation and engagement, with participants perceiving this dynamic, social virtual environment as a medium that can enhance their language-learning experience.