30+ Escape Room Games You Can Play at Home
/Escape rooms are one of our favorite date nights out, and now they are also one of our favorite date nights in!
If you, like me, are drawn like a magnet to puzzles and mysteries of all kinds, you have probably indulged in a recent phenomena: escape rooms. Locked in a room with your teammates and given a dramatic, high-stakes scenario, you have a set time to accomplish your mission and escape. Not only does your brain get a workout in trying to solve complex puzzles, you also immerse yourself in another world—one in which you are a hero.
When you can’t go to the escape room, bring the escape room home.
Escape rooms offer visitors good clean adult fun, something that seems surprisingly rare these days, and the trend has spread across the world. The first escape room I ever visited was in Prague in the Czech Republic. As secret agents against the communist regime, we were trapped in a government office, seemingly transported into the 1960’s. Within an hour we had tampered with the rotary phone, uncovered a series of old-school keys, climbed through a hidden passage, and escaped—and I had come away with my new favorite pastime.
Since then my husband and I have been on many more adventures: we have found pirate’s gold, solved the murder of a silver-screen actress, robbed a bank vault, and even taken on gunslingers in an old saloon. It’s no wonder that we jumped at the idea of having the escape room experience from the comfort of home.
Lately we have been compiling fun home date ideas. As huge fans of board games of all kinds (see our list of 50 Best Date Night Board Games), we knew we would enjoy combining the board game experience with the thrill of an escape room. This list offers hours of entertainment for adults of all levels, and any would make an excellent date night activity. Keep in mind, for many of the options each game can only be played once. Why? Because you know the answer to the riddles once you’ve solved them! Re-gift the game, or wait a few years and see if you still remember the answers.
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Exit: The Game - Novice
Exit: The Game may have the widest selection of home escape room games of all the brands we list here. In fact, we don’t even list them all. One draw that sets them apart from other game-makers is that they rank the difficulty of their games in four levels. For those who have never done an escape room, or those who tend to find puzzles challenging, we recommend starting with the novice level. These three novice games trap you on a haunted roller coaster, send you flying into a storm in a crashing airplane, and lock you in an abandoned house. Can you escape?
Exit: The Game - Intermediate
If you have tried the novice and crave more challenge, or if you trust your puzzle-solving abilities to take on something harder, try Exit: The Game’s intermediate level. In these three adventures you could get trapped after closing in Florence’s Natural History Museum, wind up shipwrecked on a long forgotten island, or volunteer for a lab experiment that goes horribly wrong.
Exit: The Game - Advanced
If you can solve puzzles in your sleep, you may well fall into the advanced category of Exit: The Game. Jump into one of these three heart-pounding adventures: uncover a thief on a riverboat tour of the Mississippi in 1872, evacuate a research center at the North Pole before you freeze to death, or engage in your host’s macabre game as a visitor in a terrifying mansion.
Exit: The Game - Expert
Are you an absolute genius? We hope so, if you decide to try one of Exit: The Game’s expert level escape rooms. Solve a murder case on the famed train The Orient Express, excavate a pharaoh’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings, or rescue your friend from the horrifying catacombs beneath Paris. Let us know if you manage to escape!
Escape Room in a Box
Mattel’s board game escape room series Escape Room in a Box knows how to appeal to the masses. It has some hilariously wacky options like a retro flashback theme where you defeat a mad scientist (this one can actually be played more than once), a Walking Dead theme where you test your zombie survival skills (yes, like in the TV show), and a werewolf theme where you have only 90 minutes before you turn into a werewolf yourself. Another great feature—connect with Amazon’s Alexa for hints, a timer, and a designated soundtrack.
Unlock! Adventures
UNLOCK! Adventures are an app-integrated series of escape games, meaning you download the app to your phone or tablet for free and use it to input codes, interact with machines, and receive hints as you play. The sets listed here come with three games, each adhering to a different theme. In the classic “Escape” adventure series you can flea an eccentric billionaire’s island, recover a secret serum from a laboratory, and thwart an evil professor’s dastardly plans. In the “Exotic” adventure series you can save a child’s dreams from the boogeyman, rescue a friend from an uncouth sultan, and survive an expedition involving live dinosaurs. Lastly, in the “Timeless” adventure series you can prevent circus sabotage, race for priceless jewels, and fix a broken time machine.
Unlock! Adventures Featuring Favorite Characters
UNLOCK! Adventures has no shortage of imaginative scenarios, and many of them include familiar characters and creatures. In the “Mystery” adventure series you can defeat the Kraken, remove a curse from a run-down manor, and track down a sea captain’s lost treasure. In the “Heroic” adventure series, you can escape the clutches of a video game, help Sherlock Holmes solve a cast, and help Alice escape Wonderland. In the “Secret” adventure series, you can stop an evil doctor’s revenge, help Dorothy and friends escape the Wicked Witch of the West, and protect cargo from train robbers on the Tombstone Express. Last but not least, in the “Epic” adventure series, you can survive a cursed werewolf movie screening, earn the right to learn under a dragon master, and discover the mole in a secret agent organization.
Escape the Room
Escape the Room, from the brain and logic game company ThinkFun, has come out with three nail-biting escape room games more suitable for family fun. Though the games recommend 3+ players, the games can easily be played with 2 players with a little extra time. In the first in the series (suitable for the whole family), Mystery at the Stargazer’s Manor, taking place in 1869, solve the clues to find the missing astronomer from his own home. In the next, Secret of Dr. Gravely’s Retreat, discover the dark secret of an all-expense-paid health retreat in the early 20th century. Finally, in The Cursed Dollhouse, build a real 3D dollhouse and uncover its creepy history. Which will you choose?
Escape Room: The Game
Escape Room: The Game has come out with several escape room game packs and expansion packs that all require the same hardware: the Chrono Decoder. Enter the right keys into the decoder within 60 minutes to win. (And don’t throw away any of the pieces!) You can also download the app for designated soundtracks to create the right atmosphere. Like the above, the games are designed for 3-5 players, but can be done with 2 players, it just may take a bit more time. Each pack includes a variety of locales, like a creepy dentist’s office, a theme park, or the deep jungle. If you want fun for the whole family, try their family edition.
Escape Room: The Game - Expansion Packs
Fans of the above will be thrilled to know that they also sell Escape Room: The Game expansion packs. You must have one of the original games to play these (including the Chrono Decoder), but they add lots more theme options. Sneak in to a magician’s performance in London, stop an out-of-control train in the Wild West, or prevent nuclear disaster. Uncover pirate’s treasure, become a secret agent, or steal a famous painting. There are so many possibilities for escape.
This Post Was Last Updated 08/13/20.
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We’ve made a list of over twenty-five board games that will satisfy amateur sleuths everywhere.