Eight Escape Rooms You Can Play at Your House

I love games of all sorts, but Escape Room games are such a fun challenge to play with family or friends. My friends and I first tried one at the mall a few years ago and since then, I have been hooked! The down side to Escape Rooms is the expense. Most places charge $25-50 per person to come to their venue, follow their story line or theme and try to get out in an hour or less.

So I sat down to create my own Escape Room Kits, where players had a similar experience to the more expensive companies. Using household and dollar store items, plus some combination locks, I design games that can be played in my family room or basement.

Since the next upcoming holiday was Thanksgiving that year, I created one with a Thanksgiving theme, We’re Late to Thanksgiving Dinner. The storyline includes a frazzled mom who is trying to get her family out the door in time for dinner at Grandma’s.

I tried it out on my friends first. I read them the story line and set them free in the room I set up with printables, tangible clues and locked boxes. For this game, I created a part for the host – the Grandma. It gives the host a part to play while being in the know (sort of like a Grandma) Just before the hour was up, they solved the puzzle and “escaped”.

The first game was such a success, that I went on to create seven more games. Each one is themed and works well for 6-10 players. All are designed to play with multiple generations knowing that each generation has their own knowledge and skills to bring to the game.

I do have one game that is designed just for kids, Kitchen Kapers and Cream Cheese Cupcakes. It works great for a group of kids 8-12. In the storyline, Baker Becky was devastated by a bad review of her Cream Cheese Cupcakes. She destroyed the recipe so no one could make it again. Players need to find the recipe through clues set up in the kitchen and recreate it before the Mayor comes to dinner in an hour.

The kids have the option of making the cupcakes after the game. It is fun for a birthday party idea and works well for a Scouts patch.

My most popular Escape Room Game is Oh No! Santa’s List is Missing. This game is fun for all ages because it is Santa safe and challenging enough for the adults. For this game, Mrs. Claus is tired of spending Christmas Eve alone and she hides Santa’s list (among other things) in the hopes of getting the Elves and Santa to stay for her Christmas Eve party. The players need to find list before Santa has to leave to deliver the toys.

With the success of Santa’s List, I created two more winter games. The first one, Let Me Outta Here! The Snowman is Melting can be played during the holidays without a Christmas theme and work as a fun game to play as winter drags on in January and February.

The third winter game, The Elfin Christmas Party, is more involved. It includes more locks and is better for a group of 20. I created it for an office party (which is the setting), but any larger group can play it. Again, it is made for all ages to play together. Like We’re Late to Thanksgiving Dinner, there is a built in part for the host to play along.

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star is also meant for a larger crowd. This game has 10 locks to open, unlike my other games which have 6. The theme for this game is Nursery Rhymes and works great as a gender reveal game as the host can put whatever they like in the last box. Other groups have used the game to reveal where their next vacation will be.

That’s the nice thing about Escape Rooms in your house. You can personalize them to fit your family or improvize when you have to.

While I love the holiday games, I wanted to create one that can be used all year long. The story line for Mix up at the Morgue is pretty simple. Steve West is the newest assistant at the Cook County Morgue. When his boss leaves for a meeting, he reassures Steve that Tuesday is always a slow day. Unfortunately, that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

When five new bodies arrive within 15 minutes, Steve is overwhelmed and has mixed up names and personal belongings. Players need to sort out the mess and finish Steve’s paperwork in less than an hour.

Mix up at the Morgue works well with a Halloween or New Years Eve theme.

My newest Escape Room Game is Free the Bride. It is meant to be used as a pre-party game for a bachelorette party. For this story, the groom-to-be does not want the bride to go out with her friends so he locks her up. Her friends must follow the clues and solve the puzzles to find the key to let her out. This game is clean enough for Grandma and the flower girl to play along. The bride can then leave with her friends to party after the game.