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The puzzle ideas people liked most, and the ones they passed on.
Most liked
- GGet physical
A player is chained to the table and alone in a separated part of...
A player is chained to the table and alone in a separated part of the room. He or she can see the key needed to free themselves but it is too far. They have to reach for a broom or a closed umbrella behind them and use it to get the key.
20 - LLiquids
Water Transfer Challenge
Players use containers, funnels, or measured pours to raise, reveal, or move an object through water.
20 - CClassic puzzle ideas
Activate a switch if players attach a prop to a statue, such as i...
Activate a switch if players attach a prop to a statue, such as inserting a fishing rod into a fisherman statue's hand.
10 - CCipher/code
Alchemy Cipher Wheel
Alchemy symbols on a rotating wheel decode a message once the correct element or symbol key is known.
10 - CCipher/code
Alphabet Number Code
Numbers map to alphabet positions and spell a short clue.
10 
MirrorsAn invisible message on a mirror (written with soap) becomes reve...
An invisible message on a mirror (written with soap) becomes revealed when players breathe on it. New
10- PPerspective
Before-and-After Room Photo
A photo shows the room before something changed. Players compare the image to the real space to spot the moved object.
10 - MMaze
Block Maze Exit Code
Players place blocks on a board to create a maze whose exit points at the next code.
10 - WWordplay
Book Title Word Search
A word search reveals two book titles where separate halves of the next clue are hidden.
10 - GGame flow
Case Password Finale
Names, dates, and evidence labels collected during the investigation combine into the final password.
10 - WWordplay
Chat Password Gate
The team submits a solved password in chat, and the host responds with the next link or file.
10 - HHidden message
Classroom Hidden Message
A worksheet, poster, or slide hides the real instruction through highlighted, missing, or ordered letters.
10 - TTeamwork
Community Mystery Share
A shared mystery file lets different groups contribute clues or compare solutions after play.
10 - DDigital
Control Room Camera Evidence
Players use a camera feed or recorded angle to notice a clue that cannot be seen from inside the room.
10 - MMore puzzle ideas
Create a door without a visible lock that only opens if players u...
Create a door without a visible lock that only opens if players use the right knock pattern.
10 - GGet physical
Crystal Laser Gun
A themed laser prop interacts with crystal targets, requiring aim, order, or color matching.
10 - EElectronicsParts
Da Vinci's Secret
Players are in a museum-themed room with multiple paintings on the walls. Two of the paintings are portraits (e.g. they can be Da Vinci's Mona Lisa and Lady with an Ermine) and have hidden Hands and Body sensors behind the characters' eyes. Players get a hint that they can reveal the secret only when no one is looking. When players cover the eyes of the portraits, the UV lights around another painting light up. The light reveals a long combination written on the painting. Players have to use the code with a keypad placed on the wall nearby to solve the puzzle and open a hidden compartment behind yet another painting.
10 - EElectronicsParts
Electrician's Conundrum
Players enter a dark room. They have a flashlight and there is a small electrical box. They have to use a flashlight to see the colors of wires connected to the box and connect them correctly to bring back the electricity in the room (via a Power output set). It can activate a lamp, TV screens, LED lights, etc.
10 - CClassic puzzle ideas
Hide a key in a flower pot
Hide a key in a flower pot.
10 - CClassic puzzle ideasParts
Hide a key on a wall where it's only visible when illuminated by...
Hide a key on a wall where it's only visible when illuminated by black light.
10 - PPrintable
Home Game Room Reset
A home kit uses printed clues and familiar rooms so hosts can stage an escape game without permanent props.
10 - MMore puzzle ideas
Include key pieces of information in conversations carried on by...
Include key pieces of information in conversations carried on by actors (or a recording of actors) on the other side of a door or wall.
10 - PPattern matching
Magic Circle Ingredient Placement
Spell ingredients must be placed on a circle in the positions hinted by symbols or story clues.
10 - MMore puzzle ideas
Make the back panel of a closet a door that opens when another ta...
Make the back panel of a closet a door that opens when another task is completed in the room; players must return to the closet to realize it has opened.
10 - GGame flow
Memorable Reveal Beat
A solve produces a visible or audible reveal that makes the team feel progress immediately.
10 - SSounds
Morse Code Transmission
Players receive dots and dashes through sound, light, or print, then translate them with a Morse key.
10 - PPerspective
Paper Diorama Location
A small paper model of a room marks a real-world drawer, shelf, or object where the clue is hidden.
10 - TTouch
Paperclip Key Hook
Players bend paperclips into a hook to retrieve a key from a narrow transparent container.
10 - TTouch
Physical Manipulation Lock
Players must turn, slide, press, or reposition a prop in a specific way before a compartment opens.
10 - HHidden object
Plain-Sight Key
A required key is visible from the start, but only after another clue do players know where to look.
10 
Board and card gamesPartsPlayers have about a dozen different playing cards (with RFID) an...
Players have about a dozen different playing cards (with RFID) and need to put them on a board (with RFID scanner) in specific poker combinations hinted elsewhere.
10
Cipher/codePlayers see short messages in a foreign language, seemingly a par...
Players see short messages in a foreign language, seemingly a part of the decoration of the room. Later, those messages can be translated with a pocket dictionary found in the room.
10- CCipher/code
Players see some books on a shelf behind closed glass doors
Players see some books on a shelf behind closed glass doors. Some letters from the titles on the books' spines are underlined. Those letters form a password.
10 - MMore puzzle ideas
Provide an 8mm or 16mm film projector and a reel of film; players...
Provide an 8mm or 16mm film projector and a reel of film; players must use the projector to watch the film. [Note: Many players may not know how to thread film through a projector. Make sure you include instructions somewhere in the room.]
10 - AAssembly
Puzzle Piece Message
A drawing or sentence is cut into pieces. Once assembled, the completed picture points to the next clue.
10 - GGame flow
Puzzles Before Wrap-Up
A final wrap-up question confirms what students learned after they escape.
10 - CClassic puzzle ideas
Require players to place a book on a shelf
Require players to place a book on a shelf.
10 
TeamworkPartsSeparate the players and put them into two rooms next to each other
Separate the players and put them into two rooms next to each other. They have to communicate by a walkie-talkie (or shouting to each other) to open a passage by pressing two buttons on two sides of the wall at the same time.
10- PPattern matching
Small-To-Large Image Order
Image cards are sorted from smallest to largest, and the words on them read as a clue in that order.
10 - LLocks
Spy Briefcase Lockbox
A briefcase sets a spy or heist tone while hiding key items. The lock combination is earned through previous clues.
10 - CCommon knowledge
Stopped Clock Combination
A broken clock or watch points to a time that becomes the lock code once players understand the clue wording.
10 - MMore puzzle ideas
Supply players with a flashlight that has no batteries
Supply players with a flashlight that has no batteries. Elsewhere supply them with a clock or other object that uses the same type of batteries. Players must recognize that they need to remove the batteries from one object and use them in the other.
10 
Common knowledgePartsThere are a couple of vials glued to a table
There are a couple of vials glued to a table. Each of them has a number assigned to it and contains different scents – those can be fruit scents or other easily recognizable notes. There are some pictures of fruits (or other corresponding things that smell like the contents of the vials) near a keypad. Players have to recognize the scents and enter the correct code.
10- MMemory
There are at least two sections of the room
There are at least two sections of the room. After pushing a button in one of them, in the second one, there is a sequence of lights in different colors. Players have to memorize them and repeat the sequence on colored buttons back in the first section of the room.
10 
WeightThere are many different coins, a prop
There are many different coins, a prop (e.g. a vial of blood) and a scale. The hint suggests that players should find a price for a life. The vial has to be put on one side of the scale and on the other side there should be coins – as much as it is needed to balance the scale. Then, their value should be added and the total number is a combination for a padlock. (Self-promotion! You can buy a version of this puzzle from Escape Room Supplier here.)
10- TTeamworkParts
There are two handles in the room, too far from each other to be...
There are two handles in the room, too far from each other to be held by just one player. Two players have to hold them and each other's hands to complete the "human chain" to solve the puzzle. (Self-promotion! You can buy it from Escape Room Supplier here.)
10 - CClassic puzzle ideas
Use a well-known music track to provide a clue that involves the...
Use a well-known music track to provide a clue that involves the band name, the song name, or something related to the song. For example, a Beach Boys song could represent the need to use a shell or a bottle of sand for some purpose.
10 - MMore puzzle ideas
Use the smell of cigarette smoke to alert players to an approachi...
Use the smell of cigarette smoke to alert players to an approaching guard or other non-player character.
10 - SSounds
Using the Morse code, prepare a message which will be played afte...
Using the Morse code, prepare a message which will be played after pushing a button. Provide a cheat sheet for the code and remember to let players play it again on demand!
10 - BBoard and card games
a big colorful die
There is a big colorful die. Each side with a number has a different color. Players do not have to roll the die, they only need the numbers and corresponding colors to get a combination for a color-coded lock.
10
Most passed
- MMore puzzle ideas
Create a room that is a lifesize version of a board game board
Create a room that is a lifesize version of a board game board. Players must act appropriately as pieces on the game board to reach the "end space," i.e, the other side of the room.
01 - CClassic puzzle ideas
Hide something at the end of a tunnel or an HVAC vent that's just...
Hide something at the end of a tunnel or an HVAC vent that's just big enough for a person to crawl through.
01 
Common knowledgePartsOn a wall, there is a mix of many letters and numbers in differen...
On a wall, there is a mix of many letters and numbers in different colors. It seems unreadable for the moment but players have a flashlight and three semi-transparent colored glass tiles – red, blue and yellow. Sadly, when used with the flashlight, it does not reveal a hidden combination. To see the code, players have to use green glass tile which can be made with blue and yellow tiles.
01- TTeamwork
One player has to stand in one place to activate a message appear...
One player has to stand in one place to activate a message appearing on a wall, but the message is not visible from this spot. Other players have to help him.
01 - CClassic puzzle ideas
Place a set of scales in the room and require players to balance...
Place a set of scales in the room and require players to balance or weigh a set of objects.
01 - CClassic puzzle ideasParts
Provide a thermometer and an enclosed space or an object for whic...
Provide a thermometer and an enclosed space or an object for which the temperature must be measured to complete a code or solve another puzzle.
01 - MMore puzzle ideas
Put players in a room that gets smaller over time (for example, t...
Put players in a room that gets smaller over time (for example, the walls gradually move in or the ceiling slowly lowers). Players must figure out how to either stop the room from contracting or escape before they're "crushed."
01 - PPattern matching
Puzzle Portraits
Portraits hide family relationships, gaze directions, ages, or symbols that must be ordered into a clue.
01 - LLogic
Renfaire Regicide Plot
Players connect court roles, festival schedules, and motives to identify who could commit the regicide.
01 - MMore puzzle ideas
Require players to figure out how to access and watch digital "ca...
Require players to figure out how to access and watch digital "captain's logs" or a "distress signal" from a spaceship or space station.
01 - BBoard and card games
Secret Spades Missing Cards
A deck is missing one card from each suit, and those card values form the combination.
01 - HHidden object
Treasure Hunt Equipment Set
A portable kit spreads clues across several props, turning a simple search into a staged treasure route.
01 - CClassic puzzle ideas
Use a lamp and a sundial to reveal a hidden door
Use a lamp and a sundial to reveal a hidden door.
01 - HHidden object
Vitamin Bottle Rattle
A vitamin bottle or pill container hides a tiny rolled clue among harmless decoys.
01 - MMemoryParts
a dead person (mannequin) in the room
There is a dead person (mannequin) in the room. Next to him, there is a digital voice recorder. He recorded a message about his organs failing one after another. At the end of the recording, he mentions a miraculous medicine in a syringe. Players need to find the syringe (without a needle, but with RFID at the end) in his bag and put it to the specific organs on the mannequin in the order from the recording.
01 
Assemblya light table in the room (the surface has a source of light unde...
There is a light table in the room (the surface has a source of light underneath). Players have to cover it completely with a jigsaw puzzle that they have to finish first. When the whole bright surface is covered, the puzzle is solved.
01
Hidden messagePartsan unplugged plug near a prop covering a socket
There is an unplugged plug near a prop covering a socket. When players plug the plug, LED lights turn on and show a secret message.
01
Liquidspour water from vials hidden in the room into a vessel
Players have to pour water from vials hidden in the room into a vessel. In this vessel, there is a combination padlock in transparent water gel balls. The padlock becomes visible only after the water is poured. Players have to use the code set on a padlock in the vessel on the same looking padlock elsewhere.
01
Liquidsput an orange into a tall vessel full of water and make it reach...
Players have to put an orange into a tall vessel full of water and make it reach the bottom to trigger a sensor and finish the puzzle. Oranges float on water but after players peel it, it sinks just fine.
01
PerspectiveA player has to stand in a specific spot to be able to make sense...
A player has to stand in a specific spot to be able to make sense of some strange symbols painted on walls and pieces of furniture in the room. From that spot, the symbols merge into numbers, providing a combination.
11- GGame flow
Countdown Hint Phone
A phone acts as timer and hint system, giving players controlled help without breaking the story.
11 - MMore puzzle ideas
Set up a task that requires players to use a lot of electricity
Set up a task that requires players to use a lot of electricity. Use the sound of a thunderstorm "outside" to alert them to the presence of lightning and require them to enable a lightning rod to access the power.
11 
AssemblyA 3D puzzle (e.g. some famous building in the theme of your Escap...
A 3D puzzle (e.g. some famous building in the theme of your Escape Room) form a combination or a password visible on the side of it after assembly.
00
MirrorsA big mirror on the wall turns out to be a hidden door to another...
A big mirror on the wall turns out to be a hidden door to another room. It can be connected to a riddle about "walking into the inverse world" or something vague like that.
00
TouchA blindfolded player has to identify different objects using only...
A blindfolded player has to identify different objects using only hands.
00- MMore puzzle ideasParts
A button keypad with some of the number labels worn off will also...
A button keypad with some of the number labels worn off will also show players which buttons are used most frequently.
00 
Board and card gamesA chessboard hides a small key underneath
A chessboard hides a small key underneath. There is a hardly visible hole on the side of the board. Under one chess piece, there is a magnet and players have to use it to get the key out
00
MathA combination for the lock is presented with a couple of geometri...
A combination for the lock is presented with a couple of geometric shapes. Each shape indicates a number of their sides (and the circle would be for "0").
00
MirrorsA combination written normally on a mirror's surface should open...
A combination written normally on a mirror's surface should open a padlock, but only when used backward (because mirrors show the inverse of everything).
00- CCipher/code
A decoder ring hidden in the room helps players solve an enigmati...
A decoder ring hidden in the room helps players solve an enigmatic message.
00 
AssemblyA door to the next room is missing a handle
A door to the next room is missing a handle. Players need to find it to progress further.
00- CClassic puzzle ideas
A guide takes players hands and leads them through the dark into...
A guide takes players hands and leads them through the dark into their one-hour reality.
00 
MirrorsA message is written on the wall in the other room, which is clos...
A message is written on the wall in the other room, which is closed behind bars. To read it, a player has to find a mirror, hold it in hand while stretching the arm through the bars and try to read the message in a mirror's reflection. It is written on the wall where the barred door is, so it cannot be read without a mirror.
00- MMore puzzle ideas
A mirror in which players can see "ghosts" standing or moving aro...
A mirror in which players can see "ghosts" standing or moving around behind them in the room. The ghosts' activities can provide clues regarding where things are hidden or how to operate machinery.
00 - MMore puzzle ideas
A mirror that players can reach through or step through into "opp...
A mirror that players can reach through or step through into "opposite world." Players must use teamwork between the two rooms to accomplish a task.
00 - MMore puzzle ideas
A mirror that turns into a painting that reveals a clue if player...
A mirror that turns into a painting that reveals a clue if players read an incantation or repeat "Bloody Mary" in front of it.
00 - MMore puzzle ideas
A painting in which the subjects advance closer to the frame when...
A painting in which the subjects advance closer to the frame when players get closer to the right answer and move farther away when players get 'colder.'
00 - MMore puzzle ideas
A painting in which the subjects move when players aren't looking
A painting in which the subjects move when players aren't looking. Subjects may point or turn their heads to provide clues. [Note: In a historic room where you don't want to use a computer monitor or walkie talkies as a hint system, this could be your solution.]
00 - MMore puzzle ideas
A painting or an old photograph showing the room players are in w...
A painting or an old photograph showing the room players are in with a different furniture configuration; activate a switch if players rearrange the furniture to match the picture.
00 - CClassic puzzle ideas
A physician gives a player a physical, discovers something that t...
A physician gives a player a physical, discovers something that terrifies him, and bolts from the room. Seconds later, alarms go off and the facility is locked down.
00 
TouchA player has to put a finger on a fingerprint scanner to trigger...
A player has to put a finger on a fingerprint scanner to trigger a sensor and solve the puzzle.
00- SSounds
A player has to walk through a checkerboard-like floor, where eac...
A player has to walk through a checkerboard-like floor, where each segment, when stepped on, plays a fragment of a voice message. The solution for such a "maze", in a form of directional arrows, is hidden elsewhere.
00 - MMore puzzle ideas
A player in one room must carry out a task by following direction...
A player in one room must carry out a task by following directions provided by a second player watching from another room on a monitor.
00 
PerspectiveA player starts the game sitting on a folding chair
A player starts the game sitting on a folding chair. This starting point makes it difficult to treat the chair as part of the puzzle, but when the chair is folded, the symbols painted on it merge and show a picture or a combination needed for solving a puzzle.
00
TouchPartsA secret agent's room is open after a player uses an ID card, put...
A secret agent's room is open after a player uses an ID card, puts a hand on a palm scanner and uses a keypad to enter a code. (Self-promotion! You can buy it from Escape Room Supplier here.) Accept consent to view this Click to allow Embedded Videos " data-cs-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/e-1YWy7f7QQ" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" align="middle" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1">
00- DDigital
AI Cube Logic Core
Players solve prompts from an artificial intelligence cube and use its responses to unlock the next file.
00 - HHidden object
Access Prop Inspection
A realistic access object such as a badge, case, or document hides the detail that opens the next step.
00 - DDesign
Accessibility Variant Clue
The same puzzle is offered with alternate input or clue formats so more players can participate.
00 - WWordplay
Acrostic Build-Up Words
Players solve clue words, then read shared letters vertically to reveal the key word.
00 - WWordplay
Acrostic Location Poem
The first letter of each poem line spells the location of the next clue.
00