Which Escape Room Game Is For You?

During the pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns, I had a lot of time where I could not go to the pub or pop out for a fun day out and so we found ourselves looking for activities that we could do at home that were “events”. Having previously done a few escape rooms both as part of work events and socially, we were intrigued by escape room games. We happened across an Exit game during the first lockdown and whiled away a few hours (we were not particularly good at it) puzzling our way through the different riddles to get ourselves out and complete the game. We were not particularly good, we needed a bunch of hints, but we had a blast. So began our love affair with escape room games.

I will take a note here to say that at no point will I give any spoilers pertaining to the escape games themselves, so I am afraid you won’t be getting any hints on how to play these games well. In fairness I am probably not the best person to ask for tips anyway as I love these kinds of games, but I am not actually particularly good at them.

For Those Who Love Star Wars

If you are into Star Wars then the Star Wars Unlock game is an absolute must. This game box consists of three separate games which means you can have three sets of fun. You will find yourself immersed in the Star Wars universe with some classic foes and familiar companions gracing the scenes of the game with you. The game is card driven, you will be trying to combine things together to get yourself through the game. For example combining the tonton with the gun card means you have tried to shoot the tonton. Just as a piece of advice, don’t do that. What did that noble beast ever do to you?

Through the game there will be many points where you collectively choose which avenue to take. Would you like to head East or West across the arid wasteland? Your choices will have an effect on how your game plays out although ultimately the end goal remains the same. You cannot replay this as the puzzles will mostly be the same, but you will definitely love every moment of the three games that you play.

There are a boatload of other Unlock games, and all are a bit harder than the Star Wars one we have found. They are still great fun and fully resettable so you can give them to a friend after. Each box contains three games usually with an Easy, Medium and Hard selection within each box, although for us this just determined the order we played in or which we played with kids.

For Those Not Afraid To Rip Stuff Up

If you are not afraid to deface and destroy your escape room game all in the view of having an absolute blast, then you really cannot go wrong with the Exit series. These are small box games that are one-and-done, meaning that during the game you will cut things, fold cards and generally use up the game. The games all feature a code wheel as well as a deck of riddle cards, solution cards and hint cards. There will be a few other pieces in the box, a storybook, perhaps some strange artifacts or maps, and a few components needed to solve the riddles. When you will solve riddles to gain a three symbol code which you put into the code wheel to gain the next card number you can draw. Some of these will reveal that you have made a mistake and need to take a penalty, others will point you in the direction of more cards that you will use to solve more riddles.

These games range in difficulty and amount of luck too from 1 star to 5 star. The themes are all pretty diverse, some are set in a Haunted Rollercoaster, on a train in Dead Man on the Orient Express, some in your typical deserted island, there is even a Lord of the Rings one. There is also a specific kids version (Riddles in the Jungle) too so there truly is something for everyone.

For Those Who Want An RPG Style Adventure

If you want to be able to level up your character and become immersed in a story that flips and whips through a fantastical land then I think Escape Tales: Children of Wyrmwood is perfect for you. This is a much longer commitment than the other games I have put forth, there are three story chapters as well as an excellent introductory tutorial chapter which aids you in learning the game. During the game you will be solving riddles, some of which are more complex than others, and using your action tokens to explore different areas of the map. The game is app supported and we found this app to be super smooth to use.

In this game you play as Gilbert, who is a sheltered guy who has never left his town. You are in love with Sevilla, and without family or friends you are a drifter. The town is in danger from dark forces outside the walls and you end up in the thick of it. I cannot spoil any of the story elements for you, but trust me when I say that this game has a great narrative. You will have many points where you get to make a decision, do you take the crazy woman with you or do you leave her behind defenseless? Each choice will have a knock on effect on your character traits. If you do something nice for someone else but that drives you a bit mad then your sanity will decrease.

I really don’t think that I can recommend this game highly enough, it is utterly brilliant.

For Those Who Want A Long Experience

If you want an escape room game that gives you something to do over a prolonged period of time, then look no further than the Exit Advent Calendar. Now of course you cry out that an advent calendar is only for Christmas, however, I have this new view that you can count down and do a little each day towards any date, not just Santa-day.

Each day you will follow along with the story and help the protagonist escape from whatever horrors they have managed to find themselves in. Each day you will open a door of the calendar and within will be printed a room with clues hidden all around, there will also be likely a few clue pieces, perhaps paper or cards that will give you a riddle that you must solve to gain the code for the next door. We have found that some days are easier than others with “solve time” ranging from 5 or so minutes to over 40 mins for the tough ones. As in regular Exit games, there are hints and solutions available should you need them although we like to burn our brains trying to figure everything out help free.

This product from Kosmos has now been running for a few years so there will be a couple you can get your hands on, and it contains 24 daily doors to open with riddles to solve. Weirdly for an advent calendar though, the doors are not numbered, you must instead work out which door is for the following day by solving the riddle of the day before. If you are anything like me, life will invariably get in the way and you can have this game living on your coffee table for a good few months before you manage to complete it. That to me is not a bad thing, it's a lovely thing to dip in and out of.

There is your round up of a few of the different types of escape room games that are available, do you have a favourite kind?