We all love the thrill of solving mysteries under pressure. In the last few years, and a lockdown or two in the middle, escape room inspired board games have swept the nation. They offer the wild ride of an authentic game with all the twists and turns we’ve all come to love from a real-life escape room.
While playing a board game will never compare with the real deal, there’s a game for everyone just waiting to be played!
So hit play on your killer soundtrack, dim the lights and get ready to uncover the secrets of these 7 brilliant board games that take inspiration from the escape rooms we all know and love:
Exit the Game: The Abandoned Cabin
While the Exit the Game series includes some cracking titles such as The Polar Station and The Pharoah’s Tomb, our hands-down favourite is The Abandoned Cabin!
This game has all the creep factor meets intrigue and suspense that will get your adrenaline pumping without leaving the comfort of your own home. The Abandoned Cabin starts with your car breaking down in an area without mobile reception. So naturally, you hunker down in a random, abandoned cabin for the night. What could possibly go wrong?
You wake up the next morning to find that you are locked inside the cabin, with a menacing murder threat left by a mysterious person if you don’t escape before they return. Roll on the puzzle-solving!
Will you make it out of the cabin alive?
Unlock! Series
Unlock! offers several fun titles comprising three “escape room” scenarios that you can play on your tabletop. From Unlock! Star Wars to Unlock Secret Aventures and more, there are plenty of games to whet your whistle.
The premise of each game may differ, but the gameplay uses a simple system which allows you to search scenes, solve riddles and combine objects. But rather than rummaging through a real-life room, it’s a cooperative card game that works alongside a companion app that offers clues, allows you to check codes and monitor your remaining time and more.
Zooming in on one of our favourites, Unlock! Heroic Adventures you can choose from:
- Insert Coin: In a twist of fate or simply to avoid boredom, you wander up to the attic where you discover your grandad’s dusty old arcade machine. Can you beat all the levels in this virtual adventure and make your escape?
- The Pursuit of the White Rabbit: “You’re late, you’re late for a very important date!” But that’s not all. Alice is running out of time. Her story is taking shape in an unfinished manuscript. Can you help Alice get out of the malicious tale that is unfolding?
- Sherlock Holmes: The Scarlet Thread of Murder: Can you help the world’s famous detective work his way through a peculiar case? You’re part of Sherlock Holmes’ investigative team of sleuths, and your first stop is the morgue. Will you solve the case in time?
Escape the Room: The Cursed Dollhouse
If you’re looking for one of the most challenging games in the Escape the Room series, look no further. The Cursed Dollhouse takes you back in time to the bygone era of creepy dollhouses (it even comes with a full 3D model!)
You’ll find yourself immersed in a captivating story bursting with perilous curses and enough spook factor to keep you on your toes. With five different rooms to discover and explore, finding objects and solving puzzles is all part of the fun.
Betrayal at House on the Hill
A quintessential horror board game, Betrayal at House on the Hill delivers a thrilling escape room narrative that is a must for gaming fans.
The game revolves around you (and up to five other players) exploring, you’ve guessed it, a haunted house. The catch? It’s composed of randomised room tiles for the first phase of the game before you get down to the nitty-gritty and begin one of its 50 haunts.
Some haunts will require you to work and strategise together to make your escape. Others will force you to use your sheer wit to solve riddles and overthrow the game’s antagonist. But bear in mind that betrayal is on the cards. Are you up for the challenge?
Escape Room in a Box: The Werewolf Experiment
Can you beat the mad scientist’s plans to turn you into a werewolf? Time is ticking. You need to unite with your team and unravel the mystery before it’s too late!
Escape Room in a Box: The Werewolf Experiment places your fate entirely in your hands, and it holds nothing back with its unique storyline. You get to crack codes, solve puzzles, and use your stellar deduction skills to make your escape in under an hour. Fail, and you and the rest of the players will become rabid werewolves!
Combine it with your Amazon Alexa, and you will take your gaming experience to the next level.
Hunt a Killer: Death at the Dive Bar
An instant cult classic amongst the growing escape room board game fandom, Hunt a Killer: Death at the Dive Bar is one of the most immersive murder mystery experiences you’ll find outside of the real thing.
The plot? Murder has tarnished the walls of the local dive bar. It’s your job to become an investigator and examine evidence to ultimately find the killer. But, is there more than just foul play at foot?
Channel your inner detective and solve the crime before time runs out. Along the way, you get to decipher, decode and solve a bunch of puzzles, either solo or as part of a team.
Whether you want to spice up date night, have an evening in with friends or embrace your inner detective, escape room inspired board games are the answer. While they will never beat the fully immersive explosion of fun that you’ll find in an escape room, there is a lot of fun to be had from the comfort of your own home!