A few years ago, escape rooms and escape room board games were all the rage, but I was wary of trying an expensive one-time-use product. However, I’ve since had the opportunity to try a few different ones, and I wanted to offer some comparisons for you.
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The most well-known are Exit the Game games. These are well done, though the puzzles can be pretty obscure (we also tried a level 3 game for our first one; your experience may be better if you start with level 1). The boxes are compact and everything you need is contained within the box, with the exception of scissors, paper, and pencil (for writing notes).
Finders Seekers is a subscription escape room box. The puzzles seem to be a bit easier, but they are not self-contained. Quite a bit of each puzzle is online and internet access is required to complete a puzzle. However, a cool part of this escape room is that each mystery takes place in a different city, so you can integrate it with your geography studies. There is also a kid’s subscription that we have not tried.
Digital Escape Room Games Abound, Too
Escape Academy is my first exposure to a digital escape room. Since starting Escape Academy, I have tried several free escape room video games, and they’re fun, but this has been my favorite. For the number of puzzles and the price, digital escape rooms can’t be beat. In addition, nothing is destroyed, so you can play the game as many times as you want (the puzzles will be the same, though, so eventually they’ll be too easy) or let your kids play your game.
I really enjoy the escape room board games and figuring out puzzles with physical components, but they can be a lot to set up. Price is another thing to consider; Finders Seekers boxes tend to be about double the price of most Exit the Game escape room games. So, even though my preference is for board games, for the ease of playing, reusability, and price, I have to go with digital escape rooms.
If you’d like to try an escape room, look for them at thrift stores (unused; we lucked out and found our first one for $3 new in plastic), ask friends or family if they have one they’re done with (as they might have tried to preserve more of the game), or try a digital escape room!