Best Escape Room Board Games | 9 Family Picks

EXIT: The Game is the best overall escape room board game for families, with the most inventive puzzles in the hobby for 1 to 6 players aged 12 and up.

I am Spector, a dad to Alex (7) and Emma (10), and the first time we cracked an EXIT box on the kitchen table the kids did not move for ninety minutes. An escape room board game packs the searching, the code breaking and the click of the last lock into a box you open at home, usually for far less than a night out at a real escape room.

Here is the honest part the product listings will not tell you. Most of these games are played exactly once. You cannot reset a box you have already solved, so the real question is not which game is best, it is whether you want a box to destroy or a deck to pass on to another family. Every pick below is marked with that answer so you can spend your money on the kind of night you actually want.

Affiliate disclosure: this page contains Amazon affiliate links. If you buy through one we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you, and it never changes the picks above.

Best escape room board games for family game night

The best escape room board game for most families is EXIT: The Game, with Unlock! as the best box you can reset and share and Unlock! Kids as the best option for younger children. The table below compares all 9 picks on players, age, time, and whether you can play the box again, and every game name links to an Amazon search.

Rank	Game	Publisher	Players	Age	Time	Play again?	App?
1	EXIT: The Game	Kosmos	1 to 6	12+	60 to 120 min	One time only	No app
2	Unlock!	Space Cowboys	1 to 6	10+	60 min each	Reset and share	App needed
3	Unlock! Kids	Space Cowboys	1 to 4	6+	20 to 30 min	Reset and share	No app
4	Escape Room: The Game	Spin Master	3 to 5	16+	60 min	Decoder reusable	No app
5	Deckscape	dV Giochi	1 to 6	12+	60 min	Reset and share	No app
6	Escape Room in a Box: The Werewolf Experiment	Mattel	2 to 8	13+	30 to 90 min	One time only	No app
7	Escape the Room: Mystery at the Stargazer’s Manor	ThinkFun	3 to 8	10+	90 min	One time, resettable	No app
8	Escape Tales: The Awakening	Board and Dice	1 to 4	16+	90 to 120 min	One time story	No app
9	Decktective	dV Giochi	1 to 6	12+	60 min	Reset and share	No app

Player counts, ages, and times follow the current base editions of each game. Boxes that hold several scenarios list one scenario. Only Unlock! needs a phone, and it is a free app.

Match the box to your table before you worry about the theme. A young family wants Unlock! Kids or Stargazer’s Manor, a group of friends wants EXIT or Unlock!, and a big loud crew wants Escape Room: The Game.

EXIT: The Game, the best overall family escape room pick

EXIT: The Game is a cooperative escape room series from Kosmos, designed by Inka and Markus Brand, for 1 to 6 players aged 12 and up, and each box runs about 60 to 120 minutes with a difficulty rating printed on the cover. Every box holds riddle cards, a decoder wheel and a gradual hint deck, and no app is needed at any point. It earns the top spot because the puzzles do things a card game should not be able to do, and the moment a solution clicks is worth the price on its own. Start with The Abandoned Cabin for a fan favorite, or The House of Riddles if your table is newer to the genre.

Unlock!, the best reset and share escape room game

Unlock! is a cooperative card game from Space Cowboys, designed by Cyril Demaegd, for 1 to 6 players aged 10 and up, and each box holds three scenarios that run about 60 minutes each. It uses a free companion app for the timer, the music, the hints and the code checks, which is the one thing to know before you buy, because the phone is not optional. The reason it is my second pick rather than my first is simple, nothing is destroyed, so you can reset the deck and hand the box to another family when you are done.

• Similarities: Both are cooperative escape room experiences that run about an hour and turn a chain of puzzles into a shared story.
• Differences: EXIT uses tactile physical puzzles with no app and destroys the components as you solve, while Unlock! needs a free app and leaves the deck intact so it can be reset and passed on.
• Why this game fans will enjoy it: This is the choice that matters most in the genre. Buy EXIT for the best single night, and buy Unlock! when you want a box that can work for more than one household.

Unlock! Kids, the best escape room game for young kids

Unlock! Kids is the family version of the same system from Space Cowboys, made for ages 6 and up, and it is the one box here that needs no app and no reading at all. Each set holds three stories with two adventures in each, so you get six short puzzles that fit a young table, and the whole thing is designed for 1 to 4 players. Alex (7) could join this one on his own, which is not true of any other pick on the list. If your youngest wants a cooperative card game that is not a one time event, 5 Minute Dungeon is the fast fantasy alternative we keep beside it.

Escape Room: The Game, the best pick with a real timer

Escape Room: The Game from Spin Master is for 3 to 5 players aged 16 and up, and it ships with a reusable electronic Chrono Decoder that counts down 60 minutes and takes the codes you find. The base box holds four scenarios with rising difficulty, and once you own the decoder you can buy new scenario packs, which makes it a middle ground between a one time box and a living game. It is the loudest and most theatrical pick here, so it suits a group that wants the pressure turned all the way up.

Deckscape, the best app free escape room deck for travel

Deckscape from dV Giochi is a pure card game for 1 to 6 players aged 12 and up, and a scenario runs about 60 minutes with no app, no setup and no table hogging. It works like a pocket escape room, because you flip a card, solve what is on it and check the answer on the back, and the deck is never damaged, so it resets and travels well. It is the pick I would pack for a car trip or a rainy afternoon, and it is the cheapest way to test whether your family even likes the genre.

Escape Room in a Box, the best big group pick with real locks

Escape Room in a Box: The Werewolf Experiment from Mattel is for 2 to 8 players aged 13 and up, and it is the most like a real escape room on this list because it contains three working locks and 19 puzzles. It plays in 30 to 90 minutes, and the theme is a race to solve the clues before a mad scientist turns the table into werewolves, so it is a teen and up pick rather than a little kid pick. A big group actually works here, because the locks let several people work at once instead of sitting and watching.

Escape the Room, the best family friendly escape room box

Escape the Room: Mystery at the Stargazer’s Manor from ThinkFun is for 3 to 8 players aged 10 and up, and it is the gentlest full size box for a family that includes preteens. You get about 90 minutes to find a missing astronomer in 1869, and the puzzles are observational and fair rather than punishing, which is why it is the box I hand to a family buying their first one. It is built to be repacked and passed on, so the value is better than a strictly one time box. If your family loves solving one puzzle together and wants a cooperative game you can play again and again, Spirit Island is the heavy cooperative shelf for a grown up night.

Escape Tales, the best story driven escape room game

Escape Tales: The Awakening from Board and Dice is a story driven card game for 1 to 4 players aged 16 and up, and unlike the rest it removes the clock entirely, so you explore and make choices at your own pace. The trade off is tone, because the story is dark and the age is genuinely 16 and up, so it is a teens and adults pick rather than a whole family pick. It carries multiple endings, which gives it more story payoff than a single puzzle box. If your teens want atmosphere and horror you can replay, Nemesis is the survival horror box we reach for.

Decktective, the best detective mystery escape room pick

Decktective from dV Giochi is a cooperative mystery card game for 1 to 6 players aged 12 and up, and a case runs about 60 minutes. It has the neatest gimmick on the list, because you build a small three dimensional crime scene from the box and the cards, then question suspects and discard the leads that do not hold up. It plays more like a whodunit than a locked room, and the cards are reusable, so it sits in the same reset and share family as Unlock! and Deckscape.

House picks: which escape room box to buy first, and what to skip

This part is our family advice, not a rulebook. Buy EXIT for the best night, Unlock! Kids if a seven year old is at the table, and Deckscape if you want to start cheap. Be careful with any box that advertises six or more players, because almost every escape room game is at its best with two to four people and turns into a queue with a bigger group.

The one time design is the strongest argument against this genre, and it is worth saying plainly. If you would rather every dollar go into a game you can play for years, a big cooperative campaign like The 7th Continent will give you far more hours for the money, and our best board games of all time list is the wider shelf. If your usual group is six, our guide to the best board games for 6 players has options that scale without the downtime.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best escape room board game for families?

EXIT: The Game is the best overall escape room board game for families, with the most inventive puzzles in the hobby for 1 to 6 players aged 12 and up. The boxes cost about $15, need no app, and each one runs 60 to 120 minutes.

Are escape room board games replayable?

Most escape room board games are not replayable once you know the answers, because the puzzle only works the first time. EXIT destroys its components as you solve, while Unlock!, Deckscape and Decktective can be reset and passed to another group.

What is the difference between EXIT and Unlock!

EXIT uses tactile physical puzzles with no app and destroys the box as you play, while Unlock! needs a free app and leaves the deck intact so you can reset and share it. That single difference between destroy and reset is the choice most families are really making.

Which escape room board game is best for young kids?

Unlock! Kids is the best pick for young children because it is rated for ages 6 and up, needs no app, and asks for no reading at all. It holds three stories with two adventures each, so a young table gets six short puzzles.

Do escape room board games need an app?

Only some escape room board games need an app, and on this list it is just the Unlock! series. Unlock! runs on a free companion app for the timer, the hints and the code checks, while every other pick plays with no screen at all.

How long does an escape room board game take?

Most escape room board games run about 60 minutes, while EXIT and Escape Tales can stretch toward two hours. Unlock! Kids wraps up in about 20 to 30 minutes, so it is the quickest pick for a young table.

How many players are escape room board games best for?

Most escape room board games are best with two to four players even when the box allows more, because only a few people can work on one puzzle at once. A bigger group turns into a queue, so buy two boxes and race instead.