Top 25 Escape Board Games – Fall 2020
Over the past decade, board games have increased in popularity and variety, and thousands of new games come out every year. It makes sense that this trend has continued over the past several months while we are spending much more time at home. According to Google Trends, there was high interest in searching for board games particularly in the UK, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the US.
During this time at home, many have sought out escape board games to get their escape room fix. There are a great number of board game versions that allow you to bring this exciting and thrilling experience into your home.
We developed an approach to ranking escape tabletop/board games like that used for ranking escape room businesses. Instead of using Google, we used review data from Board Game Geek which has a large user base of game players and combined those ratings with Amazon reviews from the US, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, and the UK. Average ratings by country are from Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.es, Amazon.fr, Amazon.it, and Amazon.co.uk. Click on the flags to visit these sites for each game to view current price, rating, and product availability.
The ETR value for money is a comparative value of price versus average rating across the escape room board games reviewed.
We looked at over 100 escape board games and are providing the top 25 here. This list includes escape games of several varieties including traditional escape room / puzzle solving, strategy games, escape to avoid a terrible fate, etc. We have provided a complete listing here. So, let’s get to it!
1. Escape from Iron Gate
Publisher: The Escape Game
Average Rating: 4.628
Players: 3 – 8 | Playing Time: 45 – 60 Min. | Recommended Age: 13+
| BREAKDOWN BY FEATURE | WHAT PLAYERS THINK | ||
| 4.7 | Giftable |  |
Virtually endless ways to play the game |
| 4.3 | Easy to learn | |
Easy to learn |
| 4.2 | ETR value for money | |
Mix of several types of games |
| 4.1 | For beginners |  |
Need to go online to get full directions |
| RATINGS BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY | ||||||||||||
 4.7 |
 4.7 |
 NA |
 4.7 |
 NA |
 NA |
 4.7 |
||||||
GAME DESCRIPTION: You and your “friends” have been wrongfully accused of a crime and don’t belong behind bars. You’ve made your case first to the judge, then to the warden, but no one is buying it. Looks like there’s only one path to freedom: a good, old-fashioned prison break! Well, today is the day – you’re going to make a run for it. The good news? One of you is going to make it out. The bad news? Only one of you is going to make it out.
Your objective is to escape Iron Gate Prison by moving through each of the four areas on the board – from the Cellblock to The Yard, The Cafeteria, The Warden’s Office, then finally to freedom! In order to progress to the next area, you’ll need to turn in the items on your Gate Card to the Commissary. Items are collected by completing puzzles, drawing, acting, and trading. The player that passes through the Final Gate first wins.
2. Escape Adventures: Von Königen und Alchemisten
Publisher: Frech Verlag GmbH
Average Rating: 4.559
Players: 1 – 4 | Playing Time: 90 – 120 Min. | Recommended Age: 10+
| BREAKDOWN BY FEATURE | WHAT PLAYERS THINK | ||
| 5.0 | ETR value for money | |
Exciting story |
|
Great puzzles | ||
|
Enjoying the book series | ||
|
Puzzles too easy | ||
| RATINGS BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY | ||||||||||||
| 4.6 |
4.6 |
4.4 |
4.6 |
4.6 |
4.6 |
4.6 |
||||||
GAME DESCRIPTION: Open the first page, solve puzzle after puzzle and escape the escape room in ancient Greece. In this game you will meet mythical creatures from forgotten myths, false gods and epic heroes who are looking for your help. Will you stand by the philosophers and warriors and find the exit?
Play alone or with friends and solve all the puzzles before time runs out. Come across strange book pages and think outside the box. The book is written on, cut up and pasted on! The XXL mystery map will accompany you on your way through ancient Greece. But be careful, time may not be your greatest enemy!
The perfect family game and suitable for all age groups.
3. Betrayal at House on the Hill: Widow’s Walk
Publisher: Avalon Hill Games
Average Rating: 4.475
Players: 3 – 6 | Playing Time: 60 Min. | Recommended Age: 12+
| BREAKDOWN BY FEATURE | WHAT PLAYERS THINK | ||
| 4.7 | Giftable | |
Never play same game twice |
| 4.5 | Amazon value for money | |
Great puzzles |
| 4.3 | ETR value for money | |
Love new floors and rooms |
|
Gaps in the instructions | ||
| RATINGS BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY | ||||||||||||
| 4.8 |
4.7 |
4.8 |
4.8 |
4.8 |
4.8 |
4.8 |
||||||
GAME DESCRIPTION: The house on the hill has a wicked reputation. Those who dare to darken its door often leave steeped in madness and despair — if they leave at all.
Now the horror reaches new heights with Widow’s Walk, the first-ever expansion for the critically acclaimed board game Betrayal at House on the Hill. The house is expanded with the addition of twenty new rooms, including the roof, a previously unexplored floor. Also in its halls you will find new monsters, items, omens, events, and fifty brand-new haunts, penned by lead developer Mike Selinker’s all-star cast of contributors from the world of gaming and entertainment. In Widow’s Walk, terror and panic are taken to a whole new level.
Enter if you dare. Exit if you can…
4. Escape Adventures: Von Königen und Alchemisten
Publisher: Frech Verlag GmbH
Average Rating: 4.463
Players: 1 – 4 | Playing Time: 90 – 120 Min. | Recommended Age: 10+
| BREAKDOWN BY FEATURE | WHAT PLAYERS THINK | ||
| 4.9 | ETR value for money | |
Very appealing graphics |
|
High quality book | ||
|
Well conceived | ||
|
Ending too simple | ||
| RATINGS BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY | ||||||||||||
| 4.5 |
4.5 |
4.4 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
||||||
GAME DESCRIPTION: Family friendly escape game in a medieval setting. The story driven game includes solving puzzles as well as some deductive skills and offers a scoring at the end based in the age of the group and the used hints.
5. Resident Evil 2 – The Board Game
Publisher: Steamforged Games Ltd.
Average Rating: 4.446
Players: 1 – 4 | Playing Time: 90 – 120 Min. | Recommended Age: 14+
| BREAKDOWN BY FEATURE | WHAT PLAYERS THINK | ||
| 4.6 | Giftable | |
Everything looks amazing |
| 4.4 | Amazon value for money | |
Phenomenally fun to play |
| 4.0 | Easy to learn | |
Suspenseful |
| 4.0 | ETR value for money | |
Expensive |
| RATINGS BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY | ||||||||||||
| 4.8 |
4.7 |
4.7 |
4.7 |
4.7 |
4.7 |
4.7 |
||||||
GAME DESCRIPTION: The Board Game is a co-operative survival horror board game for 1-4 players set in the rich and immersive Resident Evil universe. World-class miniatures and innovative new mechanics help deliver an experience that captures the essence of the much-loved video game, with players venturing into the zombie-infested streets and buildings of Raccoon City in a desperate fight to escape the nightmare!
6. Escape the Dark Castle: Blight of the Plague Lord
Publisher: Themeborne Ltd.
Average Rating: 4.441
Players: 1 – 4 | Playing Time: 20 – 45 Min. | Recommended Age: 14+
| BREAKDOWN BY FEATURE | WHAT PLAYERS THINK | ||
| 4.4 | ETR value for money | |
Everything looks great |
|
Excellent game system | ||
|
Incredibly fun | ||
|
Paper components need improvement | ||
| RATINGS BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY | ||||||||||||
| 4.8 |
4.8 |
4.8 |
4.8 |
4.8 |
4.8 |
4.9 |
||||||
GAME DESCRIPTION: From the deepest, long-forgotten passageways to the vaulted eaves of the highest towers – there you will find his creation. For he is the plague Lord – a monstrous, sentient mass of Weeping pustules, proud emanator of an all-encompassing evil. It would be his most perverse pleasure to watch as you slowly succumb to the agonising Torment of the plague…
7. Escape the Room: The Cursed Dollhouse
Publisher: ThinkFun
Average Rating: 4.399
Players: 1 – 4 | Playing Time: 120 Min. | Recommended Age: 13+
| BREAKDOWN BY FEATURE | WHAT PLAYERS THINK | ||
| 4.2 | ETR value for money | |
Great family game |
|
Website help | ||
|
Good price | ||
|
Too easy for experienced players | ||
| RATINGS BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY | ||||||||||||
| 4.4 |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
NA |
||||||
GAME DESCRIPTION: Ever since his daughter went missing, old Mr. Garrity has become a recluse. You only see him walking to and from his shed. He stays out there more and more, and lately you’ve noticed strange lights coming from the shed at odd hours.
Recently, other local children have gone missing. Mr. Garrity must have something to do with it, and one night you decide to break into his shed. On a bench in the middle of the shed is a dollhouse glowing eerily. It calls to you, and ignoring your instincts, you move toward it…
In Escape the Room: The Cursed Dollhouse, players explore a mysterious three-dimensional dollhouse, solving puzzles in search of a way to escape. Five rooms, each containing objects to investigate and multiple puzzles to solve, will keep players engaged through two hours of play.
Escape the Room: The Cursed Dollhouse takes the in-home room escape to the next level with more challenging puzzles to solve, a longer playtime, and a unique three-dimensional experience that will satisfy even the most skilled escape room fans.
8. Exit: The Game – Theft on the Mississippi
Publisher: Kosmos Games
Average Rating: 4.377
Players: 1 – 4 | Playing Time: 45 – 90 Min. | Recommended Age: 12+
| BREAKDOWN BY FEATURE | WHAT PLAYERS THINK | ||
| 4.7 | Amazon value for money | |
Classic mystery novel |
| 3.0 | Easy to learn | |
Innovative |
| 4.6 | ETR value for money | |
Challenging |
|
Riddles less logical than other games | ||
| RATINGS BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY | ||||||||||||
| 4.2 |
4.1 |
4.1 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
||||||
GAME DESCRIPTION: Can you solve the robbery on the Mississippi River? You’re a team of investigators traveling the Mississippi on a paddle-wheel steamboat in 1872. Last night there was a robbery. A successful businessman was carrying documents of inestimable value, and now they have disappeared! The captain has asked for your help in finding out who did it, but time is running out. Can you find the culprit before the riverboat docks in New Orleans and the thief escapes into the night? Work together and solve all the puzzles together as fast as you can! Difficulty: 3 of 5.
9. Exit: The Game – The Stormy Flight
Publisher: Kosmos Games
Average Rating: 4.372
Players: 1 – 4 | Playing Time: 60 – 120 Min. | Recommended Age: 12+
| BREAKDOWN BY FEATURE | WHAT PLAYERS THINK | ||
| 4.6 | ETR value for money | |
Challenging |
|
Fun experience | ||
|
Fun for groups | ||
|
Too many leaps in logic | ||
| RATINGS BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY | ||||||||||||
| 4.5 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.5 |
4.4 |
||||||
GAME DESCRIPTION: Team spirit, creativity, mystery and speed are in demand at EXIT: The Game – The Stormy Flight. The 1-4 players have little time to bring a complicated situation under control again: The players are part of the crew of a passenger plane headed to Barbados. Suddenly they get into the middle of an electrical storm. Water penetrates the machine and parts of the technology fail. Will the team be able to repair the aircraft and land safely? There is not much time left…
10. Escape Room: The Game – The Dentist
Publisher: Identity Games International
Average Rating: 4.354
Players: 3 – 5 | Playing Time: 60 Min. | Recommended Age: 16+
| BREAKDOWN BY FEATURE | WHAT PLAYERS THINK | ||
| 4.7 | ETR value for money | |
Super game series |
|
Good riddles | ||
|
Good storyline | ||
|
Decoder needed | ||
| RATINGS BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY | ||||||||||||
| 4.5 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
||||||
GAME DESCRIPTION: Expansion for Escape Room The Game. Dr. Siènski, your dentist, has invited you for a check-up. With some reluctance you have accepted his invite and you find yourself in his dentist chair. Before you know it he put a cap on your face. The last thing you hear is a the voice of Dr. Siènski, who says he is going to administer some laughing gas so you won’t feel any pain when he puls your tooth. Then everything goes black around you …
11. Exit: The Game – The House of Riddles
Publisher: Kosmos Games
Average Rating: 4.343
Players: 1 – 4 | Playing Time: 45 – 90 Min. | Recommended Age: 10+
| BREAKDOWN BY FEATURE | WHAT PLAYERS THINK | ||
| 4.5 | Amazon value for money | |
Great value |
| 4.5 | Giftable | |
Fun for the family |
| 4.6 | ETR value for money | |
Excellent starting game |
|
Not challenging for experienced players | ||
| RATINGS BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY | ||||||||||||
| 4.5 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.4 |
||||||
GAME DESCRIPTION: A mysterious invitation leads you to a house of riddles. But when you arrive, you find everything looks abandoned. With a bang, the front door slams behind you. You are trapped! What’s going on here? Will you be able to crack the case and find your way out of the house?
12. Exit: The Game – The Haunted Roller Coaster
Publisher: Kosmos Games
Average Rating: 4.338
Players: 1 – 4 | Playing Time: 45 – 90 Min. | Recommended Age: 10+
| BREAKDOWN BY FEATURE | WHAT PLAYERS THINK | ||
| 4.6 | Amazon value for money | |
Unique riddles |
| 4.5 | Giftable | |
A blast! |
| 3.7 | For beginners | |
Great bargain |
| 4.6 | ETR value for money | |
Harder than indicated |
| RATINGS BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY | ||||||||||||
| 4.6 |
4.6 |
4.6 |
4.6 |
4.6 |
4.6 |
4.3 |
||||||
GAME DESCRIPTION: Dark corridors, terrifying shrieks, bone-chilling monsters — sounds like a lot of fun, right? At least that’s what you thought when you decided to take a ride on the haunted roller coaster at the amusement park. But suddenly you are stuck in a really freaky place. The rider gates are locked tight in front of and behind you. You stumble upon a strange riddle. Can you summon up all your courage to solve the riddles and escape the haunted roller coaster?
13. Exit: The Game – The Mysterious Museum
Publisher: Kosmos Games
Average Rating: 4.332
Players: 1 – 4 | Playing Time: 45 – 90 Min. | Recommended Age: 10+
| BREAKDOWN BY FEATURE | WHAT PLAYERS THINK | ||
| 4.6 | ETR value for money | |
Great family night experience |
|
Worth the money | ||
|
Puzzles are linear | ||
|
Can only play once | ||
| RATINGS BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY | ||||||||||||
| 4.5 |
4.5 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
||||||
GAME DESCRIPTION: You are on a trip to the Florence natural History museum, intent on visiting the sunken treasure of the Santa Maria. Your relaxing day at the Museum is quickly derailed by an incredible adventure! Can you solve the mysteries of the Museum and find a way out?
14. Unlock!: Timeless Adventures
Publisher: Space Cowboys
Average Rating: 4.322
Players: 1 – 6 | Playing Time: 60 – 90 Min. | Recommended Age: 10+
| BREAKDOWN BY FEATURE | WHAT PLAYERS THINK | ||
| 4.3 | ETR value for money | |
Good collection of Unlocks |
|
Good production level | ||
|
Fun puzzles | ||
|
Lack of puzzle solving | ||
| RATINGS BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY | ||||||||||||
| 4.8 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.5 |
4.3 |
4.4 |
4.5 |
||||||
GAME DESCRIPTION: UNLOCK! Timeless Adventures is a cooperative card game inspired by escape rooms. Across three new scenarios, players search rooms, combine objects, and solve puzzles! In “The Noside Show, ” The Diosen Circus is coming to town, but Professor Noside has prepared a great sabotage act! The show must go on, so players will need to stop him. In “Arsene Lupin and the Great White Diamond, ” players experience a jewel race in the early 20th century Paris and take up the challenge of Arsene Lupin. In “Lost in the Timewarp! , ” Professor Alcibiades Tempus’ time machine works erratically. Players must return the timeline to normal! The free UNLOCK! companion app runs each scenario, providing a timer, clues, offering hints, confirming successes, and more!
15. Scooby-Doo: Escape from the Haunted Mansion
Publisher: usaopoly
Average Rating: 4.307
Players: 1 – 99 | Playing Time: 60 – 120 Min. | Recommended Age: 12+
| BREAKDOWN BY FEATURE | WHAT PLAYERS THINK | ||
| 4.3 | ETR value for money | |
New concepts |
|
Characters feel unique | ||
|
Very fun | ||
|
Not exactly aimed at kids | ||
| RATINGS BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY | ||||||||||||
| 4.7 |
4.6 |
4.6 |
4.6 |
NA |
NA |
4.6 |
||||||
GAME DESCRIPTION: Step into the roles of Scooby-Doo and the Mystery gang as you work to solve the mystery of Lady Fairmont’s ghost in Scooby-Doo: Escape from the Haunted Mansion. Work together to decode over 50 clues and find your way out of the haunted mansion in this cooperative Coded Chronicles game, an officially licensed escape room board game great for Scooby-Doo fans. Coded Chronicles is an at-home escape room style game where players work together to unlock clues and solve puzzles by using a unique code revealing mechanic. Each game offers a unique storyline and objective to provide a one-of-a-kind game-play experience.
16. Escape the Dark Castle: Cult of the Death Knight
Publisher: Themeborne Ltd.
Average Rating: 4.304
Players: 1 – 4 | Playing Time: 20 – 45 Min. | Recommended Age: 14+
| BREAKDOWN BY FEATURE | WHAT PLAYERS THINK | ||
| 4.4 | ETR value for money | |
Fantastic team building game |
|
Good product quality | ||
|
Kids like it | ||
|
A little creepy | ||
| RATINGS BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY | ||||||||||||
| 4.7 |
4.7 |
4.7 |
4.7 |
4.7 |
4.7 |
4.7 |
||||||
GAME DESCRIPTION: Welcome prisoner, to a new era of the dark castle. The Death Knight himself, legendary swordsman and the one they call ‘Lord of decay’, has risen to prominence. The weak and the mindless flock to his banner, twisted by his dark influence into powerful, feral fanatics. They say he sends curses to crawl into the souls of the weary. Beware the curses, prisoner. Beware the Death Knight…
17. Escape Adventures: Von Basaren und Meisterdieben
Publisher: Frech Verlag GmbH
Average Rating: 4.302
Players: 1 – 4 | Playing Time: 120 – 150 Min. | Recommended Age: 10+
| BREAKDOWN BY FEATURE | WHAT PLAYERS THINK | ||
| 4.8 | ETR value for money | |
Good adventure |
|
Good puzzles | ||
|
Great book series | ||
|
Not for everyone | ||
| RATINGS BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY | ||||||||||||
| 4.3 |
4.3 |
4.3 |
4.3 |
4.3 |
4.3 |
4.3 |
||||||
GAME DESCRIPTION: The escape room for your home! Now is the time to set sail! Find a boat, hoist the sails, and explore the Caribbean. But watch out for the pirates, keep an eye out for the cannibals in the jungle and recover all the treasures before the time is up. Before you lie dreadful dangers, treacherous puzzles and numerous secrets. What are you waiting for? Lift the anchor and uncover the mystery! More story, more interaction, more escape room! In Escape Adventures, the experience comes first. Play alone or with friends and solve all the puzzles before time runs out. Can you do it in 60 minutes, 90 minutes or 120 minutes? Take a close look and don’t be too hasty, then the game will be the highlight of your next game night! And everyone who cannot find the exit on their own does not have to despair, because tips and solutions will bring you step by step, even in tricky situations. You will come across strange book pages, cut up the book and stick it on and navigate your boat through the wild sea on the XXL mystery map. Put on your eye patch and get your hat, the adventure begins! The perfect family game and suitable for all age groups.
18. X-SCAPE – The Atelier of Magicians
Publisher: X-Scape
Average Rating: 4.300
Players: 1 – 5 | Playing Time: 120+ Min. | Recommended Age: 12+
| BREAKDOWN BY FEATURE | WHAT PLAYERS THINK | ||
| 4.4 | Giftable | |
Great design |
| 4.4 | Packaging | |
Crisp puzzles |
| 4.1 | Accuracy | |
Well-explained game principle |
| 4.6 | ETR value for money | |
Game can only be played once |
| RATINGS BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY | ||||||||||||
| NA |
NA |
4.3 |
4.3 |
4.3 |
4.3 |
4.3 |
||||||
GAME DESCRIPTION: Strange characters are on the wall, magical artifacts are scattered around and a magic potion is brewing in the cauldron. You look around in amazement as you sneak into the magician’s studio. But something is wrong – an invisible barrier has built up and you can no longer leave the room. Can you solve the puzzles together and escape?
19. Exit: The Game – The Sinister Mansion
Publisher: Kosmos Games
Average Rating: 4.294
Players: 1 – 4 | Playing Time: 45 – 90+ Min. | Recommended Age: 12+
| BREAKDOWN BY FEATURE | WHAT PLAYERS THINK | ||
| 4.6 | ETR value for money | |
Challenging |
|
Fun way to spend an hour | ||
|
Great fun | ||
|
Some puzzles were frustrating | ||
| RATINGS BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY | ||||||||||||
| 4.5 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.3 |
||||||
GAME DESCRIPTION: You are invited to be a guest at a palatial mansion, but upon arrival, you find yourselves forced to take part in a macabre game. The clock is ticking, and there is not much time left to solve the puzzles. Can you escape the mansion before it’s too late?
20. Exit: The Game – The Catacombs of Horror
Publisher: Kosmos Games
Average Rating: 4.286
Players: 1 – 4 | Playing Time: 120 – 240+ Min. | Recommended Age: 16+
| BREAKDOWN BY FEATURE | WHAT PLAYERS THINK | ||
| 4.6 | Giftable | |
New twists |
| 4.8 | Amazon value for money | |
Challenging puzzles |
| 4.0 | Easy to learn | |
Beautifully designed |
| 4.6 | ETR value for money | |
Obscure clues |
| RATINGS BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY | ||||||||||||
| 4.3 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.3 |
||||||
GAME DESCRIPTION: Gloomy crypts lie under the city of Paris. The catacombs swallow city light, riddles, and, apparently, also people. After the mysterious disappearance of a friend in the catacombs, you and your team embark on a search party, making your way through the puzzling underground labyrinth. Will you be able to find your friend in time and escape This cavernous world of darkness? This double-sized exit game is presented in two separate parts.
21. EXIT: Das Spiel – Die Känguru-Eskapaden
Publisher: Kosmos Games
Average Rating: 4.283
Players: 1 – 4 | Playing Time: 45 – 90+ Min. | Recommended Age: 12+
| BREAKDOWN BY FEATURE | WHAT PLAYERS THINK | ||
| 4.6 | ETR value for money | |
New twists |
|
Challenging puzzles | ||
|
Some unamused with humor | ||
|
Illogical puzzles | ||
| RATINGS BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY | ||||||||||||
| 4.3 |
4.3 |
4.4 |
4.3 |
4.3 |
4.3 |
4.3 |
||||||
GAME DESCRIPTION: EXIT: Das Spiel – Die Känguru-Eskapaden is a bit unusual compared to the other titles in this series as it revolves around your efforts to aid the kangaroo Schnuffies in its entrance test for an asocial network. Will you be able to make it in time? That’s not easy as it will request team spirit and a lateral thinking. This is an unusual EXIT adventure set in the world of Marc-Uwe Kling’s kangaroo trilogy! Like other titles in the series, EXIT: Das Spiel – Die Känguru-Eskapaden includes components meant to be folded, written upon, or torn, so it’s marketed as a single-use game.
22. Exit: The Game – Dead Man on the Orient Express
Publisher: Kosmos Games
Average Rating: 4.267
Players: 1 – 4 | Playing Time: 45 – 90+ Min. | Recommended Age: 12+
| BREAKDOWN BY FEATURE | WHAT PLAYERS THINK | ||
| 4.4 | Giftable | |
Highly recommended |
| 4.3 | Amazon value for money | |
Challenging game |
| 3.2 | For beginners | |
One of the best Exit games |
| 4.6 | ETR value for money | |
Some puzzles were a stretch |
| RATINGS BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY | ||||||||||||
| 4.4 |
4.3 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.3 |
||||||
GAME DESCRIPTION: A classic tale of murder on the Orient express, reimagined. The culprit of a grisly crime is still on board your train. It’s a race against time to piece the clues together before the train reaches its destination. The case is perplexing, and you must solve it quickly so the assailant does not escape.
23. Unlock!: Heroic Adventures
Publisher: Space Cowboys
Average Rating: 4.256
Players: 1 – 6 | Playing Time: 60 Min. | Recommended Age: 10+
| BREAKDOWN BY FEATURE | WHAT PLAYERS THINK | ||
| 4.2 | ETR value for money | |
Fun for the whole family |
|
Three terrific games | ||
|
Creative | ||
|
Individual games not sold separately | ||
| RATINGS BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY | ||||||||||||
| 4.6 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
||||||
GAME DESCRIPTION: Introducing UNLOCK! Heroic Adventures, a brand new format for UNLOCK! in North America. This box includes 3 new Adventures. In Insert Coin, players must avoid “Game Over” by triumphing over multiple levels of video game adventures! Then in Sherlock Holmes – The Scarlet Thread of Murder, the master sleuth is on a very strange case and needs players’ help to solve the mystery. Finally, In Pursuit of the White Rabbit introduces players to Wonderlands’ weird inhabitants as they help Alice to escape in time! UNLOCK! is a series of escape adventures for up to six players. With one hour on the clock, players must work through a deck of sixty cards as a team, searching for clues, combining objects, and solving puzzles. The free UNLOCK! companion app runs the timer while providing clues, offering hints, and confirming successes. Once the team has reached a solution and entered the correct code into the app, they win.
24. Escape the Room: Secret of Dr. Gravely’s Retreat
Publisher: ThinkFun
Average Rating: 4.253
Players: 3 – 8 | Playing Time: 90 Min. | Recommended Age: 13+
| BREAKDOWN BY FEATURE | WHAT PLAYERS THINK | ||
| 4.6 | Giftable | |
Fun for the family |
| 4.4 | Amazon value for money | |
Kids enjoyed game |
| 4.2 | For beginners | |
Just challenging enough |
| 4.4 | ETR value for money | |
Can only play once |
| RATINGS BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY | ||||||||||||
| 4.4 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
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GAME DESCRIPTION: The year is 1913 and you are the lucky winner of a free stay at Foxcrest Retreat, where the famed Dr. Gravely has improved upon the latest in spa treatments and relaxation for those of high social standing. You take a long all-expense-paid train ride to the retreat. Upon your arrival, however, you and your fellow guests may find the “health retreat” is not what it seems. . . The Objective: Work with your guests to discover the dark secret of Dr. Gravely’s retreat by finding clues and solving puzzles. But be carefulin the story, the doors have shut and locked behind you. Will you and your guests discover the secret and escape the room before time runs out?
25. Escape: The Curse of the Temple – Big Box Second Edition
Publisher: Queen Games
Average Rating: 4.244
Players: 1 – 6 | Playing Time: 10 Min. | Recommended Age: 8+
| BREAKDOWN BY FEATURE | WHAT PLAYERS THINK | ||
| 4.0 | ETR value for money | |
Great fun |
|
Love the frantic stress | ||
|
Lot of replayability | ||
|
Some players received damaged box | ||
| RATINGS BREAKDOWN BY COUNTRY | ||||||||||||
| 4.6 |
4.6 |
4.5 |
4.6 |
4.6 |
4.6 |
4.6 |
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GAME DESCRIPTION: The Big Box version of the real time adventure game Escape by Kristian Amundsen Østby. In Escape you are a team of adventurers trying to find your way out of a cursed temple. You have 10 minutes to escape before you are trapped forever! the Big Box version contains the Escape basic game, the three expansions: Illusions (1), Quest (2) and Traps (3) and all the mini expansions: the Pit, Doomed, Fountain, Quest chambers, the Maze, new Characters, the Maya Calendar, Exchange Chamber, Totem Chamber and the Cursed Gems.
Good questions. The ranking was done manually by identifying the games and going to the BGG and Amazon pages for each one for the rating and number of reviews, then sorting the results. As stated in the article, the list includes escape games of several varieties including traditional escape room / puzzle solving, strategy games, escape to avoid a terrible fate, etc, which is why you will see some that are not categorized as escape games.
Hello.
Nice article.
I wanted to do my own ranking but when I go to boardgamegeek.com I can’t categorize the escape games in order. In addition, some are in the Theme: Jail / Prison (Modern) category like Escape from Iron Gate. How did you do ?