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28 INSANEly CRAZY DIY ESCAPE roOm themeS

PAWN SHOP PANIC

escape room themes

A customer requests to buy your German golden goose for $46,000 and you feel overwhelmed with joy as you waltz toward the back of the store to retrieve it.   Upon entering the inventory warehouse you realize that Angie (your office manager who is sometimes a little too helpful) has reorganized the entire room (with over 5,000 odds and ends) and you have no idea where the goose is located!  (oh and Angie is vacationing in the Galapagos for 5 weeks with no cell phone coverage).  Work with your fellow employees to find the golden goose before the customer walks out of your store forever!  

THE DISAPPEARANCE

OF MR. GEORGE

mysterous escape room theme with space

A sudden phone call awakens you from a nightmare of alien abduction.  Who’d be calling at this hour?  It’s Agent Starr and she is requesting your presence immediately. Groggily you arrive at her office and she tells you what’s up.  Mr. George sent her a vague message about an imminent threat and now he’s missing.  “Does Mr. George have a first name?” you ask. That’s not important she shrieks back!  You have one hour to find him and I expect results!"  You don't want to know what happens if you fail...

HACKERS AND SLACKERS

escape room story idea with hackers

You’re not lazy, just bored with your school’s coursework.  Instead of reading about obscure botanists from the 18th century you’d rather be dissecting the intricacies of the dark web.  One day during class, you come across a strange email on your laptop. “Your teacher is an evil mastermind who wants to blow up the internet.  Hack this email for more info”.  You complete the hack quickly (because you’re a genius of course) and another message pops up.  “Congrats! You’re smarter than the average bear!  Join us in the computer lab at midnight”.  Can your crew of hackers thwart a teacher’s evil plan for world domination?

NACHOS AND TOROS

fun escape room theme using food

Free chimichangas on your birthday?! Heck yeah! It was just another family celebration at your local mexican restaurant when something strange happened.  You took a bite of your fried ice cream and you almost choked on a key.  Where did this come from!? Suddenly you notice a key hole within one of the mosaic tiles on your table. Hmmm….they match! You cautiously insert the key and CLICK! The entire table starts lowering into the ground like an elevator.  Hop on everyone!  As you descend beneath the restaurant you start to smell something funky. Cows maybe?  Nope. Bulls! You’ve entered an underground bull fighting ring!  Terrified you quickly insert the key back in to the table but it doesn’t work!  Can your party find another way out before getting gored?   

I'M A JENNY IN A BOTTLE

magical escape room theme

Some genies only come with 3 wishes but not Jenny! She comes with 33!  The problem though is that sometimes she doesn’t understand you.  You wished for a Lamborghini and she heard “make me teeny” so now you’re stuck in her tiny (yet stylishly decorated) lamp.  Find her cell phone to call for help before someone accidentally steps on you!         

ZOMBIE TRAIN

zombie escape room theme

Chew! Chew! As your train departs the station you sit back, crack open a bottle of root beer, and relax.  Life is good and the beach is just a few stops away.  Shortly thereafter you hear several screams coming from the front.  You glance down the aisle and…what the?!  A zombie horde is coming right at you!  Realizing that your root beer bottle is an inadequate weapon (unless your Rick Grimes) you suddenly remember seeing a wooden crate in the caboose labeled “Awesome Combat Weapons” .  DRAT! The crate is locked!  Team up with fellow passengers to unlock the weaponry and defeat the enemy!       

CASINO CHAOS

escape room theme ideas

Buddy “Big Bucks” just bit the dust and now his casino is up for grabs.  He has no family (because they were offed by the mafia)  so a lucky employee gets to inherit his fortune!  But who?! The will states that whoever finds his diamond poker chip is the rightful heir.   Scour the casino with fellow card dealers (or croupiers to be fancy) in pursuit of the ultimate JACKPOT!   

ESCAPE THE ARCADE

mysterious escape room theme in arcade

Pumped to get your Pac Man on you head downtown with some buddies to check out the new hangout spot everyone is talking about.  Whoa! Pinball and claw machines?! This place has it all! As you’re about to eat a yummy strawberry worth 300 points the electricity goes out and the entire arcade goes black.  Umm..is the owner already not paying utility bills?  Just then, all of the machines turn on again and a voice from a loud speaker states, “Welcome!  My name is Cipher.   Now that you’re all warmed up let’s play a new game”. You hear the doors lock all around you and instantly know you’re not going anywhere.  Could this be GAME OVER?!

SECRET OF THE SPHINX

mysterious egyptian escape room theme

The year is 2229 AD  and the world’s water supply has been poisoned by nuclear war.  As one of the Earth’s few survivors, you lead a group of nomads in desperate hope to find a fresh water source.   While digging in the Sahara Desert (not sure why you’d think water is there) you discover an ancient Egyptian scroll.  The scroll tells of a selfish Pharaoh who built the Great Sphinx in order to hide the location of a natural spring (so he could skinny dip).  Can your group of thirsty and sunburnt nomads outwit the Sphinx, find the water, and save humanity from extinction?  

CRAZY KITCHEN

funny escape room theme

The food critic, Cruella De Grille, is in town and she has arrived at your restaurant! You welcome her and quickly provide the best available table (which unfortunately has a great view of the city dump ).  She orders the “Stinky Tofu with Chili Sauce” and you walk away to inform your cooks.  What?!  The head chef left early with chicken pox and nobody knows how to make this dish?!  Panicking you realize that it’s up to you to find the recipe and ingredients needed for this order.  Will you save the restaurant from getting a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad review?

ESCAPE FROM

JIGSAW ISLAND

kids tropical island escape room idea

Most field trips include falling asleep at a museum or milking cows at a dairy farm.   But not this time!  Your awesome teachers, Chuck and Jen, have taken you on an exhilarating helicopter tour!  You peer down at the water below as the wind brushes through your hair.  So peaceful!  Just then you hear a loud BANG!.  What was that?!  “I think we’ve run out of gas!” yells the pilot.  The helicopter jerks downward and starts plummeting toward the ground.  MAYDAY!!! MAYDAY!!! SPLAT!!!!! You awaken several hours later and slowly free yourself from the debris.  Thankfully everyone has survived!  But where are we?  You here another loud BANG but this time it comes from the distance.  Is that a huge volcano over there?!?!  We need to get out of here before that thing EXPLODES!  Unite with fellow castaways to unlock the island’s secret before you all get blown away!

MUSEUM OF WEIRD ART

weird escape room theme

Have you ever seen a painting of a baby eating a koala bear? Me neither.  But now you can at the city’s newest attraction! As you tour the museum with fellow connoisseurs the owner runs at you screaming, “My head bust of the headless horseman is missing. Help me find it and I’ll give you a lifetime pass to my museum”.  Ummm…sure, why not? (you can always sell the pass on Ebay later)

ALL MY GREEK CHILDREN

girl escape room theme

Did you know that the Trojan War was started by a beauty pageant?  Goddesses, Aphrodite, Athena, and Hera were in a contest to be named the fairest of them all.  And the prize? A juicy golden apple!  Like any good soap opera, the contest also included bribes, kidnappings, and revenge (oh and a bloody war that killed thousands).  So much drama over a piece of fruit!  Go back in time to Mt. Olympus and steal the golden apple.  Prevent this petty pageant and the Trojan War!     

POM POMS TO THE RESCUE

girls escape room theme

It’s the Super Bowl and your team is pumped and ready to win!  But where’s the playbook?!  A crazy super fan stole it and stuffed it somewhere in his fan cave.  Can your squad of clever cheerleaders retrieve the book before kickoff and still look fabulous for the big game?

THRILL YOUR PEEPS WITH ONE OF THESE READy-TO-GO KITS!

diy escape room kit

Ages 12+

2+ Players

Out of this World

Super Mystery!

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DIAL M FOR MONSTER

monster escape theme idea

A super old vampire has been biting necks in your city for days.  And how do we know it’s super old?! He wears dentures!  Break into the bloodsucker’s hideout and steal his fake fangs before you grow a real pair of your own!

WILD WEST SHOWDOWN

room puzzle theme

Howdy partner!  Last time Billy the Kid was in town he lent you his Colt revolver for a couple of jobs (after all, a water gun can only carry you so far).  Now he’s back and wants his piece returned and spit shined.  But there’s a problem…you lent the gun to Mac who lent it to Judd who then locked it in a bulletproof safe.  Crack the safe’s code before Billy challenges you to duel!    

LOCKED WITH LOLLIPOPS

kids escape room theme idea

When a sign says “Trespassers Will Be Imprisoned Forever” you should probably keep out.  Even this sign, however, couldn’t deter your extreme curiosity to visit Candy Castle.  Lo and behold, as soon as you enter the front gate the Wacky Witch meets you with grin.  Poof! She transforms your group into a batch of adorable gingerbread men and locks you in a gingerbread house.  Only the smartest cookies will find the spell book to break the curse!

POLKA DOT PANIC

diy escape room theme idea

BOOM!!!  That can’t be good. Your mad scientist neighbor just blew up his lab!  You frantically run over to check his condition and see that he is unconscious (but still alive!).  Are those purple spots on his skin? Suddenly you notice the same spots forming on your own skin.  A virus is loose!  There’s a metal box in the debris that reads ANTIDOTE but it’s locked.  Sift through the rubble and find the key before the whole world looks like ugly wallpaper!    

TREEHOUSE OF TERROR

scary escape room theme

As a young child Jack was always jealous of you because you had a treehouse and he didn’t.  Several years later he’s built his own treehouse and wants you to visit.  As you walk in you notice that it looks exactly like the treehouse you had as a child.  Creepy!  As you turnaround to walk out you notice that Jack is no longer there and that the door is locked.  You yell for help but it’s too late! A clock on the wall starts ticking with a note that reads, “In 60 minutes this tree will fall, unless you find a key to the wall”.  I think we’re overreacting here Jack….

ESCAPE THE 70S

fun escape room party idea

None of your friends believed that you could travel through time so you did what was necessary.  Took them with you! Somewhere along the time spectrum, however, you hit a wormhole and lost your “vortex distortion device” so now you’re all stuck in some random college dorm room adorned with orange fuzzy lampshades, lava lamps, and a poster of the BeeGees.  Can you find the device and spring forward before class gets out?

SANTA GOT BANK

christmas escape room theme idea

How much money does it take for Santa to run his toy factory? The answer?  Way more than you or I have combined and multiplied by 100! When Santa returned from the bank he lost a huge bag of cash somewhere in his toy factory and now he can’t pay the elves! (which are very demanding and expensive these days).  As a trusted friend and permanent member of the nice list he’s flown you to the North Pole to help find the money and save Christmas!

jigsawsalesicon8.png

Ages 9+

2+ Players

Explosive Kids'

Adventure!

PIRATE'S LIFE FOR ME

room puzzle theme idea

ARRRGH!!!  Hook’s birthday party is tonight but he can’t find his hook! One of those slippery lost children stole it and hid it somewhere on the ship.  Hook blames you and your fellow mateys for not being on the look out.  You better find it soon or walk the plank!

REVENGE OF THE CLOWNS

escape the room theme

After years of poking and prodding your royal court jesters have decided to rebel.  What’s more?! They’ve also stolen all of your family’s heirlooms! A loyal subject witnessed your priceless belongings being dragged and thrown into the dungeon. Can you navigate the dark labyrinth and save your family’s legacy? 

JASPER THE TRENDY GHOST

haunted escape room theme

Strange things have been happening in your closet lately.  The other day you found a pair of shoes floating in midair and your best cardigan drenched in slime.  You invite a medium over who informs that the closet is haunted by a blind ghost searching for some lost Gucci glasses.  Help the ghost see his exit before your entire wardrobe wreaks of paranormal activity!

WIZARDS AND WANDS

diy escape room story

Merlin and his cousin Marlin are “frenemies” (you know…those people who are both friends and bitter rivals).  While swapping spells over a hot cauldron of coffee one day, Marlin taunts Merlin about how his hat looks like a dunce cap.  “That’s it!” Merlin screams as he waves his wand in disgust. ZAP! Marlin is now a guinea pig!  Merlin locks him in cage and tucks him away in his secret lair.  Can you and your fellow warlocks save Marlin from a life time of running in circles?

SUNKEN SUBMARINE

scary escape room themes

Some may think it strange that you sing “I’m So Happy” while diving 3,000 feet into a dark and deadly abyss, but not you.  You’ve wanted to a be a marine biologist your whole life and now your dream has come true.  During your first trip you’re blown away by every creature that swims by which even includes a cute Nemo fish.  All is pure bliss until suddenly your dream become a nightmare.  Your radar detects a missile that is heading directly toward you!  Find your scuba gear and bolt out the door before you become fish food!    

WHO WANTS TO BE A BILLIONAIRE?

room puzzle theme

Bucket list complete! As a contestant on a gameshow you’ve been invited on stage to play a game called “Escape or No Escape”. The host explains that the rules are simple.  Just say “Escape” or “No Escape” (duh!).  Hmm…after some thought you yell “ESCAPE!” Suddenly a large cage drops from the ceiling trapping you instantly.  “Ladies and Gentlemen” the host shouts, “If this player can escape our giant Mouse Trap board game they will win $1 billion dollars!”  Can you handle the pressure in front of millions of viewers?! (hint: just pretend their naked)

DEATH BY CHOCOLATE

mysterious escape the room theme idea

An anonymous tipster informs you that a local candy maker is also a hitman.  His weapon of choice? Poisoned boxes of a chocolate!  You bring in the suspect for questioning, but he pleads the 5th (which usually means they’re guilty but you still need proof!)  Can your sweet toothed investigators find helpful evidence in the candy store without eating the crime scene?

have more fun and less stress! choose your printable escape room kit.

adult escape room kit

Ages 12+

2+ Players

Out of this World

Super Mystery!

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printable kids escape room kit

Ages 9+

2+ Players

Explosive Kid's

Adventure!

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