DIY Escape Room Ideas

Are you looking to plan your own escape room at home? Looking for DIY escape room ideas? It can be a little daunting when you first sit down to start planning but the end result will be worth it.

I love making games for friends and family, if you need some tips and ideas I have you covered. No matter if its an epic birthday escape or a fun family night in you can transform your home into a real escape room. Plus you can add in personal details to make your game even more memorable.

HOW TO CREATE YOUR ROOM

I’m not going to lie I have had many late nights planning puzzles and going totally overboard with the theme and complexity of the puzzles. So my first tip is to keep it simple. Puzzles do not need to be hard to be fun. You can easily up the playability of a puzzle just by hiding elements around the room.

Choose your theme!

This is bar far the easiest part. Think about the people you are planning for, what type of event do you want it to be? Is it going to be for families or adults? What kinds of things do you all love to do, would it work well as a theme?

Here are a few starting points to get you going. Movies, video games, events in history, books, TV shows, board games are a some good general starting points. If you are planning for your friends and family you can think about a holiday you all went on, or a shared experience that can be turned into a unique theme. I once created a family escape game based around the time my dad got stuck in the basement and had to get out in time to pick me and my sister up from school. Don’t hold back with ideas, it is what will make your game totally original and one of a kind.

You can create a mood board of all your ideas, do sketches, find images online just to give you an idea of the atmosphere and mood you want to create. When you feel stuck just grab the board and see if it sparks some ideas and creativity again. I love using Pinterest and create boards for all my games.

Let’s start making puzzles!

This is the part where people start to panic. Where do you even start to look for DIY escape room ideas? Take a deep breath and break it all down, you’ll be fine. If you have ever played an escape room there are so many puzzles and props and layers of puzzles that lead to other puzzles and it goes on. That’s a headache right there. Let’s start by breaking the process down.

With your theme in mind think about how you want to start the game and what the end goal is. For example in my dads game was started with the players reading out a note. In it, it explains he just woke up from a nap and felt a bit peckish, so he went to go upstairs and make himself some lunch. (the basement was a mixture of a man cave and a workshop lol, but we all knew he really went there for a sneaky sleep). When he goes to open the door it is has been locked! So the aim is to get out of the basement. I also added in a timed element as he only has an hour to get out and pick me and my sister up from school.

With your start and end goal you can now flesh out your game idea with puzzles. They really do not need to be complicated or overly clever just fun puzzles people will enjoy, after all you want them to have fun.

Puzzle Ideas

Jigsaw puzzles:

Don’t underestimate the humble jigsaw puzzle in your DIY escape room planning. Everyone knows how to use them which is a bonus and you can easily make your own. For my dads game, I made a puzzle combining a picture of my dad’s old minibus and added a picture of a toolbox. I cut this up into about 5 pieces and hid 4 of them around the room and had one piece in the envelope with the starting letter. The players had to find the puzzle pieces and put them together to reveal the clue.

You can either make your own jigsaw or you can find easy kids puzzles in thrift shops. You can write a message on the reverse of the puzzle pieces or the image you use can lead players to another clue, this is what I did for my dads game. You can vary the difficulty of the puzzle depending on who you are making the game for. Instead of a plain text message, you can use a cypher that needs to be decoded or even a maths puzzle where the answer is the code to unlock a box.

Word Lock:

These are fun locks to use. In our game example, I had a locked toolbox. The toolbox was opened when the players used the word, Berti. Berti was the name of a minibus my dad used to have. The jigsaw puzzle I created with a picture of the toolbox and my dad’s minibus was the clue. I like to have a variety of different difficulty puzzles especially if the games are for families, as even the younger players can join in.

You can make this a simpler puzzle by simply attaching a gift tag to the locked box with a written clue. I could for example put a tag saying “the name of dads minibus”. You can up that a notch and have the same clue but written in a cypher, think, morse code or pigpen cypher. I have printable kits which allow you to create your own secret message clues to make this task a lot easier. You can find them here. MORSE CODE KIT

Secret Codes & Ciphers

There are so many different types of codes and cyphers you can use as clues, if you are feeling adventurous you can even make up your own. Using secret codes is an easy way to conceal a message and requires some effort on the part of the players to find the real meaning. Messages can lead players to hidden objects, or give instructions on how to solve a particular clue.

Combination Locks

Locks are easily found and you probably have a few lying around the house. Anything that has a digit can be used as a clue. Clocks, the oven timer, numbers in your favourite takeaway menu. You just need to get the players to notice them. For example, you can have a piece of paper with an order for a takeaway, list the items down from the menu omitting the numbers. Players must find the takeaway menu and then read off the numbers.

You can even make really obvious clues. Simply print the digits onto a piece of paper and then pop in a picture frame. You will be amazed at how long these simple clues can take to be discovered.

Maths puzzles can also be used for working out combinations locks. You can make the puzzles more interesting by writing the sums in different ways. A poem, a news report, recipe or on the revers of a jigsaw. Think about adding simple layers to your puzzles, one simple activity leads to another. Find the puzzle pieces, solve the sum, open the lock.

One of my favourite ways to get players to work out a number lock involves sweets. Players find a picture attached to a locked box with different colours on it. The colours correspond to a jar, or container of sweets, M&M’s or jelly beans work well. Players add up the number of each sweet and this is the combination to open the lock. You can see an example where I used Cadbury mini eggs in an Easter treasure hunt game.

The simple art of hiding stuff

Yep, just hiding things around the room is simple and effective. Under rugs, inside books, behind a picture frame or door.

Other diy escape room Ideas

There are hundreds of ways you can create puzzles, here are a few ideas to get you thinking.

• Use maps to highlight a word. Different locations on a map reveal a word or location.
• Use a set of numbers as a code for players to read off specific letters in a page of a book, newspaper or other text. It could be a poster, postcard or even a box of cereal. For example, 115 would be the first line of a text the first word and the fifth letter of that word.
• Buy some blacklight pens and write hidden messages to be discovered.
• Have instructions for players to fold a paper aeroplane when it is assembled a secret message is revealed. This would work for all kinds of origami puzzles. You would just have to fold it first to create your message.
• Use cut-outs to reveal words or images important to help solve a puzzle.
• Use light to reveal messages. Have two pieces of paper, write part of the message on one piece and the rest on the other. When the two pages are held up to the light the clue is revealed.
• Write a message on a piece of paper and place it somewhere outside. Players will need to use a telescope to be able to read it from a window.
• Hide keys inside coat pockets.
• Write a clue on the side of a deck of cards. When players put them in the correct order the message appears.
• Players must weigh different objects and their order or combined weight will give players a clue to answer they need.
• Hide clues in photos and pictures.
• Players must listen to a song for a clue.
• Utilise the world wide web and find websites that give players the information they need.

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/lockpaperescape/diy-escape-room/

Finalise your escape room puzzles

You now have a good amount of puzzles. Time to think about the order of things. Are some of your clues hidden in boxes, keep a note of where you are going to hide clues. Can players progress with the game while still figuring out how to open a locked box?

The simplest way to figure this out is to draw a really simple flow chart with where the puzzles will be and what elements are need to solve each puzzle. If you are new to making games keep this as simple as possible don’t hide lots of elements to solve a puzzle in lots of different locked boxes with ciphers and riddles.

Time to do a test run. Something really simple may have been overlooked. Now is the time to iron out all those kinks. Make sure any printables have printed correctly and that all your locks work. You can always remove and add puzzles if you feel it needs more or less.

Prep and play your game.

Think carefully about where you are going to set up your game. You don’t want people routing around your knicker drawer (maybe you do lol) for clues. If you have areas where people are not allowed to look just make some “out of bound” stickers to let players know it isn’t part of the game. Don’t forget to brief players before they begin of the areas that are not included in the game.

One of the best parts of the escape is the set dressing, adding in props, mood lighting and music. Think about utilising all the senses to get maximum effect. Sounds smells and sights all add to the atmosphere and experience. Get people to dress up to your theme and add in some fab food for after the event and you are onto a winner. Adding in music is a must and can really set the atmosphere.

Now you should have a good idea of how to set up your own escape room game but if you want to take out some of the hard work you can take a look at our kits. Lots of puzzles for a fun party-style game are included in our printable packs. Use them as a starting point and add physical locks and go all out with the theming for a really fun at home game. Find our games on Etsy or in our online store.