Yes! You Can Play Escape Room Games at Home

Forget the booking fee, the eye-watering sum, and the awkward group photo at the end. The best escape room in town is the one you can play in your pyjamas! (If you like). Alternatively, you could gather the crew, insist everyone dress as their favourite character, and declare the game afoot!

At-home escape room games are the perfect remedy when you love a puzzle but also dislike leaving the house. You get the same nail-biting puzzles, same ‘I can’t believe I missed that extremely obvious clue’ and ‘Heck, I was really overthinking that puzzle’ energy, minus the part where you have to drag yourself across town, probably pay a hefty parking fee, and have to go through some boring health and safety talk.

So, if you love the idea of an escape room you can play at home, this is your PaperBox guide to every way to escape without actually going anywhere. 

What Counts as an ‘At-Home Escape Room Game’?

There are three main ways you can play an ‘escape the room’ style game at home:

• Printable / DIY Escape Room – puzzles you print, cut, and hide around a room yourself. Cheap, reusable in spirit (print again, play again), and they come in endless themes and styles.
• Boxed board-game-style – a physical box with cards, props, and a rulebook, usually built for one playthrough.
• Digital / app-assisted – online games you can play on a computer or tablet, often paired with physical items.

None of these options require a locked door or a countdown clock bolted to the wall – just a cosy space, a group of eager players, and someone willing to read the instructions properly.

The Best Escape Room Games to Play at Home

Our Paperbox Picks

Sherlock Holmes! Escape Room – Step into 221B Baker Street and prove you've got the chutzpah to match the great detective himself. Deduction-heavy, satisfyingly twisty, and built for players who like their puzzles with a magnifying glass and a dash of London fog. Incidentally, we’ve got the best recipe for a London Fog in our Sherlock Holmes Party Blog!

Alice in Wonderland! Escape Room – Tumble down the rabbit hole into a puzzling world in this escape room inspired by the classic tale of a little girl who’s eaten one too many mushrooms. Think out of the box in this topsy-turvy adventure, and you just might escape without losing your head. 

Mystery on the Orient Express – An Agatha Christie Parody – Celebrated Detective Peirot (you) have received a telegram declaring that Princess Sonia has disappeared from the 12:00 Orient Express from Paris to Istanbul, which you happen to be boarding today – how very Peirot of you. Can you stealthily interview the folks on board and get them to spill the beans on this grey-cell-boggling mystery?

Murder at Gatsby's! 1920s Escape Room – Roaring twenties glamour meets a mystery worth dressing up for. Put on your finest flapper attire, pour something sparkling (sparkling water for the young things), and step into a Gatsby-esque world of secrets and scandal.

Enigma! Escape Room – Alan Turing WWII – Some of us were just born to like maths, and some of us prefer other things, but there’s something for everyone in this cypher-led codebreaking conundrum! Cerebral and genuinely challenging, this is the ideal escape room for history lovers.

Other At-Home Escape Game Formats Worth Knowing About

If you want to round out your collection or you're just starting to explore the world of at-home escape games, these are the other names you'll see mentioned again and again:

• Unlock! (Space Cowboys) – card-based and app-assisted, with a companion app that acts as your in-game 'lock’.
• Escape Room in a Box: The Werewolf Experiment – leans into social deduction as much as puzzle-solving, great for bigger groups.
• Chronicles of Crime – an app-driven detective format where you're investigating a crime scene rather than escaping a room.
• The free DIY option – if you want to try before you buy, you can build a rough version yourself with household objects, some string, a padlock, and a bit of imagination. Not as polished, but a fun way to test whether escape room game night is for your group before you invest.

How to Set Up Your Own Escape Room Night at Home

• Set the scene. Dim the lights, put on some themed background music, and clear the room of anything that isn't part of the game. (If we’re in Victorian London, we probably don’t have game consoles and smartphones.) Atmosphere does half the work.
• Set a timer. 45–60 minutes is the sweet spot for most at-home games. It’s long enough to feel that adrenaline rush, but not short enough to feel like you might fail.
• Decide your hint system in advance. PaperBox Escape Rooms include 2 or 3 hints for each puzzle, and you can add them as part of the game for players to seek themselves, or play host and deduct points for using hints.
• Match difficulty to your group. A team of escape-room veterans will fly through a beginner-level set; a first-timer group will want something a little more forgiving. Paperbox games are tagged Easy, Medium, or Hard along with the usual age recommendation, so choose the best one for your group.
• Theme your snacks. A little goes a long way to making your at-home escape room party feel like a themed event! Scones, tea and a spot of British hospitality will make your little Poirots feel at home.

Tips for Different Ages and Group Sizes

Families with younger kids: Go gentler and more whimsical – Alice in Wonderland or Peter Pan work brilliantly here, with puzzles that reward imagination as much as logic.

Teen and adult game nights: Lean into the trickier, more cerebral sets – Enigma or Mystery on the Orient Express will give a group of confident puzzlers a proper run for their money.

Couples: Atmospheric themes work best – something like Murder at Gatsby's turns game night into a bit of an occasion, not just a puzzle session.

Larger groups (6+): Split into teams and race each other, or pick a theme with enough puzzle stations that everyone has something to do at once – nobody wants to stand around while two people hog the clues. We have a dedicated section to PaperBox games that suit large groups!

Printable vs. Boxed vs. Digital – Which Should You Choose?

If you're not sure where to start, printable is the easiest entry point – low cost, no waiting for delivery, and you’re already in the right place! Browse our PaperBox Collection Here.

FAQs

Can you actually do an escape room at home?
Yes – printable escape room games, boxed sets, and app-assisted options all recreate the core escape room experience (puzzles, clues, a time limit) without needing a physical venue.

What do you need for an at-home escape room?
Just the game itself (printed puzzles or a boxed set), a timer, a bit of space to lay things out, and a group willing to get properly stuck in. No locks or props required unless you want to add them for atmosphere.

What's the best escape room game for beginners?
A themed printable set with a clear difficulty rating is the easiest starting point – it lets you match the challenge to your group without committing to a full boxed set.

Are printable escape rooms as good as boxed ones?
They're a different experience rather than a lesser one – printables tend to offer more theming variety and let you replay with new groups. At the same time, boxed sets often lean harder into physical props and packaging.

How long does an at-home escape room take?
Most at-home games run 45–60 minutes, though this varies by difficulty and group size. First-timers should budget extra time or play without a set time limit.

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Ready to escape? Browse Paperbox's full range of printable escape rooms and pick your next adventure.