26 Creative Escape Room Theme Ideas You Can Bag Right Now

"Friends, thieves, countrymen, lend me your ears." It's time to support a bad cause so we can take down an even worse one – the dirtiest of dirty politicians.

She's bribed, backstabbed, and bullied her way to the top, surrounded by an inner posse kept in line by greed, sleaze, and blackmail.

And that’s just how you're gonna take'm down.

All those big, dirty secrets are hidden in one little black book. She'll need more than a lawyer to get outta this one ...

Posing as waiters, you've snuck into the smoosh-party and made your way upstairs ... now it's time to find that book before you’re needed back in the dining room to serve dessert.

It will be the “holiday of a lifetime,” they said.

“The rooftop mojitos are to die for,” they said.

They lied to you.

Well ... it was all true … until the guys in the hazmat suits appeared out of nowhere. Just in time for the holiday goers to go all crazy-like and start attacking and eating each other!

Now there's a horde of zombies beating down the door, and they're not here for the napkin-folding demonstration!

You're gonna need to scale down the 28-story hotel wall using ...

“Nooo, not that old guy’s G-string!”

You and your gang of Heist Masters have taken a lotta gigs over the years that were well ... strange ...

Like that time you smuggled cash into that bank vault in Moscow.

Or the job that took you to Eastern Europe to swap an ancient Milo Rambaldi manuscript with a forgery (or were you actually stealing the forgery …?).

But this one? Well, you’ve never done a job like this before.

The ad on the dark net sounded like just your kind of job: “Experienced agents needed for acquisition of rare artifacts.”

Plus, there was a mention of tacos, so you took it.

The list posed some challenges ...

• Walt Disney's cryogenically frozen brain
• Tesla coil from Nikola's original lab
• Petrified teddy bear
• 10 miles of sausage skins

As an explorer, you have always loved Egypt. It’s where your great-grandfather, Howard Carter, discovered the remains of the ancient pharaoh, Tutankhamen.

While walking beside the River Nile, you and your companions suddenly feel the ground shift beneath you, sending you all tumbling down a dank, stony shaft. When your eyes adjust to the darkness, you find yourselves trapped deep beneath the earth in an ancient, undiscovered tomb.

You'll have to find your way out fast! Otherwise, this tomb will have a fresh set of residents!

Or check out these great examples of the ancient Egyptian theme done right!

• Adams family
• Bethany Mott

Seriously how do these spies come up with their code names?!

“Sherlock?!” Really?

If they weren't middle-manning the designs for high-grade printable weapons, you'd just make a meme about it and laugh.

As it is, you're gonna have to break into their secret stash, destroy the plans, and get out before whatever's at the other end of that silent alarm comes busting through the door.

If her code name's anything to go by, this one's gonna be a doozy ...

The United World Government has almost finished building its Warhead Antimatter Response (W.A.R) facility. You cannot let that happen.

So what to do about it? The only thing you can do ... it's time for a Government Takedown!

In this treasonous escape room game, you'll infiltrate the facility, steal the antimatter warhead, and rig the place to blow before the Trigger Squad ends the party ...

Are you up for the challenge? (This youth group was!)

The gang's been in some pretty rough spots before, but this one takes the cake!

The prisoner transport plane you’re on is bound straight for the United World Government’s (UWG) international processing center.

That's bad.

Real bad.

Like, worse than that time you were stuck in Cell Block 52 kinda bad.

The pilot just turned on the Fasten Seatbelts sign, and your guards have strapped into their seats for landing. That means you've got 20 minutes to get out of these handcuffs, find some parachutes, crack open the emergency exit, and bail!

It's a tight clock, but you don't want to be on that plane when it lands ...

You and your friends can hardly contain your excitement, as the 100 Year Winter Faire is on today!

While wandering the woods following an enchanted map a mysterious Wisp whispers to you...

"My my my... you feel so familiar..." says the Wisp.

"Why that is I cannot say!? I awoke this morning with no memories or body! Not that I mind all this flying around but I'm a little worried."

"The only flashbacks I have are from a Winter Faire, but that's not possible since the poster says that was 100 years ago..."

"Could I trouble you for help in piecing together who I am? Otherwise, I fear I may be lost like this forever..."

When you got this job, you thought you would be working for the famous Dr. Victor Frankenstein, whose work in biology and chemistry are renowned.

As it turns out, you have been hired on as a tutor for William Frankenstein, Victor’s young brother. The doctor you had hoped to meet and study under is nowhere to be seen.

To make matters worse, you’ve noticed a terrifying, huge creature lurking around ...

Can you decipher Victor’s notes and find a way to protect little William before something horrible befalls him and his lovely nanny, Justine?

The illustrious Carnegie family are hosting a giant party of frivolity, laughter and a few spiked drinks. From Gatsby to Governors, everyone's invited for the riotous affair.

Unfortunately, the bloodied dead body suggests there are one too many guests. Was it a jealous lover? Or filthy blackmail? Or plain old fashioned Envy?

This is the bloody 1920's at it's worst.

Looking for a perfectly suave game for your date night? Well good sir, this is it!

You’ve never been one to buy into a lot of hocus-pocus nonsense, but you’re pretty sure that ancient Sumerian artifact you and your crew intercepted wasn't quite as dead as you thought.

What leads you to this conclusion?

The strange glowing light that started emanating from its center?

The way the walls around you seemed to shimmer in and out, as if they weren’t quite solid?

Or could it be the fact that whatever just chased you into this cave looked an awful lot like a T-Rex?

You better figure out how to reverse whatever you did back there, or you’re more likely to be dinner tonight than to have dinner tonight!

You can build basically anything in the game Minecraft (seriously, it's amazing and a lot of fun).

So why not construct your escape room theme and puzzles using it?

You can either:

• Screenshot and print the puzzles to play live OR
• Design the game in the virtual world and invite players join you in cyberspace

The last heist went bad.

Real bad.

Like worse than running out of clean underwear kinda bad.

This ain't no ordinary slam either. It's the Off Book Facility Where Bad Guys Go To Die (or OBFWBGSTD as it's known in underground channels). There's no luxuries here like bread and water, no lawyers, and certainly no one who'll listen to your side of the story ...

You've got one option. Break out before the poor sod they're 'interviewing' in the next room kicks the bucket and they come looking for another.

The good news? They were dumb enough to put you all in the same cell together ...

You don't need superpowers to save the world.

You just need great teamwork, good communication, and plenty of brainpower!

A Black Hat hacker has set his sights on destroying the world's economy with a single, well-placed virus.

Can your crew of coders hack into his computer and stop the virus before it's too late?

All your favorite video games have been sucked into a single universe! All the inventory items, NPCs, puzzles, and quests get mixed together into a confusing mess!

Link is dodging Sentry Turrets at Aperture's Enrichment Center. Nathan Drake and Agent 47 are lost in Channelwood with only a collection of Lulu’s dolls to protect themselves. Requiem has been overrun with angry birds. You get the picture.

Do you have what it takes to get everything back to its original game world before the dimensional portal closes again?

When you ran away to join the circus, you imagined a life of bright lights, applause, and endless funnel cakes.

Turns out your goose-juggling skills weren’t quite what they were looking for, so now you spend your days cleaning out animal cages … and these animals ain’t small!

Lately, you’ve noticed some strange things going on. The mysterious, constantly hooded Madame Vermögen often seems to show up in two places at once, and you swear Manny, the dwarf clown, is gradually getting younger instead of older.

And then there’s the ringmaster, who seems to have an odd obsession with the eerie, child-sized, steampunk automaton that distributes ride tickets to eager, fresh-faced children.

Do you dare sneak into the ringmaster’s sleeping quarters to uncover what’s really going on around here?

Why does this keep happening to you? You break your wrongly accused brother out of prison one time, and somehow you’re doomed to spend your life breaking out of one prison after another!

This is it, though. Your final prison break. The conspiracy is deep. Your allies have questionable loyalties. Someone is being framed.

It’s nothing you haven’t faced before …

Figure out whom you can trust. Find the secret map leading to the secret hatch that will take you to the even more secret exit. Make sure you time your race for freedom just right. And you might just get out of this mess for good this time.

You and your crew were elated when you snagged invitations to the swankiest New Year Eve masquerade ball in town.

Dressed in your richest finery and hidden behind exquisite masks, you’ve been having the time of your lives and looking forward to the big countdown to midnight.

But wait … something isn’t quite right. As the hours pass, it seems there are fewer and fewer people in the ballroom. The room should be packed with revelers, but instead, it seems the guests are gradually disappearing.

Maybe you better skip the countdown and call it a night … except the exterior doors are all locked. The sound of the clock ticking echoes eerily in the almost empty ballroom … somehow, you don’t think you want to find out what’s going to happen at midnight.

It is 1925, and the prohibition of alcohol in the United States has been in effect for five years. You and your crew of smugglers are making a killing supplying the wealthy with high-quality liquor.

While on a routine supply run in Canada, you receive word that someone on your team has tipped off the FBI, and your route back into the States is compromised.

Can you uncover the traitor in your midst while traversing an unfamiliar, alternate route across the border?

While enjoying a pleasant Sunday stroll with your pet emu, Emut, you're distracted by the most epic ice cream truck. Ever!

You are drawn to it the way a moth is drawn to a bug zapper.

Now, with the glorious frozen treat in hand, you turn around to continue your walk, only to find that Emut is no longer on her leash! She obviously didn’t make the great escape on her own - she’s been petnapped!

A gang of wily criminals has been absconding with people’s pets, waiting for a reward to be posted, and returning the animals for the cash. But you’re not going to play their game.

It’s up to you to follow the clues and track Emut’s nappers back to their lair, where you’ll rescue not just your beloved bird, but all the pets these fiends have snatched.

Oh, no! Your favorite librarian, Ms. Verat, has disappeared, and the stacks are a mess!

Now all your favorite books are on the wrong shelves, there are library cards scattered about, and all the card catalog drawers are out of order.

But wait … is there a pattern to the chaos? Did Ms. Verat leave clues about her abductors that only a voracious reader like you would know how to decipher?

Let’s hope you’re up to the challenge! Ms. Verat and the future of the library itself are counting on your knowledge of classic literature and your wits!

This year, you and your crew all managed to get the same weekend off, and you’re going to the most epic fan convention ever!

There’s just one slight problem. Only one of you knows which hotel you’re staying in, you all had separate travel arrangements, and so many people are packed into the metro area that nobody’s phone has a signal!

Now you’re all in the same eight-block area, surrounded by incredible cosplay, party invites, photo ops, and cocktails straight out of a potions textbook. The only thing you’re not surrounded by is each other!

Can you follow the clues hidden in various emails between your group to find your hotel room and drop off your luggage before the opening night festivities begin?

You know what escape room girls love?

Girls love the Disney movie, Frozen.

For that matter, a lot of guys do, too!

So why not use a little winter magic to flavor your do-it-yourself escape room?

Unless you're building it for a live escape room business you don’t have any copyright worries. This is for fun! In your own home!

So go on. Find out if Anna and Kristoff can save Elsa next time the snow’s too deep to go to school!

(You can get a head-start on your game with the enchanted snowy puzzles and decorations from our Frost escape room kit).

As a real estate agent’s assistant, you get to do a lot of pretty exciting stuff … like taking pictures of empty houses, picking up business cards from the printer, and waiting for property inspectors to show up. *Yawn*.

Today is different.

You've been sent to a 200-year-old manor, that's been empty for at least the last 50.

Your job is to get a key made and go inside to assess its condition. Based on the exterior, you have a feeling you’re about to get well acquainted with a large number of rodents and spiders.

When you get inside, though, you’re surprised (and a little creeped out) by the fact that the property could have been abandoned yesterday, if it weren’t for a fine layer of dust.

A book sits open on a side table in the parlor, as if it was just set down for a moment. An exquisite tea setting waits in the kitchen to be filled. A fabric doll lies on the stair landing, apparently dropped by a distracted child.

What happened to the home’s residents? And why hasn’t the property fallen into disrepair over time? And do you dare investigate to find out?

Living in London during the Blitz is no picnic, so you’re inclined to give the benefit of the doubt to the shifty fellow with the gray overcoat who’s been sitting silently in the corner of the shelter every night. But when you notice him reading a book in a foreign language (could it be German?), you feel it may be your duty to inform someone. After all, Churchill did say to report suspicious individuals and activities …

After the All Clear sounds, you scurry up to street level and look around for a warden, but the mysterious gentleman seems to be hovering nearby, as if he knows what you’re up to!

Then, he approaches you and murmurs that he’d like to show you something at St. Paul’s Cathedral that afternoon. This could be your chance to catch him at his nefarious deeds … or possibly have your throat sliced open in a dark vestibule!

Of course, your curiosity gets the better of you, however, when you arrive the stranger's nowhere to be seen. Can you figure out what happened, what he wanted to show you … and whether he was indeed a German spy?

You should have known you were in trouble when you cut that gypsy woman off to grab a choice spot in the studio parking lot. It wasn’t your fault! You thought she was an extra!

Ever since, however, the big-budget action picture you’re directing has seen no end of costly catastrophes.

First, the stand-in for the top-billed star tripped on a cable, toppled into a PA carrying a tray of Frappuccinos, and broke the crafts-services table, the PA’s walkie-talkie, and three ribs.

Then, a supposedly 'controlled explosion' caught two other nearby buildings on fire.

To make matters worse, the footage of the explosion was accidentally deleted by an intern, so the entire effect has to be repeated with a whole new building! You don’t even want to think about what that’s going to cost!

It’s time to find that gypsy and set things right! But is it really a curse that’s causing all this bad luck … or is sabotage to blame? You’d better find out soon, or your career is going to be as impossible to salvage as that Starbucks order.

Our Escape Room Master Class walks you through every step of the design process.

All of the printable templates, puzzles, and props you'll need are here. It's days of escape room family fun in your back pocket.

Just print the pack for an unforgettable family holiday or totally engaging classroom lesson!