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Take the viral social experience of Escape Rooms to the comfort of your own home and for a fraction of the cost that you would pay! Included in this game are 4 unique 60 minute escape room puzzles that will test your cranial skills. Use images, gears, words, keys, shapes, maps and more to solve the three stages within each escape room. An analog timer on the Chrono Decoder centerpiece incessantly counts down, emitting ominous noises to create an environment shut out from the outside world. If the puzzles stump you for too long, slide a hint card into the Hint Decoder to keep your team moving. Slide 4 keys into the Chrono Decoder when you think you have the answer... but beware, if you're wrong, a precious minute will be taken from you.
The 4 escape rooms vary in difficulty, designed to give any group the experience they expect and deserve. If you're craving more puzzles, Escape Room expansions will be available, but you'll need the base game first as the Chrono Decoder is essential to the experience. Included in the base game in order of difficulty is: Prison Break, Virus, Nuclear Countdown, and Temple of the Aztec
Prison Break: Ten years in prison for a crime you didn't commit. Ten years of your life wasted for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, it hardly seemed fair. You know the guards will reach your cell during the rounds in an hour. Every bone in your body tells you this is the opportunity of a lifetime; you're 60 minutes away from freedom!
Virus: What a time to faint! You swear you could kill your lab partner, but you know that won't be necessary. The liquid that's oozing out of the broken bottle will kill everybody in the room soon enough...
Nuclear Countdown: The table is filled with all kinds of materials that send shivers down your spine. At that moment your phone rings and your worst nightmare becomes reality, the bomb threat is real!
Temple of the Aztec: The stories told about the temple were numerous. Anybody that had entered the temple was never seen again, supposedly killed by vipers. But stories also spoke of the Eye of Aztec, the largest diamond that ever existed
--description from the publisher
This entry is for the original base game, containing the four escape rooms mentioned above.
Several editions of the base game contain different combinations of escape rooms. These editions have separate entries on BGG:
Escape Room: The Game Prison Break + Virus + Nuclear Countdown (Polish, Estonian, Ukrainian and Italian editions)
Escape room: Το παιχνίδι Prison Break + Virus + Temple of the Aztec (Greek edition)
Escape Room: The Game Prison Break + Virus + Welcome to Funland + Murder Mystery (Second English edition)
이스케이프 룸 방 탈출 게임 (Escape Room: The Game) Prison Break + Virus + Welcome to Funland + Temple of the Aztec (Korean edition)
One of the escape rooms from this edition has been published separately (in English):
Escape Room: The Game – Nuclear Countdown
- Generates fun
- Running around
- Chaos
- Escape Room
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Escape room — Simulates the experience of a physical escape room.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- if it can't accommodate at least five it's not a party game
- your definition of party game is a game that place sadness fine please have to be at least 5 yep
- and then what has to be simple enough in componentry to be played easily at a party hmm and it has to be simple enough that you can explain it I'm inside probably 10 minutes yep and have it be understood by gamers and non-gamers I think those are the hallmarks of a genuine party game
- if the game isn't generating laughter naturally through playing it then it's not really a party game
- there's a lot of chaos element often that's what causes the the humor
- it really depends on the people that we're playing with as well
- it can read like party on paper but then it people aren't quick enough to like make it fun party or they're not happy enough to just throw a caution to the wind and wind and lose and have it be funny and it becomes really understand
References (from this video)
- The best of the escape room genre
- A lot more physical elements than Unlock! or Exit
- Really cool, very analog feeling mechanism
- Tactile experience with the key mechanism
- Puzzles are really neat and ingenious
- Gets the closest to the experience of a real escape room
- Can only be played once
- Need to give it time before potentially remembering puzzles if replayed
- Solving puzzles to escape
- Escape Room scenarios
- Unlock!
- Exit
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Deduction — Requires deduction to figure out puzzle solutions.
- One-time play — Designed for a single playthrough as puzzles are solved.
- physical components — Features physical elements and a unique 'key' mechanism.
- Puzzle solving — The core mechanic involves solving a series of puzzles.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's a very moving experience because some of the things some of the decision making as you're trying to win the game about where to sort of spend your resources and spend your time so the effectively you can win you know you're going to have to leave certain people behind
- the combat's really cool you know it's right up there with any good Skirmish game
- this is another one where as soon as I was done with the campaign of the first you know the the main box I really felt like I wanted to go back and play it again but I think I need to give it time because now as time has kind of moved on I don't really have the desire to go back and play it again
- those to me are the best of that kind of genre because it has a lot of just more physical elements than like the unlock or even exit has it has a really cool like uh very analog feeling mechanism that goes with it
- this is other than the next game on the list probably the perfect Legacy game because it makes the right jump at the right time and it really stages you into getting to the more and more complex layers Without Really Ever Actually Ever Being Boring at any point
- the magic of that first playthrough would not be there it just would not be there when the some of the reveals and some of the things in terms of like you know why are we playing this game 12 times in a row what's the kind of story that's threaded through here
- the mechanically altered board and characters and stuff becomes the story itself and that is revealed to you one time and then you don't get to do it again
- the games aren't in jail like you know what I mean like why why are you forcing me to play a certain kind of game or a certain game over and over that's jail
References (from this video)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- they are all essentially different flavors of the same thing
- counting down from 60 to zero 60 minutes
- you flip the card over you see whether you are right or not
- every solution to every puzzle in exit is a three-digit combination
References (from this video)
- strong atmosphere and narrative drive
- destructive components may be required in some entries; expansion content
- narrative-driven escape room puzzles
- box-based escape room with a central decoder device
- story-with-choice and envelope progression; instructions via decoder wheel
- Exit series
- Unlock series
- Deckscape series
- Escape the Room
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- codes_and_locks — four-digit or four-symbol codes to unlock progress
- decoder_wheel — decoder wheel determines when you can open envelopes
- envelopes — sealed packets with new information to unlock next steps
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- they are all essentially different flavors of the same thing
- counting down from 60 to zero 60 minutes
- you flip the card over you see whether you are right or not
- every solution to every puzzle in exit is a three-digit combination
References (from this video)
- Strong atmosphere and tactile, kinetic feel from interacting with the Chrono Decoder.
- Approachable entry point into puzzle-solving; engaging for first-time players and seasoned puzzle fans alike.
- Limited replayability on a per-scenario basis; solutions can feel repetitive if you replay the same box.
- Setup and teardown can be fiddly, especially in small play spaces or with multiple players.
- puzzle solving under time pressure within a murder/mystery framework
- modern, compact mystery scenarios delivered as boxed events
- episodic scenarios with a strong countdown-driven arc; a cinematic feel via the Chrono Decoder
- Pandemic
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- cooperative puzzle solving — players collaborate across a sequence of puzzle steps, sharing clues and combining information to reach a solution within defined time limits.
- physical clue interaction — solvers manipulate a mix of cards, physical keys, and coded inserts that must be aligned with the device to unlock the next stage.
- time pressure device — the Chrono Decoder functions as a live timer that provides audible cues and impacts pacing; players input codes or keys to advance, heightening tension.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- mystery games are the best
- mind-bendingly wonderful stuff
- this game is cool though like elenoir the chisel can make the suspects lie to the players when questioned
- you've cracked the case
- they push the boundaries of what you can do with bits of paper