Best Escape Room

Newsweek

19-06-2025

All In Adventures Escape Rooms |
Poughkeepsie, NY
Photo courtesy of Alona Siniehina/iStock by Getty Images
Photo courtesy of Alona Siniehina/iStock by Getty Images
Can you crack the case before it's too late? At All In Adventures, choose from seven scenarios, such as searching for Sherlock Holmes or surviving the zombie apocalypse, and let your group puzzle its way through (kids as young as 6 are welcome). If you can't get your crew to the Poughkeepsie escape room, AIA can come to you: the company sets up mobile escape rooms in a 25-mile radius.
Beat the Bomb | Washington, D.C.
Photo courtesy of Beat the Bomb
Photo courtesy of Beat the Bomb
You've got one hour to disarm the bomb; if you don't, you'll get blasted with slime, foam or paint. Good luck! Beat the Bomb may be one of the most original escape rooms—it's certainly one of the only to require a hazmat suit! If you'd rather not get sprayed with goo, try the much cleaner Arcade Battle or settle in with a Grape Escape mocktail from the Bomb Bar.
Breakout Orange Beach | Orange Beach, AL
Photo courtesy of JackF/iStock by Getty Images
Photo courtesy of JackF/iStock by Getty Images
Espionage in a casino? Orange Beach's Breakout has an escape room for that. Stopping a runaway train or getting back your gold that outlaws stole? Breakout has rooms for those scenarios too. You'll love that each room is private; only your group will be in the room while you play. Kids can join in the fun too, so it's an ideal place to play away a rainy beach day.
Cluville Kids Escape Room | Scottsdale, AZ
Photo courtesy of Cluville Kids Escape Room
Photo courtesy of Cluville Kids Escape Room
Designed for ages 6 to 14, Cluville lets your kids put on their detective hats and race the clock to solve puzzles they'll love. Missions like Secret Potion and Alien Invasion teach children science, math and the magic of teamwork. The four different rooms are so creative (and secretly educational) that Cluville has become one of Arizona's most popular destinations for school field trips. Parents are welcome to join in!
Escape Artist Greenville | Greenville, SC
Photo courtesy of Escape Artist Greenville
Photo courtesy of Escape Artist Greenville
You've never done an escape room like this; the award-winning Escape Artist Greenville immerses you in the story with costumed actors, interactive shows and bind-blowing set pieces, all while you try to solve the mystery to get out. You'll find a great mix of scenarios, from family-friendly fairy-tale adventures to dark and scary sci-fi thrillers. And all the rooms are private so no strangers end up in your group.
Escape Games PDX | Portland, OR
Photo courtesy of JackF/iStock by Getty Images
Photo courtesy of JackF/iStock by Getty Images
Gather your friends and spend an hour trying to outsmart the uniquely entertaining rooms at Escape Games PDX. The themes are the perfect blend of brainy and Portland weird: you can rob a prison, shake down your roommates for rent money or try to escape a lab with half your party locked in another room. You'll laugh your way through every lightbulb moment as you get closer to the answer.
Escape Room Arlington | Arlington, VA
Photo courtesy of LightFieldStudios/iStock by Getty Images
Photo courtesy of LightFieldStudios/iStock by Getty Images
Five wildly different rooms will have you coming back for more at Escape Room Arlington. From horror themes (you have to try the highly praised and highly creepy Edgar Allan Poe room) to retro arcades and supervillain lairs, there's a vibe to suit every type and age of puzzle master. Several of these private rooms also work for solo players, so you can treat yourself to a night of mystery.
Escapology | Charlotte, NC
Photo courtesy of JackF/iStock by Getty Images
Photo courtesy of JackF/iStock by Getty Images
The steampunk atmosphere envelops you as soon as you walk inside Charlotte's Escapology. You'll then enter one of 10 rooms, each with a sinister scenario. One of the nation's only escape room companies with licensed themes, such as Scooby-Doo and Batman (you can be Batman's crime-fighting wingman!), it's also one of the only venues with Kids Mode rooms, scenarios that dial back the difficulty and scare factor for younger sleuths.
Fox in a Box | Chicago, IL
Photo courtesy of Fox in a Box
Photo courtesy of Fox in a Box
The place: Fox in a Box, Chicago's premier escape room. The mission: break out of jail. In the Prison, one of the company's most popular scenarios, players are locked in individual cells—can your friends figure out how to free each other? If orange jumpsuits aren't your jam, you can disarm a nuclear warhead or crack open a diamond safe instead. And your whole family can play thanks to kid-friendly missions.
Prototype Escape Games | Jacksonville, FL
Photo courtesy of Prototype Escape Games
Photo courtesy of Prototype Escape Games
Looking for haunted house vibes in the middle of July? You'll have a horrifyingly good time at Prototype Escape Games, home to the scariest escape room in Jacksonville. Each private session features scare actors, multiple rooms that may shock you (literally!) and unique puzzles that Prototype guarantees you've never seen before. It's such a hair-raising experience that you'd better wear a hat!
The Escape Game New Orleans | New
Orleans, LA
Photo courtesy of Olivier Le Moal/iStock by Getty Images
Photo courtesy of Olivier Le Moal/iStock by Getty Images
One of the most sought-after ways to spend an hour in New Orleans, the Escape Game's four rooms cater to any skill level. There are easy playground games for anyone 13 and older, special ops missions for the more adventurous and daring prison escapes for code-cracking experts. Or join a virtual escape room—a real room that's live streamed so you and your friends don't have to leave the sofa.
The Great Escape Room | Queens, NY
Photo courtesy of necati bahadir bermek/iStock by Getty Images
Photo courtesy of necati bahadir bermek/iStock by Getty Images
It's the best in Queens for a reason: the Great Escape Room's four scenarios celebrate the bizarre, the supernatural and the downright dangerous. You can sign up for a spooky séance, a plot to rob the mob, a murder mystery in the mountains or a presidential poker game gone wrong. In a fifth room, Sherlock's Study scavenger hunt, the game's afoot as you rifle through the famous detective's library.
The Lodge of Lazarus Crowe | St. Paul, MN
Photo courtesy of The Lodge of Lazarus Crowe
Photo courtesy of The Lodge of Lazarus Crowe
If you love dark academia brewed with a spoonful of paranormal, then the Lodge of Lazarus Crowe is your cup of tea. Brush up your elixir-making skills in the Apothecary, one of the easier scenarios, or dial up the difficulty in the Arcane Library as you attempt to rein in unstable magic. Afterward, you can raise a glass to victory with cocktails at the delightfully macabre Hourglass Cafe & Bar.
The Masters of Escape | Branson, MO
Photo courtesy of The Masters of Escape
Photo courtesy of The Masters of Escape
Branson is known for world-class entertainment, and the Masters of Escape raises the bar for fun even higher with its one-of-a-kind augmented reality rooms. Missions feature a mix of real and digital obstacles to keep you on (and sometimes off!) your toes alongside chill scenarios for solving puzzles in tranquil landscapes. Want to fly after your escape? Hop on Birdly, a virtual reality rig that lets you soar.
The Nemesis Club | Phoenix, AZ
Photo courtesy of The Nemesis Club
Photo courtesy of The Nemesis Club
Every villain needs a nemesis; find yours at the Nemesis Club. Your job is to break into a superhero's hideout and steal a prized possession—it's a comic book come to life! If you'd rather play as a good guy, you can shut down evil robots or defend a campsite from a hidden monster. Whatever you choose, the on-site Soda Jerk Co. Milkshake Bar serves treats to henchmen and sidekicks alike.