Code
Number locks
The backbone. Checked on the server, so the answer can't be pulled out of the browser.
Why it works
The expensive part of an escape room is the room. The good part is the design.
A physical room costs thousands in set-building, locks and floor space, and then only one group an hour can play it.
The design — the part that actually makes an escape room good — costs nothing. That part is yours. Bring it here and skip the rest.
Real locks
Codes are checked on the server. Reading the page source gets you nowhere: the answer isn't in there.
No player limit
One group or a hundred at once, each on their own phone. No slots and no bookings to manage.
It times itself
The hunt carries its own clock and records how long each run took. That's a leaderboard, ready-made.
In three steps
How to design the escape room
The clue chain is what matters. The tooling is the easy part.
Write the chain backwards
Start at the ending and keep asking what you'd need to know to get there. That's how the good ones get built.
Alternate the kind of thinking
A number code, then a visual one, then a logic one. Three steps in a row that ask the same thing and the group stalls.
Test it on an outsider
What's obvious to you isn't. The preview with answers exists exactly for this.
Full example
A seven-step escape room
Forty minutes, all on the phone, nothing physical. Swap in your own story.
- VideoStep 1
You have forty minutes
The video that plants the story: who you are, what's happened and why there's a hurry. Thirty seconds, no more.
- CodeStep 2
The first lock
Four digits hidden in the video they just watched. Anyone who wasn't paying attention watches it again.
- PuzzleStep 3
The torn document
An image in pieces. Reassembled, it shows the symbols they'll need two steps later.
- SwitchesStep 4
Four switches
Four conditions to satisfy at once. Only one of sixteen combinations works.
- SequenceStep 5
The panel order
The symbols from the earlier puzzle, now in the right order. This is where you find out who was taking notes.
- TriviaStep 6
The interrogation
Five questions whose answers are scattered across everything they've seen so far.
- CodeStep 7
The way out
The final code is assembled from one digit per earlier step. Without writing them all down there's no chance.
- Final screen
You got out with 6 minutes to spare
Final time: 33m 41s. You're the seventh group to make it, out of twenty-three who've tried.
Idea bank
Puzzle types you can build
There are 13 step types. These are the ones that hold up an actual escape room.
Switches
Switches with conditions
Several rules that must hold at once. The most logical step of the lot, and the most argued over.
Sequence
Ordered sequences
Symbols or colours in the right positions. Perfect for reusing a clue given much earlier.
Puzzle
An image in pieces
Rebuilding a photo or a document. A way to hand over information without writing it out.
Date
Date and time lock
For episodic escape rooms: a new part that opens each day at a set hour.
Trivia
Interrogations
Questions whose answers are spread across earlier steps. It rewards whoever took notes.
Variants
Formats that work
Escape room at home
Forty minutes, all on the phone, for an afternoon with friends. The easiest of the lot to build.
Hybrid with real objects
Clues around the house, locks on the phone. The best of both without buying a single padlock.
In the classroom
An escape room with the syllabus inside. Students solve in teams and the content goes in without feeling like content.
Episodic
A new part each day with date unlock. It stretches the game across a whole week.
Reviews
What users are saying
Brilliant idea. I got muddled with the order of the steps at first, until I saw you just drag them, and after that I had it done in twenty minutes. I used it for our team building and everyone loved it. The shake step was the funniest thing we've ever done in a meeting.
The office Secret Santa is usually the most generic thing in the world. This year I turned it into a treasure hunt and everyone asked who had made 'the treasure hunt'. The secret code step had them struggling for 20 minutes lol
I'm a teacher and used it to create an end-of-year treasure hunt. The 5th graders spent the whole morning engaged solving clues around the school. The step where they had to shake the phone to "break the lock" was absolute chaos, in the best sense. The following week three parents asked me how it was done so they could do it at home.
Public or private. That is the whole decision.
The mechanism is identical in both: the same challenges, the same steps, the same ending. The only thing that changes is who can reach your adventure.
Identical in both
- All 13 instruments, none held back
- Unlimited steps, no expiry
- You write the ending: letter, photo or video
- Link and QR ready the moment you publish
The only thing that changes
Public
FREE
no cost · no expiry
Anyone can find it
It goes up on Explore and anyone can play it. Good if what you want is to be discovered.
- It goes up on Explore, so people find you
- Classic and pirate themes
Private
$9.99
one-time · per challenge
Only whoever has your link
It appears in no listing and no search engine. If you have not sent them the link, it does not exist for them.
- Schedule the exact date and time it opens
- Optional password, if you want another door
- Cyberpunk and romantic themes, plus the usual two
No subscription · no card to start
If you want people to play it, publish it free and it appears in Explore. If it's only for your group, private gives you a password.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Not on text, code and trivia steps: the answer is never sent to the browser, it's checked on the server.
What story do you want to tell?
Start at the ending and work backwards. With the clue chain written, building it is the quick part.
Free · No card · Nothing to install