We all love an escape room — and, what’s not to love? They’re fun, filled with puzzles, they bring groups of friends and family closer together, and they present the perfect opportunity to immerse yourself in an interactive, themed setting.
Escape rooms have been delighting and inspiring groups of people for many years now, all over the world. From the zig-zaggy streets of Melbourne and Adelaide to the bustling hubs in London, Singapore, New York, and more, you’ll likely find an escape room nearly anywhere you go! And of course, while no two escape rooms are exactly alike, and there are bound to be nuances and quirks unique to each distinct city and country, some escape room experiences are certifiable fan-favourites.
Whether you’re an escape room aficionado like us and want to know all the ins and outs about escape room design ideas, or you’re looking for escape room inspiration to build your own at home, it’s intriguing to look into which escape room themes have resonated the most with folks all over the world.
So, for the sake of science and inquiry (and fun!), here is a deep dive into the most popular escape room themes worldwide.
What Makes a Great Escape Room Theme?
There’s a sort of science to what makes a great escape room theme, an assortment of must-haves. The secret to a great and creative escape room theme idea is tying in all the essential components of an escape room experience, namely, visual storytelling, immersive environments, hands-on puzzle solving, and impressive set design.
The best and most popular escape room themes are the ones that allow each of these key design elements to flourish and excel with each other — it’s no mere illusion, really! That’s why you often see so many escape rooms around the world offer experiences that are either old-fashioned looking, or sci-fi and fantasy inspired, or a bit spooky or mysterious, because themes easily inspire immersive, ground-up storytelling and interactive puzzle action that can all fit together. If you can’t dress up and match the theme, then what’s the point?
As we explore more of the different popular escape design ideas, keep in mind what they all have in common and allow the gamemakers to pull off easily. Many of these themes offer opportunities for variation on the same theme and are often appropriate for groups of both young children and adults alike.
Most Popular Escape Room Theme Ideas
From the foggy cobblestone alleyways of Scotland Yard to the olde world forays of King Arthur and his squires, there are as many escape room themes around the world as there are escapists! Many of these themes can mix around with each other, and they aren’t exclusive to genre or difficulty.
Here is a humble and certainly non-exhaustive breakdown of just some of the most popular escape room themes worldwide, from right here in Australia and across Asia, America, and Europe.
The Whodunit
One of the most popular escape room themes is the whodunit, or mystery. Be it a murder most foul or a case of purloined precious peculiarities, everyone gets to become their own detective and codebreaker in a whodunit, scouring around them for clues and different types of puzzles hidden in plain sight, desperate to piece them together. And because there’s no shortage of crimes to be solved, a whodunit escape room can mix things up again and again.
From Sherlock Holmes, turn of the century, Victorian quandaries in search of missing stolen jewels, to the gritty and realistic Miami Vice murder crime scenes right out of a policeman’s playbook, nothing in the room will be left unturned, while guests eagerly attempt to find the culprit and their key to freedom. You’ll likely find some kind of mystery whodunit-themed room when you visit an escape room site, and if you want to make your own, then you’re sure to impress with this theme more than once.
So the first question is this: what kind of sleuth will you be next time?
Crypt Escape
In many places around the world, you’ll often find an escape room themed around an ancient crypt or tomb, vault or haunted basement. Of course, it’s all in the name; guests must escape from the doomed catacomb before succumbing to all nature of traps.
Crypt escapes are popular because they sit at the intersection of historical play and horror, depending on how intense the room is designed to be. They can be both tame and light-hearted or truly scary. You can be tasked with escaping the mummy’s curse before the sands in the hourglass run out, or uncovering the widow’s secret in a mausoleum, or freeing yourself from a mysteriously abandoned mine.
And of course, the crypt escape theme is always fun to decorate and dress up for — cobwebs here and there and everywhere!
Prison Break
If you haven’t had a run-in with a prison break escape room, then you don’t know what you’re missing! This is in a similar vein as the whodunit except — newsflash — you’re in jail! Prison breaks are a popular and versatile escape room theme because, while of course imaginative, they are also not too far removed from reality, making them a bit more approachable to escape room novices.
In the history of escape rooms, prison breaks were also amongst the first themes to be widely experimented with, providing opportunities for innovative storytelling and inspiring variants on settings ranging from traditional ‘prison cell’ setups to dungeons, mysterious locked rooms, and eventually going on to inspire the ‘crypt escape’ theme as well.
Often, prison-themed escape rooms themselves are brightly lit, and the puzzles often revolve around finding a combination to a safe or locating the keys necessary to undo your handcuffs. And of course, dressing up for this theme is easy, since everyone looks great in stripes and orange! Prison break escape rooms can run the gamut of historical accuracy and setting, so no two jail cells will ever be the same. Innocent or guilty? Only time will tell…
Science Lab Gone Wrong
Another popular escape room theme you’ll find in various countries is the forsaken laboratory. The science lab theme also sits in the intersection of real life and horror, since very often you’ll encounter the ravings of a mad scientist or the remains of an escaped experiment, or even… zombies!
Much like prison break-themed escape rooms, the setting of a science lab also provides a great jumping-off point for detailed storytelling, with escape room designers going either the experimental sci-fi route or even veering into more mystery-rich medical territory, like our Fractured room.
Science labs also allow for great thematic puzzles and props, like hastily-scrawled notebook pages and computer codes and quarantine chambers. It’s easy to feel smart and play the part when dressed up in a lab coat, tinkering around with a chemistry set, after all. So whether you’re setting out slime traps for little kids or counting down the seconds to releasing a noxious neurotoxin gas into the room (fake, of course), the science lab theme is always a hit wherever you travel.
How to Choose the Right Theme for Your Escape Room
Since there’s no shortage of fun escape room theme ideas, it may be hard to determine which theme is right for you. Consider your audience and who the room is going to be intended for. Are you making an escape room for families and children, or young adults and thrill seekers, horror fans or strict puzzle solvers?
Once you know who you’re making the room for, then you can determine what kind of theme helps you check all the boxes most. Balancing your budget and creativity is a little bit easier when you know how far you should and shouldn’t go based on your escape room concepts!
- Identify your target audience
- Determine the desired mood or atmosphere
- Research popular escape room themes
- Consider the space and layout
- Plan for puzzles, props, lighting, and sound effects that enhance immersion
- Balance creativity and feasibility
There’s An Escape Room for Anyone, Everywhere!
The beauty of escape rooms is that while you always know what to expect when signing up for one, because of the differences between countries and cultures and themes, you never truly know what kind of experience you may get! Escape rooms appeal to people looking for fun, themed puzzle-solving experiences, and while the themes explored here are just some of the biggest ones trending around the world today, who knows what will resonate with people in the near future.
The many worlds of escape rooms are expanding every day, evolving in puzzle concepts, ingenuity, immersion, and technology. Did you know there are even escape rooms that use VR headsets? Talk about immersive!
If you’re curious about exploring more escape room themes or want to one day make your own, then check out more about us at Escape Rooms Melbourne. Book your next escape room group adventure here and try your luck at our local Melbourne escape rooms!
FAQs
What escape room themes are best for beginners?
If you’re new to escape rooms, then they may seem intimidating at first. It all depends on the theme and difficulty level of the room, how scary or relaxed it’s designed to be. Themes that are best for beginners are probably non-horror prison break, pirates, fantasy, or historical.
How do I design an escape room at home?
To design an escape room at home, all you need is some props and puzzle pieces! Think of fun, safe ways to lock people into the space with plenty of clues to lead them to unlock their exit. There are plenty of escape room games to play at home, too!
How long does an escape room take?
Every escape room is different, and the time limit will depend on many factors, like the size of the room, the number of people playing, and the difficulty. How long it takes to finish an escape room depends on the players involved and how cunning they are!
