10 Best Escape Room Board Games 2022 | UK Gaming Blogger Reviewed

Benjamin is a writer of fiction and occasional video-game reviewer. He gained his MA in English Literature from Birmingham City University, where he was the editor for The Student Anthology. Though his main enjoyments are reading, writing, music and gaming, he has time for anything that tickles his fancy. Learn more about him and his blogs from here.

For those after a quick look, here is our Top 5:

1. Space Cowboys - Unlock! 5: Heroic Adventures for £24.23
2. Thames & Kosmos - Exit: The Game – The Dead Man on the Orient Express for £13.50
3. Goliath Games - Escape Room: The Game 2 for £30.99
4. Board & Dice - Escape Tales: The Awakening for £23.99
5. Space Cowboys - Unlock! 1: Escape Adventures for £20.39

For a more in-depth look at the comprehensive top 10 selection, make sure to read on to learn more about the different types of escape room board games available and understand how our ranking was determined.

This article's chosen EC site price listings are reflective of its publishing date.

1. Pick the Right Theme to Create a Specific Mood
2. Consider Your Experience When Picking a Difficulty Level
   
3. Look at Each Game’s Recommended Number of Players
4. Make Sure You Don’t Run Out of Time by Keeping the Game Duration in Mind
   
5. For Double or Triple the Fun, Look for Boxes With Multiple Adventures
   

To understand the themes, we first need to get to grips with the genres of board games as it can be easy to confuse the two. Essentially, the genre refers to the type of game you are playing, whether it's cooperative, RPG, or in this case, an escape room game. Genre is the overarching identity of the board game.

The themes set the tone and overall atmosphere of the journey you will undertake, and within the genre of escape room games, there is a plethora of choices available. Some popular themes you'll be able to choose from include heists, murder mysteries, science fiction and horror. 

It is easy to find a game that will match an interest you already have, as well as something that is appropriate for younger audiences if planning a family game night. You can also try something new if it takes your fancy! There’s nothing better than finding a new favourite board game, especially if it’s one you never thought of playing before.

Lastly, think about mood and its importance on game night. Horror wouldn’t be appropriate for the family but it would go down a treat with your mates. Don’t spoil game night with a poor choice. Choose a game with everyone in mind, not only yourself.

Fans of detective thrillers should check out some of the best murder mystery games around!

If you fancy yourself a seasoned puzzle solver and are on the hunt for the next challenge, you're sure to find something within this genre. On the other hand, if you’ve just started your adventure in the world of escape rooms, there are plenty of simpler challenges tailored toward new players that won't leave you stumped at each new card.

Designers will include the difficulty of each escape room on the box or in the instructions to help you find a game that will suit the challenge that you are looking for. The 'Exit: The Game' series, for example, has a handy dot scale on the front of each of their boxes, whereby one dot is for novices and five-dot games are designed for expert escapees. 

Other games may simply be listed as 'medium', 'beginner' or 'intermediate', but this should be easy enough to make a judgement on too. Either way, there's a torrent of tasks out there for you or your group to delve into – just take note of the difficulty rankings and pick the perfect score for you. 

Take a look at some social deduction games if you're a fan of thinking on your feet!

Much like a standard board game, escape room games are designed to be played in a group. Trying to plan a social event can be a difficult task, but with one of these puzzles, you will never be at a loss for a fun-filled moment. Group limits typically allow up to 6 players, which gives you great scope to build a team and go on an epic escapade.

That being said, if you struggle to get a group together regularly, you don't have to miss out on escape room games. There are sets out there for the solo adventurer which will allow you to play and solve the mysteries all by yourself. This may come as a bigger challenge, but the final result can feel all the more satisfying! 

Look out for single-player icons on boxes, you might be surprised by the selection of games on offer. This is becoming a hugely popular board game format. Many people are realising the potential of single-player games and the enjoyment derived from them.

If you enjoy working together with others, consider picking up a cooperative board game!

In escape rooms themselves, you are under pressure to complete the challenge in sixty minutes before automatic failure, and that can often be the case with board game alternatives too. However, rather than failing outright, you will typically be able to carry on at home after the time limit has run out if you want. Though this can detract from the excitement.

Not all games will be restricted to an hour-long experience though. Those with deeper stories and harder challenges can come with a recommended playtime of up to two to three hours. With that in mind, we recommend that you plan ahead and make sure you have enough time with your team to complete the task at hand.

The overall feat of completing an escape room game can be rewarding, but you will soon discover that lots of games in the genre are only playable once. This is often because completing the quests may require some unorthodox techniques that make replaying impossible, such as damaging and tearing components of the game.

Luckily for you hardcore daredevils, there are boxes that comprise multiple stories to give you more bang for your buck. Whilst having solo releases, however, the Unlock series, for example, have compiled up to three different narratives in each set to keep your options open for future game nights.

Otherwise, you'll find that developers create unique one-box games and comprise future releases into a series, like Escape Tales, who have created separate escape rooms under the same name. This can be a great thing to look out for if your group has particularly enjoyed a certain game in the past.

The best thing to do is to buy both types of games. You can reserve the solo adventures for those special nights, and the ones containing multiple adventures can be played on a more casual basis. Or even, at the beginning or end of a board game session, so the focus isn’t solely on the escape room game. 

This ranking has been compiled by the writing team at mybest UK via careful evaluation of the points made in the buying guide and thorough research of each product and comparing multiple verified customer reviews across the EC sites used.

mybest UK's Homepage

• Explore our categories and 2000+ articles

mybest UK's Instagram

• Follow us to keep up to date with our product showcases!

Written and researched by Kieran Davies