Escape Room Riddles: 34 Puzzles, Codes and Clues with Answers on Riddlepedia
Funny & Tricky

Escape Room Riddles: 34 Puzzles, Codes and Clues with Answers

34 riddles · tap Hint or Answer to reveal

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Good escape room riddles do one job: they turn into something players can use, like a place to search, a word or a number for a lock. This page has 34 escape room puzzles that work that way. The easy riddles each point to an object in the room, the medium round is cipher and code puzzles (backwards words, Caesar shifts, A=1 number codes, acrostics), and the tricky round is lock-combination logic with one, and only one, correct code.

Every puzzle has a hint for when the team gets stuck, and every answer is decoded or worked out for you. All the ciphers and number puzzles have been checked, so they’ll open your lock. Use them for a home escape room, a classroom breakout game or a birthday party. The last section shows how to chain them into a 45 to 60 minute game.

Easy Escape Room Riddles (Find the Object)

I have hands that point but never wave, and a face that never changes. Your next clue is taped to my back.

Hint
I’m on the wall, and I’m always ticking.
Answer
The clock

I copy every move you make, but I mix up your left and your right. Look along my frame.

Hint
You check your hair in me.
Answer
The mirror

Everyone in the room walks all over me, and I never say a word. Lift my corner.

Hint
I’m soft and I lie flat on the floor.
Answer
The rug

Twist my switch and I chase the dark away. Your clue is taped under my base.

Hint
I wear a shade, but not on sunny days.
Answer
The lamp

I have twelve pages and I’m always counting days. Flip me to the month with the fewest days.

Hint
Look for the month that’s only 28 or 29 days long.
Answer
The calendar. The clue is on the February page.

I hold a frozen moment behind a sheet of glass. Turn me around.

Hint
I usually hold a photo, and I hang on the wall or stand on a shelf.
Answer
The picture frame

Crumpled paper and old wrappers are tossed into me all day. Check under me, not inside.

Hint
I sit beside the desk, waiting for things nobody wants.
Answer
The wastebasket

I drink water but never eat, and I grow without ever leaving my pot. Look under my leaves.

Hint
Someone in the room forgets to water me.
Answer
The houseplant

I have four legs and a back, but I’ve never walked a step. Look under my seat.

Hint
You’re probably near one right now.
Answer
The chair

I’m a hole in the wall that you can see through but can’t walk through. Check my sill.

Hint
Sunlight comes in through me.
Answer
The window

I have a spine and hundreds of leaves, but I’m not a tree. Find the one with a bookmark sticking out.

Hint
Look on the shelf, between the others like me.
Answer
The book. The clue is tucked inside the book with the bookmark.

Medium Escape Room Puzzles: Ciphers and Codes

A note on the door reads: “TEKCAJ DER EHT FO TEKCOP EHT NI KOOL.” Where should you look?

Hint
Start reading at the end.
Answer
In the pocket of the red jacket. The message is written backwards: “LOOK IN THE POCKET OF THE RED JACKET.”

A card says “Shift 1 back” and then: “MPPL VOEFS UIF CFE.” What does it say?

Hint
Replace each letter with the one just before it in the alphabet.
Answer
LOOK UNDER THE BED. Each letter was moved one place forward (L became M, O became P), so move each one back.

A scroll says “Julius used three” above the code “FKHFN WKH IULGJH.” What’s the message?

Hint
Julius Caesar shifted every letter by three. Go three letters back.
Answer
CHECK THE FRIDGE. F goes back to C, K to H, and so on. Julius Caesar is said to have used a shift of three in his own letters.

The lock has five letter wheels, and the clue reads “16 - 9 - 1 - 14 - 15.” What’s the word?

Hint
A = 1, B = 2, C = 3 …
Answer
PIANO. 16 = P, 9 = I, 1 = A, 14 = N, 15 = O.

A note says: “The code is the KEY. Add up its letters, A = 1.” The lock takes two digits. What’s the code?

Hint
Find the number of each letter in K-E-Y, then add.
Answer
  1. K = 11, E = 5 and Y = 25, and 11 + 5 + 25 = 41.

Read this poem carefully: “Don’t give up yet, / Every clue counts. / Search a little closer: / Keys like to hide in small amounts.” Where is the next clue?

Hint
The answer is hiding at the start of each line.
Answer
The desk. The first letters of the four lines spell D-E-S-K.

A card shows a mirrored alphabet, with A under Z, B under Y and C under X, and then the code “HSLV YLC.” What does it say?

Hint
Swap each letter for the one in the same place counting from the other end of the alphabet.
Answer
SHOE BOX. H becomes S, S becomes H, L becomes O, and so on. This is the Atbash cipher, first used with the Hebrew alphabet.

The four-digit lock has a sticky note with a picture of an old phone keypad and the word “LOCK.” What’s the code?

Hint
On a phone keypad, each number from 2 to 9 has three or four letters.
Answer
  1. L is on 5, O is on 6, C is on 2 and K is on 5.

A flashlight blinks: long-short-short, long-long-long, long-long-long, short-long-short. What word is it spelling?

Hint
It’s Morse code: a long blink is a dash and a short blink is a dot.
Answer
DOOR. In Morse code, D is -.., O is — and R is .-.

A card reads: “Do you see the cup? I’ll owe you one.” The next clue is hiding in a soft object that’s hiding in this sentence. What is it?

Hint
Ignore the spaces and punctuation, and read the letters straight through.
Answer
The pillow. “cuP I’LL OWe” hides the word PILLOW.

A torn note reads: “Unscramble RAIN CUT to find something in this room that you pull to let in light.” What is it?

Hint
Use all seven letters, and think about the window.
Answer
The curtain. R-A-I-N-C-U-T rearranges to C-U-R-T-A-I-N.

A sign says “ROT13” and then: “GUR XRL VF VA GUR GRNCBG.” Where is the key?

Hint
Move each letter 13 places along the alphabet. With 26 letters, the same move both hides and reveals the message.
Answer
In the teapot. The message decodes to “THE KEY IS IN THE TEAPOT.”

Tricky Escape Room Puzzles: Lock Combinations

The three-digit lock code goes up by 2 from each digit to the next, and its digits add up to 15. What’s the code?

Hint
Call the first digit x. The other two are x + 2 and x + 4.
Answer
  1. 3 + 5 + 7 = 15, and each digit is 2 more than the one before.

A three-digit lock uses three different digits. The note says: 438 has one digit that’s right and in the right place. 926 has nothing right. 715 has two digits that are right but in the wrong places. 067 has one digit that’s right but in the wrong place. 832 has nothing right. What’s the code?

Hint
First cross out every digit from the guesses with nothing right, then look at 438 again.
Answer
  1. 926 and 832 rule out 9, 2, 6, 8 and 3, so the 4 in 438 is correct and goes first. From 715, two of 7, 1 and 5 fill the last two places, each moved from its spot. Only 471 also gives 067 just one right digit in the wrong place.

The two-digit code is a prime number between 50 and 60, and its digits add up to 8. What is it?

Hint
There are only two prime numbers between 50 and 60.
Answer
  1. The primes are 53 and 59, and only 5 + 3 makes 8.

A four-digit lock code uses four different odd digits, written from smallest to largest, and they add up to 16. What’s the code?

Hint
Try the four smallest odd digits first.
Answer
  1. 1 + 3 + 5 + 7 = 16. Any other set of four odd digits adds up to more.

The lock code is three digits, A, B and C. A x B = 12, B x C = 20 and A x C = 15. What’s the code?

Hint
Which digit could multiply with something to make both 12 and 20?
Answer
  1. A = 3, B = 4 and C = 5, because 3 x 4 = 12, 4 x 5 = 20 and 3 x 5 = 15.

A poster on the wall shows: apple + apple = 10, apple + banana = 8, banana + cherry = 7. The lock code is apple, banana, cherry. What is it?

Hint
Solve the first line, then use each answer in the next line.
Answer
  1. Apple = 5, so banana = 3, so cherry = 4.

An old poster on the wall shows three Roman numerals: XIV, VII and XXI. The lock has three dials that go up to 30. What’s the combination?

Hint
X is 10, V is 5 and I is 1. An I before a V means “one less.”
Answer
14-7-21. XIV = 14, VII = 7 and XXI = 21.

A note says: “Type the code on a calculator and turn it upside down. It should say BOIL.” What’s the four-digit code?

Hint
Upside down, 8 looks like B, 0 like O, 1 like I and 7 like L. And turning it over flips the order too.
Answer
  1. Rotate 7108 and the last digit becomes the first letter: 8-0-1-7 reads B-O-I-L.

“The code is my age. In 4 years I’ll be twice as old as I was 7 years ago.” What’s the two-digit code?

Hint
Write it as an equation: age + 4 = 2 x (age - 7).
Answer
  1. In 4 years I’ll be 22, and 7 years ago I was 11. 22 is twice 11.

The three-digit code is a perfect square. Read it backwards and you get another perfect square. Its first digit is smaller than its last, and its digits add up to 16. What’s the code?

Hint
3-digit squares go from 10 x 10 to 31 x 31. Look for pairs like 12 x 12 and 21 x 21.
Answer
  1. 169 = 13 x 13, and 961 = 31 x 31. The other pair, 144 and 441, has digits that add up to 9.

A five-letter word lock has this riddle on it: “What gets wetter and wetter the more it dries?” What’s the word?

Hint
You’ll find one hanging in the bathroom.
Answer
TOWEL

How to Build a DIY Escape Room at Home

  1. Pick a story and a goal. “Find the stolen treasure,” “Break out of the wizard’s lab” or “Open the vault before the timer runs out” all work. The final lock should hold the prize.
  2. Chain the puzzles to locks. Plan the path backwards from the final box. Each puzzle should give players a place to search (an easy riddle), a word (a cipher) or a code (a lock puzzle), and that answer should lead to the next puzzle. A good chain mixes all three types, so different players get to shine.
  3. Use cheap locks. A three- or four-digit combination lock, a letter word lock and a small lockbox are enough for a whole game. Set each lock to its puzzle’s answer, and test every lock twice before players arrive.
  4. Aim for 45 to 60 minutes. For a one-hour game, use 8 to 12 puzzles: about 4 easy, 4 medium and 2 to 4 tricky. For younger kids, cut it to 30 minutes and stick to the easy riddles and backwards words.
  5. Plan your hints. Give each team three hint cards, or let them ask the game master for a hint every 10 minutes. The hint lines on this page are ready to use.
  6. Play it safe. Never lock anyone in a real room, and keep the actual doors unlocked. Hide clues next to appliances, not inside them, and keep the game away from the stove.

Want more puzzles for your room? Try our detective riddles, these anagram puzzles or our logic riddles.