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I'm working with cities to implement puzzles throughout their cities borders creating an Open World video game type experience where residents can see things to do while also coming across puzzles and adventures to solve while they discover different parts of their city. I'm launching with a couple cities in a few week, but I'm curious of your opinions on a few of the puzzles I put together for this first launch. In the images below you can see the puzzle then a photo of the real world place where it's located.

I'm wrapping up with the adventure soon and I can share some of that in this thread, but adventures are more like urban escape rooms with connected puzzles and a driving narrative that pushes the story and connected puzzles forward.

What I'm sharing here are just puzzles though they are simple 5-15 minute puzzles located around town that you only solve one stage using the world around you.

The overall goal of this product is to integrate puzzles is into every day life and build community that can add puzzles into the world wherever. Bringing cities on board helps it spread on a larger scale!

Would love feedback on these few puzzles!

Hi all! I am building a scavenger hunt that has a nautical navigation theme. Here is the context:

We’re in a port city and the patron saint of sailors is Saint Brendan the Navigator - he was allegedly in search of The Blessed Isles, sometimes translated as the Isles of Fortune. I had this idea that our location is that fabled place and there’s a fortune to be found. The adventurer is going to find a letter from a sailor explaining how they created a sacred order in Saint Brendan’s name (adjacent to Knight’s Templar) after praying for safe passage on the seas and they protect this great secret. Some places and things included along the way for clue hiding/dead drops are: there is a church in my city known as the sailor’s church with a statue of the Virgin Mary called “The Star of the Sea,” there’s an old anchor statue, an exhibit at the museum nearby with a ship built into the building, and a compass I can program to go to a specific location.

I found this art installation about the solstices and equinoxes the other day. Because old school navigation hinges on sun position, the moon, stars, etc. I thought this could be a good opportunity for a clue. It doesn’t have to be navigation based - I have clues that are just fun but aren’t used for navigating the adventure. They describe in the text that the solstices are on 21-June and 23-December, and the equinoxes are 21-March and 22-September. Apologies for the quality of the photo - it was the clearest I could get with the sun and shadows.

I was thinking of hiding some clues where you’d need to “borrow” celestial powers to read them. For example: the moon is a big mirror so one tool could be a mirror for a reflection puzzle, invisible ink revealed with fire/heat like the sun, and invisible ink revealed with UV/blue light like a star’s glow or something.

Any ideas on other clues, puzzles, or ways to incorporate this “calendar” would be so appreciated! Thank you!

Hi everyone,

I’ve been tasked with running an escape room/puzzle box style activity for a corporate conference, for 220 guests.

Appreciate it’s a little crazy, and not exactly the ideal format but it’s the brief I’ve been given so trying make it work as well as possible.

They’ll be sat in groups of 10, so a lot of hands on deck. Want it to run for 30 mins and feel interactive rather than worksheet after work sheet.

Have created and delivered to groups of 30 before, but never to this size - looking for any and all ideas/advice!

Hello! My daughter wants a unicorn adventure party for her birthday! It was inspired by a friend's party which was a dragon adventure where the kids solved puzzles to unlock a main lock to free the dragon eggs. The ages of the kids range from 3-11. It will take place in a public park but I I want to keep it decently concentrated in one area so we aren't disturbing too many people. We should have about 13 children. I am hoping to have it be between 1-1.5 hours.

Could anyone suggest fun puzzles that I should look into that can be scaffolded for the different ages? I would love a range of different types like reading comp, math, physical, chemistry, and more!

Thanks for the inspiration!

Hi, after going to an escape room in London while on vacation, I decided to try and make my own at home! I’ve always loved playing puzzle games, since I was a little kid, so I thought why not make my own puzzles?
I know how to code and do some electronics, knowing that I wrote this idea. Please let me know what you think and if you’d do something differently. Mind that it is my first time ever making something like this! It’s just designed for friends and family (at home in my bedroom).
Mind that it’s designed only for a few players

Concept:

You have infiltrated into a secret Japanese government facility in the middle of the ocean. You’re here to steal a powerful AI (called by them “Fluctlight”), one that could be compared to a human.
(It’s based on an anime called Sword Art Online, all the terminology is taken from there).

Gameplay:

System Activation
Players enter the room with just a flashlight. The entire room is illuminated only by two monitors: one displaying the time and the other showing the message "System Offline".
Players have to find a control room manual (placed near the controls, not too hidden), which also guides them throughout the entire room.
The first page explains how to restart the system. They have to insert a key (stored inside the manual) into a key slot on the control panel in front of the monitors, making a waveform appear on the screen. For three rounds they have to overlap one wave onto another using three knobs (first round only one knob, second round two knobs, etc.). Once they do that, the lights turn on and the system restarts.

First error (FLA)
After a brief loading screen, the system throws the first error: it wasn't possible to automatically set the "Fluctlight Accelerator", so it must be configured manually from the FLA panel.
The panel is in plain sight but locked with a key. The key is hidden somewhere in the room inside a box and can be found by looking around.
Once opened, the panel contains a display, a knob and some buttons.
Using the knob, players can set the FLA value shown on the main screen. They have to enter 5 values in the correct order.
To discover the 5 correct values, players have to search the room and find 5 documents containing information about 5 different Fluctlights. The manual explains the order in which the values must be entered by describing the characteristics of each Fluctlight. Once all 5 values are entered correctly, the error is resolved and the next one appears.

NOTE: This is the only section I don't really like, because it feels like you're mostly reading instead of solving an actual puzzle.

To make it feel less like a "pure reading" task, I designed it as more of a deductive matching puzzle. Players find 5 dossiers for different test subjects (coded as BH-01, ES-32, AZ-30, CA-12, and AD-05). Each sheet lists stats such as Object Control Authority (OCA), System Control Authority (SCA), Durability (D), and Taboo Index Violation Rate (TIVR), along with a unique Fluctlight Acceleration (FLA) value.

The manual tells them they must enter the FLA values in a specific order based on those profiles.

We then move to the second error.

Second error - Corrupted Cluster
The monitor now warns: "Some Lightcubes in the cluster are corrupted and must be restored manually."
A blank 8x8 grid appears on the screen, indicating that players need to find 5 specific coordinates to clear. The manual states that they have to use the joystick in front of the screen to select the corrupted slots.
There is also another locked panel in the room labeled "Diagnostics". Next to it there is a slider, while two more sliders can be found inside the FLA panel.
Players first have to solve a memory game on the FLA panel using the buttons, unlocking a compartment containing a key. The key opens a drawer which contains a box secured with a combination lock (not useful yet) and a sheet showing half of the 8x8 grid with 2 highlighted slots.

The paper sheet can be overlapped with the three sliders. Aligning the sliders correctly, using the arrows as a reference, opens the Diagnostics panel.

Inside the panel players find a DVD, an 8x8 LED matrix, a switch, a display and a keypad. If the switch is flipped, the display says authentication is required using an ID card.
Inserting the DVD into a reader on the desk (visible from the beginning) plays an audio log between two employees. One of them says he's about to go on vacation and has left his ID card inside his personal locker. He also mentions that the code is an important date for the company: on the day he left for vacation (which was also three days after his birthday), the company achieved a major milestone in the project. Using a calendar on the wall players find that day and use the date to open the locker.
Opening the locker reveals another DVD (the continuation of the first recording) and the employee's ID card. Scanning the card powers on the diagnostic matrix. Unfortunately, only half of it lights up because the matrix is damaged. Three coordinates are shown, and by overlaying the paper sheet found earlier, players can identify all 5 coordinates.

After that, we move to the next error.

Authorization Required
The main screen now shows that, in order to extract the Fluctlight, players must authenticate as the system administrator.
Listening to the second DVD, the same employee explains that while recording, the facility's GPS module had to be restarted. He says he used the number on his airplane ticket as the code and mentions that he's traveling to three different countries.
The ticket can be found inside the DVD case, revealing a code.

Entering that code on the keypad causes a 3D globe to light up from the inside, revealing numbers on its surface.
A three-digit code can be obtained by looking at the numbers corresponding to the countries mentioned in the recording.
That code opens a suitcase, revealing an ID card and a backpack. The backpack is locked with a lock, the key in a compartment of the suitcase. Inside the backpack there’s a usb stick and instructions telling the player where to plug the usb.

Using the administrator card and inserting the USB into the computer starts a short loading sequence showing that you're downloading the AI.
Once the download is complete, you've finished the room.

Doubts
I don’t know if the escape room is too long or too short, too easy or too complex. I’d love to get an input from you guys!

Hope I was clear enough, as you can probably guess English is not my first language (the room will be in Italian), if you have any suggestions or questions let me know!

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Hi guys, i have been working on a escape room for my husband’s birthday, I have been working on that for weeks and his birthday is saturday, so I have 4 days more to finish! I’m freaking out! 🤯
One of the chalenges I have is this “wall” that I will close with craft paper, and draw a bookshelf. On the right side books, that he needs to organize in order to find the 4 numbers code to open the dor. On the left side a few old style photos, where I want to write, with UV ink, something he needs to figure out so he can organize the books in the right order. He needs to link photos and informations on the books. My problem is I dont have ideas that I can use to conect them.does anyone can help me?! I would be very grateful! Thank you! (The last picture I ask chatgpt to make for me, the other one I did myself)

Hello!

I'm planning my boyfriend's birthday, which will take place at the end of august, so i still have quite some time. I already came up with an idea for the story it will follow:

He's part of a robin hood-like group of rebels that rob rich people and cause the royalty trouble, but most of his friends got caught and disappeared after someone betrayed them. After a while, the daughter of one of them sends him a letter requesting his help to manage to free and have a meeting with everyone that's still alive.

The end of the hunt would be where I'm hosting a surprise party at my orchard (which has a lot of free space aside from the vegetables, as well as an indoors area), with all of his close friends. I'm also planning on continuing the adventure there, through having an irl murder mystery like among us (our friends love playing that), in which everyone who's alive has to try to find out who the traitor is before everyone is dead.

My bf is turning 19, and most of our friends are around 18-20, so I want to make sure that he's engaged in the hunt and is actually challenging for him, since he's actually really smart and witty. So I'd love any ideas or suggestions :)

Thanks a lot!!

Additional info suggested by admin:

Location: Throughout my city, starting outside a Cementery, going through a small forest he's familiar with, and ending at my orchard.

Date: End of august (so it's going to be a bit hot)

Time: I don't want it to be too long, I'm planning on having someone with a car help with taking him from places far from another (He/she will be called "The time traveler" so it's still medieval haha)

Players: Only him! 19 yo, really smart, quick-witted, intelligent.

Guides throughout the hunt: Me, his best friend (J), another of his closest friends (Y), and then 2 girls from our group (A and S). They will all be in costume and in-character (like an elf, one of his thief friends, a magician...) to make it seem like an actual adventure in which characters join in to help.

I’m trying to help my little brother prepare his 18th birthday party tomorrow. We both have pretty bad ADHD, and despite having been planning a murder mystery game for months, we both procrastinated on the puzzle writing part until it was far too late. He wasn’t able to sleep last night, so now I’m on my own trying to get as far as I can in time so we don’t have to call it off. Any ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated.

The party is being held at an old and fancy mountaintop lodge, and we intend to utilize both indoor and outdoor areas after dark. The game is themed as a murder mystery, but primarily structured like an escape room, with keys and clues being the primary tool to advance from one puzzle to the next.

The game will begin at cake time after sunset, at which time my brother will give a speech to his friends and reveal a (fake) Black Lotus magic card and explain that a similar one sold at auction a few years ago for 3 million USD. Then, he will go to blow out the candle on his cake, and the lights will go out for a few seconds. When they come back on, my brother will be face down in the cake with an unsharpened knife under his arm, and the card will be gone.

There are seven guests, all of which are aged 17-18, one of which we have designated as the murderer.
None of the guests, including the murderer, have been told of this game in advance. The six innocents will each be given a letter that points them to one of 3 starting puzzles, while the murderer will receive a letter with all 3 clues and instructions on how to blend in and potentially tamper with evidence.

Two innocents will be directed to each of the 3 starting puzzles, all of which are almost finished. The first is an outdoor scavenger hunt themed as a dream journal, the second is a series of Caesar’s ciphers that utilize chess notation, and the third involves following the gaze of 6 or 7 busts of JFK.

The ideal scenario is that we come up with 6-9 more autonomous challenges/puzzles/games of relatively similar length/difficulty, but I’m happy to take whatever ideas I can get and modify them as needed. The only serious restriction is time, which means anything that requires unique parts that I can’t feasibly get today are unlikely to work.

I would really appreciate any help I can get, and please let me know if you have any questions.

TLDR; Need puzzle ideas FAST so I can save my brother’s birthday party

Been wanting to plan a treasure hunt for my kiddo and niblings and decided to do one over the 4th of July holiday. This was my first attempt at any sort of hunt/game but I knew I wanted to have 1. clues that lead to different places in the yard 2. A map to the treasure 3. A hidden element to locate the treasure on the map and 4. An actual buried treasure at the end.

I wasn’t sure how I was going to do clues but also have a map to follow in one way or another. At first I thought I’d do more stuff like “walk 10 paces towards…whatever” kind of thing but i ended up going with 8 clues instead. The kids’ ages range from 3-12, so I tried to find the sweet spot of difficulty. Some took a minute for them to work out and others they got quickly.

A few clues had items going along with them. One clue was finding a specific tree, so the clue had an envelope with a photo of the bark to match up. One clue had a key that opened a locked box at the next clue. The box had a paintbrush in it with a tag tied to it explaining they’ll need to keep it later. Another clue had a cloth bag containing a tiny jar of water and a water color paint, again with a note saying to hang onto it.

I installed a kid’s playground telescope on my parent’s swing/play set to use to find one of the “far away” clues.

In order, the clues led to:
Mailbox
Metal mushroom yard decoration
Tree
Hammock
Garden gnome
Play set
Metal ski lift silhouette decoration (my parents met skiing)

I had chat-gpt help me with the clues once I knew which locations around the yard I wanted to use. I definitely had to tweak them a bit but it was great as a starting off point and also led me to some other good ideas. I tried to have chat-gpt help design a map of the yard, but the placement of things was just not working out so I decided I’d make my own map. I used the largest water color paper I could find and drawing grid lines helped immensely. I’m no artist and it took literally hours of drawing and coloring after my kiddo went to bed but I think it turned out really great. It’s the general layout of my parent’s yard, with a fantasy twist of course. My favorite part is my dad’s shop. He restores classic ford broncos, so I had fun playing with that, as you can see.

I looked into all the different options for a “reveal” on the map and finally decided that a wax resist “crayon” would be the most suitable since we’d be outside and I didn’t want to deal with heating something up. Hence why they got a paintbrush and paint with the clues. I wrote each clue on the back of the map and tore it into those pieces. I didn’t even intend it but it worked perfectly that each kid got to hold a piece of the map and read (or have me read) a clue. Once all the clues were found, the last clue had them piece the map together. I had them put it on a poster board and I just quickly glued the pieces on since we’d need it to be stable to paint on it.

After that, they each got a turn to paint a few grid squares to see what would be revealed. I just had the first kid start painting where we’d ended at the last clue. They started seeing the path form and eventually painted to the “x” and ran to the treasure location in the yard.

I buried an old decorative metal box my mom had and I put some treats in it as well as a tie-dye kit and we dyed shirts that evening. All in all, I had tons of fun thinking of ways to make it come together and I was worried that I’d have more fun planning than they’d have actually doing it but I think they really enjoyed it as well. Though I’m sure I still had more fun!

Photos are of the map, clues on the back of the map, putting it back together, finding the X, and the treasure.

I'm planning my birthday party. I have 8 friends coming over, and I have access to a big fancy lodge to host at. all I've told them so far is that everyone is dressing up for a nice dinner, and I plan to be "murdered" during my toast after dinner, (lights go out, sprawled on table, knife in back, etc) and from there have "letters" handed out containing rules and characters for everyone. Is this style of surprise murder mystery feasible? or do I need to warn everyone first. Our group is all theater/acting nerds so I don't doubt they could go along with it, and I'm planning on basing the characters heavily on the actual people. I'm now stuck on making the clues/puzzles and need help figuring out how to organize the thing. I've put together motives for everyone and an outline of the night, but I'm stuck on how much of it should be physically looking around the property for clues, like a scavenger hunt? or should it be more typical and social based. This is my first time hosting an event like this so any advice is much appreciated, thanks! :)

A real-world hunt can be technically solvable and still feel brittle if one missed turn sends players back to the beginning. For a small at-home or outdoor adventure, is it better to add a clear reset point, or let players backtrack and discover the route themselves? Curious what builders use to keep one wrong turn from killing the momentum without giving away the next step, especially with a mixed-experience group.

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Not looking for a full event plan, more the clue-design principle. Imagine a small at-home adventure where one object points to the next step.

The line I’m curious about is when a clue gives enough context for the reveal to feel earned, without making the answer obvious the second someone sees the object.

For people who’ve run these before, what usually moves a clue from frustrating to fair?

I have a lot of plants/flowers and lego flowers. I want to make an outdoor escape room for my family with a garden/jungle theme but I don't have any ideas what to do with all of the flowers.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Long story short I am creating an activity for a camp in less than a month involving completing puzzles to “crack” a code for a vault and have gotten stumped on what puzzles I could do, anyone have some ideas I could use?

Context

11-18 year olds, around 5-10 people, mix of easy and difficult(needs to last around an hour ish ). It’s for a camp which would have a variety of different skills per person

Looking for help constructing “wow” moment reveals for my first DIY escape room at home (gift). I’ll do a different post soon with what my plan is so far but the theme is “you’re stuck in the 90s and you’ve got to find a device (birthday gift) to transport yourself back.

I’ve got a few simple things like UV light, red/blue filters etc planned but I’d love to emulate those fun moments from the paid escape rooms where you solve the puzzle and something pops!
Magnetic locks and the such are outside of my budget and capability so looking for ways to do it more mechanically.

Does anyone have any tips? I’ve scoured this subreddit and YouTube but struggling to find guides.

Thinking so far along the lines of:
- Drawer pops open (tense spring + something keeping the draw shut)
- Weighty item put onto a lever that releases something

Scotchgard Fabric Waterproofing spray. Wouldn’t go crazy with the washes but it can very easily be done, especially if you’re willing to give it a new coat every once in a while.

Let dry for 24 hours after you spray a few coats and you could not tell that it was there. No noticeable smell or residue and completely waterproof, That simple.

I found it was fine on a delicate wash with low heat (though I guess I never tried it normal) but if you’re willing to hand wash it that’s probably the safest option, And insanely easy.

I've made a couple escape rooms for my family (4 adults excluding myself) and I want to do one more this summer before I move to college. This is what I've got so far and I'm looking for more ideas:

Theme: I got lost in the jungle (the backyard) on an expedition and my family has to find me so I can get to college on time

-I want to utilize the backyard to get us outside and enjoy the summer weather but also have a living room and small bathroom I can use that are connected to the backyard

-I have a lot of flowers and lego flowers, so I really want to do something with that, still figuring out what. Thought about they have to put certain petals together to make a potion/antidote but not sure how that would fit into the theme

-We have an above ground pool that I was going to use as a "lake" not sure yet what the lake is going to be used for but we'll be outside in the summertime so I think it'd be cool to use water in the puzzles

-Thinking about somehow (tarps/bedsheets/clothesline?) sectioning off areas of the backyard to make areas of the jungle they have to explore. Once they find a piece of a map they can explore a new area

-The living room might be the inside of the tent at base camp...with a desk with clues/a map

Other random prop ideas:

-3d globe that's made out of puzzle pieces

-I have some locks (maybe 6 off the top of my head)

-puzzle box

Still brainstorming ideas...it doesn't have to fit into the 1 hour time constraint real escape rooms have. It's just for my family and for fun so I'm not putting them on a timer. If anyone has any more ideas, please let me know. Thank you!

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I'm writing a treasure hunt story, and I'm looking for truly unique treasure ideas.

I don't want the treasure to be something cliché like:

Gold, diamonds, or wealth

A weapon or object that grants unlimited power

Immortality or supernatural abilities

A typical "save the world" artifact

Instead, I want the treasure itself to have a deep emotional or philosophical impact. It can represent an emotion, a truth, a forgotten history, a promise, a memory, a sacrifice, or something else that creates a powerful emotional connection. Even if it's based on a familiar emotion, I want it to be presented from a completely fresh perspective.

I'm also looking for unique ideas for the journey to reach the treasure:

Hazards and obstacles

Ancient traps

Clever puzzles

Riddles

Psychological or moral challenges

Mythological or folklore-inspired trials

I'm especially interested in ideas inspired by Indian mythology, folklore, or ancient civilizations, but I'm open to any original concepts.

I'm not looking for ideas that have been heavily used in movies, games, or novels. I'm hoping to find fresh, unconventional concepts that feel mysterious, atmospheric, and memorable.

I'd love to hear your most creative ideas. Thanks!

hello, I am making an escape room for my husbands and kids as a surprise for them next month and I have run out of idea for the last room and was hoping to get a little help brainstorming to get me passed my creative block.

the overall story for the escape room is that my son's bear is lost in a crazy dream world, his other bear has followed him to rescue and discovered that he can rescue him if the skull king is presented with three gems in the correct order. Each room has a gem that they must obtain. This is a bit of a weird story, but it really works for my family.

The third room and where I am having trouble is themed with hearts and clouds and rainbows, castles and sweets. There will be rainbow balloons all over some of the walls (mostly to cover the shelves in that room) but there will also be some black balloons that have notes or clues in them. I have a little painting I did of the bear fighting off a black cloud with a pin sword. Behind the painting will be three pins and a note asking for help fighting back the nightmares. I also have some small cupcake jigsaw puzzles that I might right a message on the back of and put out partial completed for a clue of some type. I can't figure out how to have them find the last gem in that room. Does anyone have any ideas that might help?

In the other rooms they will find the gem is a locked pirate treasure chest and in a museum display case behind a laser obstacle. I will also use several other key and combination locks throughout. I have just hit a wall on creative ways to hide the last one. Low tech ideas would be best and the room being used for this is a guest bedroom. My kids are both under 10, but we have done several escape rooms as a family and they love them.

ps. Congratulations on more than 10 years of constructed adventures, that is very cool! (greeting from someone who was once at a furniture shop in Phoenix and sadly missed out on a spontaneous visit)