We intend our ranking as a tool for helping you to choose your escape rooms: to play on a single day or plan a whole route.

How to use a ranking?

A ranking is built on the base of subjective ratings. Many factors related to the authors can influence: their preferences, previous experiences, and expectations, their interest and knowledge about the game theme, their mood when playing, size and members of their team… As other authors, we try to be the most objective as possible, but certain degree of subjectivity is unavoidable (otherwise all rankings would be the same).

On the other hand, factors independent of the authors also influence: the room apprenticeship (it’s not the same to play a recently opened game or a 6 months-old game that has been solving errors and implementing some improvements), factors related to the game master (experience guiding the game, mood…), the moment of the day you play (even if there are no windows, it’s not the same effect entering an horror room during the day or at night), etc.

How to minimize all this? In order to choose the best rooms, don’t focus too much on their exact place in a ranking, but on the range they fall in. If you check several rankings, in the first, second, third places… you will typically find different rooms. But within a given range, for instance the first 20 places, many games will appear in all rankings. Therefore, you will not be able to assert the room holding the first place is the best one, but you can be sure you’ll find awesome rooms among the first 20 places.

Even so, you will find divergences. If you have already played some rooms, check what rankings fit more your opinion and use them.

You should also have in mind the rating date. If such date is old, then try to find out whether the room changed much since the author’s visit.

What else to consider when choosing a room?

Your experience

Some inexpert teams complete really hard games in surprising times. But that’s not common. Typically, in a game of high difficulty, beginners are not able to solve most of the puzzles and may get frustrated. Therefore, try to choose the difficulty according to your experience, especially at the beginning.

On the other hand, there are rooms that require some previous experience, not due to their difficulty, but because they obviate some escaping basic mechanisms that can be learned in specific rooms.

Use reviews and the room website to check whether a game is recommended or not for beginners (they usually indicate if it’s not).

Theme of the game

If you are a fan of the room theme, you will probably enjoy it much more. If you don’t like terror, you will not enjoy an horror room, no matter it ranks highly.

Team size

It does affect the experience, and it is important to keep it in mind to choose a suitable game.

  • The difficulty of some games can be frustrating for 2 players but perfectly feasible and enjoyable for 4-5 players.
  • Some games, especially linear ones, can be frustrating for large teams, since most of the time there will be only one puzzle to solve and just the 2 players in front of it will be able to do something, while the others can only look.
  • There are some tasks that, without being necessarily difficult, take a long time. Having a lot of them in a room can be achievable for 3 players or more, since they can split up, but it may become extremely hard for 2 players to escape on time.
  • Escape rooms with small spaces can be oppressive for large teams.
  • The experience-type rooms (games with less puzzles and more “role playing”) are more enjoyable with many people.

Your team mates

They can enormously influence your experience. Thus, have your team members in mind in each of the previously discussed points (their experience, their preferences, etc.).

If planning a route…

When planning a route, keep in mind how many rooms you are going to play each day. Playing escape rooms is extremely pleasant, but everything in excess becomes boring. Besides, an excessive number of games per day implies a tight schedule, which can be stressing and physically tiring, thus affecting your game experience. Every team should have a plan according to particular circumstances, but we do not recommend to play more than 4 rooms per day.

Try to choose games with a variety of themes; it will reduce the risk of monotony and make you enjoy more.

Take into account the intensity of your games. Some horror or tension rooms can be really intense and exhausting; try to alternate them with “lighter” rooms or play them in different days.

Our ranking

Here you can find our ranking, wishing it might be useful.

You can also check our detailed rating, where we take into account different items.

Finally, we hope that all this may help you to choose escape rooms you’ll greatly enjoy!