Escape Room Themes
By: Kristina Malmstrom
Everyone who has played an escape room knows that they typically revolve around some theme. These vary greatly, though many seem to fall under certain classifications that generate the best business. Here we’ve curated a list of some of the most popular escape room themes currently.
Zombies
At the top of the list is one of the most popular themes in pop culture recently: zombies. With movies and television like The Walking Dead and Zombieland (and, of course, the upcoming Zombieland 2), video games like the Resident Evil series and The Last of Us and books like World War Z, it’s easy to see why zombies have broken into escape room themes as well.
The idea of zombies lends itself very well to the making of an escape room themes. Approaching zombies make an easy enough timer countdown, and it’s easy to become trapped by a wandering horde. And, of course, those zombies definitely want those brains you’ll need to solve your way out!
Escape Room Examples
Zombie escape room themes are even able to come up with a variety of storylines and objectives, so they don’t typically feel stale or overused. In some games, you’re trapped by a horde and must escape your way out of them without getting caught, such as in Draper Zombie Panic.
A fun twist on this idea also involves players battling live zombies with paintball or laser guns, like in I Survived the Room. Another popular objective, which overlaps with a later theme, is to find the antidote to the zombie virus. Trap Door’s own Cure Z is a great example of this, where players have to search through a 10 room abandoned city to find and create the zombie cure. As with any zombie game, it definitely takes brains to make it out.
Tombs
Another popular escape room theme comes from all across the globe. Tomb escape room themes typically involve an adventure-esque storyline. In other words, players travel through the tombs of Ancient Egyptian pharaohs on adventurous quests like in the Indiana Jones movies. With, full of booby-traps and trick rooms, you definitely have to be careful where you step inside these escape room themes!
Escape Room Examples
A lot of tomb escape room themes are also able to play on the lore (and lure) of the Ancient Egyptian tombs. For example, Egyptian Tomb Escape has you trying to find an “Artifact” in the pharaoh’s tomb while avoiding booby traps.
Others are more basic, where you’re trapped in a tomb and have to solve your way out, such as The Egyptian Tomb, or simply have to find treasure or valuable trinkets and escape.
Another unique take is King Tut’s Curse, where you have to enter King Tut’s tomb to try to break the curse put on him by the God Aten. You may want to start praying to Thoth for the wisdom to make it through these rooms!
Defuse the Bomb
Many escape room themes rely on undertones of fear, and this popular theme is no exception. Another common escape room theme is defuse the bomb situations. With bomb escape room themes players are trapped with a bomb set to detonate. Players must disarm it before it explodes. These escape room themes tend to be extremely thrilling, as you can usually clearly see the countdown on the bomb and feel each tick of its descent in your bones.
Escape Room Examples
There are many escape rooms that play on this theme, often just as players trapped in a room with a bomb without any additional twists. Some use high stakes to increase the fear and pressure on your team, such as S.W.A.T., where you find a bomb planted by a terrorist that will destroy half of the city if it detonates.
Cold War Crisis plays on the same idea, except its set during the 1960s and uses the tensions with Russia as the source of the nuclear bomb.
And of course, the most popular disarm the bomb escape room is Beat the Bomb, where the bomb is actually a paint bomb that leaves players a colorful mess when it detonates.
Serial Killers
Those who particularly love Halloween will want to try this popular escape room theme: serial killer escape room themes! With Hollywood characters like Hannibal Lecter, Norman Bates, and Michael Myers and non-fictional murderers like Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and Jack the Ripper, there are plenty of sources of inspiration for creating a twisted villain.
Many escape room themes based on serial killers have an additional horror theme to it. These escape room themes remind players of a puzzling haunted house. With the clock ticking though, there’s still a genuine theme of not being able to escape in time.
Escape Room Examples
Most serial killer escape room themes strive to create an immersive environment that makes the players feel as if they’re actually stuck in a horror movie. Trap Door’s own original escape room, The Architect, was based around this idea. Players were trapped in the lair of the Architect and had to escape through a series of puzzles reminiscent of Saw (though, much less dangerous).
Another version, Escape the Serial Killer involves players trapped in the basement of a serial killer, who have to escape before he returns or be murdered. This thrilling theme is definitely not for the faint of heart.
As a popular escape room theme, prison break does not mean only breaking out of prison, but refers to any situation where a group is held captive and must escape. In escape rooms, we typically see this play out as prisoners in jail or prisoners of war scenarios.
Of course, there are many movies that revolve around these ideas, regardless of whether they’re based on true events or pure fiction. Either way, it’s easy to understand the appeal of playing a rebellious character escaping from a potentially fatal situation.
Escape Room Examples
Many of these games use the deadline of your execution as the timer- as in, you’ll be executed in one hour for your alleged crimes, so you better escape! For example, Prison, which is a fairly basic game like this.
A more mysterious version of this is Prison Break. Here, you know the last person to occupy your cell vanished. However, rumors claim he either escaped or was killed by the Warden, so you better hope the former!
Finally, Prisoners of War has the players as prisoners of war who must escape their cell and then the entire military base without getting caught.
Find the Antidote
Find the Antidote rooms involve players racing against the clock to create a serum to cure some variety of a lethal disease. This theme even lends itself well to pairing with other themes, such as post-apocalyptic or zombies.
There are countless stories that could be told using this objective. This is because there are so many different possibilities of diseases and viruses. Plus, it could even be the reverse, where you’re striving to find the virus itself before it goes viral!
Escape Room Examples
Antidote Escape Room is a great example of the standard for this theme. Players find out they are infected with a deadly disease and must find the antidote to save the world from this chemical warfare.
Cure Z also crosses over into this theme, where players are racing to find and recreate the cure for the zombie virus.
Vaccine has a similar situation of players searching for a vaccine, except it’s set in an abandoned house in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Regardless of which room you play, the race is on when it comes to finding the cure!
The Spy
Everyone likes to imagine the exciting life of being a spy, and now with escape rooms you can experience it for an entire hour! They let people imagine themselves as someone else, which is the major appeal of spies. Add in an exciting mission with significant consequences if you fail, and you’ve got the making of a quality story!
Escape Room Examples
Most spy escape rooms have similar ideas, where you’re a spy who is investigating someone. For example, in Spy Mission you’re a trained spy who must enter the apartment of a notorious, elusive hacker. Your mission is to recover top secret government documents.
A twist on this is The Lost Spy where a CIA agent has gone missing and you must investigate his office to figure out what happened.
Finally, there’s The Agency, where you’re a spy selected for a top secret mission- so secret that little other information is known before you enter the room!
Sherlock Holmes
With an assortment of movies, television shows, and books, Sherlock Holmes is definitely one of the most popular fictional characters. Plus, his knack for solving mysteries is an easy segue into solving puzzles of escape rooms. Of course, this could be a broader theme to include all detective escape rooms. But, it appears that Sherlock Holmes as a theme is more popular than its generic counterpart.
Escape Room Examples
One of the most interesting experiences is Sherlock: The Game Is Now. A joint project between the creators of the television show Sherlock and an escape room. This immersive experience has players interacting with immersive sets and mysteries while engaging with Benedict Cumberbatch (who plays Sherlock Holmes) and other members of the cast.
Treasure Hunt
You may think this is only for pirate treasure hunts. However, it actually encompasses any experience where you’re trying to find valuable items that are hidden or locked up somewhere. So, while this does include traditional pirate treasure hunts, it also includes experiences like bank heists. Here, you’re breaking into a bank, and tomb raids, where you’re trying to steal valuable artifacts (like some of the Tomb games mentioned earlier).
Escape Room Examples
The Pirate Chamber has you aboard Blackbeard’s ship, trying to steal his treasure map in a sort of pre-treasure hunt.
Whereas in Pirate Treasure Hunt, you’re aboard a pirate ship and trying to find and steal the treasure while the crew is onshore.
Medieval
With medieval fantasies like Game of Thrones and the tales of King Arthur, it’s no wonder this made the list! Many people love this trip into our past of knights and dragons (and now, solving puzzles)! Medieval escape rooms offer ample opportunity for immersive sets and storylines that can really engage the players, despite the difference in time.
In The Chamber, Camelot is under siege, and you must find your way to escape the chamber you’re trapped in.
Medieval, on the other hand, features players as vigilantes trying to poison an evil king.
The fantasy aspect is more pronounced in Drago’s Castle, as a dragon has escaped from a storybook and you must find it within the castle and return it to where it belongs. As Ned Stark would say, “Puzzles are coming”, so you better start preparing!
Related Content
Mentioned Experiences
The City is locked down and it is up to you to find a cure for the Zombie virus.
$50 Per Player
This Zombie Escape Room spans over 10 rooms and 2 Hours at $50 per person plus tax. These are the largest Escapes in the country spanning upwards of over 3,000 square feet of playing space. All bookings are private.
In this Murder Mystery Escape Room, you take on the identity of city inspectors. As you investigate, you and your team are tasked with tracking down the notoriously nefarious Jack the Ripper.
$45 Per Player
Ripper of London is a 60 minute murder mystery escape room experience where you work a crime scene to track down the killer Jack The Ripper.
Trap Door Escape Company
Trap Door Escape Room has 4 locations: 3180 Route 611 in Bartonsville, PA in the Poconos; 60 White St. in Red Bank, NJ; 34A Speedwell Ave. in Morristown, NJ: and 77 Wind Creek Blvd in Bethlehem, PA. The Red Bank location was the first of the 4 locations, opening in the fall of 2015. Morristown followed in the summer of 2017, and Bartonsville opened during the holiday season of 2018. Wind Creek is currently undergoing construction and will be opening in September 2022.
History
The idea came to Tone Purzycki back in 2011 after he wrote a screenplay that developed into a live-streaming game. The game revolved around an actor trapped in a situation and the audience had to solve puzzles to figure out where he was trapped. The “Find Me Event” had more than 1,000 people playing over the course of several hours. After the success of several other streaming events, the idea of an escape room was born.
Location
Each location has different rooms from which to choose. Our Morristown location is home to Day of the Dead, Witch Hunt, and The Greatest Freakshow. In Bartonsville, you’ll find Cure Z, F5 Tornado Escape, Fear the Bogeyman, Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, We’re All Mad Here, and Prisoner Z. In Red Bank we currently have Everest – our first 2 story escape room. Ripper of London is also available at this location. Our pirate themed games will soon be open at Wind Creek.
Trap Door Escape Room also offers team building, streaming events, and birthday parties. For more information on any of our games, prices, and locations, explore our website or call 570-234-3366