101 PUZZLES
FOR LOW COST ESCAPE ROOMS
For Summer Camps, Youth Groups, Recreation Centers, Home Parties, and Anyone Else Looking to Create a Low Cost Escape Room Game
Curt Jackson and Philip Drake
42. BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED
Supplies Needed:
• An object that needs batteries
.   A second object that has batteries
• Batteries
Difficulty Level: aa
Set-Up Instructions:
1. Choose something in the room that needs batteries. This could be a blacklight flashlight, an old cassette player, a remote-controlled vehicle, etc.
2. Remove the batteries.
Puzzle Play:
1. When the players try to use the device, it won't work. If they come to you and tell you it doesn't work, ask "Why not?"
2. Hide batteries around the room, in a locked box or allow players to take batteries from another object in the room like a wall clock, another flashlight, a gaming device, etc.
To Add Difficulty:
Make it so the players must take batteries from another electronic object in the room. Have a variety of electronic items that work with batteries of different sizes other than the ones they needed, giving them only one correct solution for this task.
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43. BLACKLIGHT KNOT REVEAL
Supplies Needed:
. Clue sheet on paper or a board displayed in the room .   UV ink marker (displays under blacklight)
Difficulty Level:
Oft
Set-Up Instructions:
1. As in the pictures below, write a variety of letters and nu aboard. ^ er*°n
2. Choose a 4-5 letter word for your clue. Those letters represented on the board. e to be
3. With blacklight ink, draw a squiggly line between the first 1
the word and the first number of the combo lock 'n
4. Doso with each letter of the word. For added difficulty do th' all letters and numbers.
Puzzle Play:
1. The players will need to shine a blacklight on the puzzle to which line goes to which letter and corresponding number ^
2. The word "TRAP" shines at the top of the puzzle to tell the d1 that those are the letters they should look for.
rs
CLUE WITHOUT BLACKLIGHT f	
	K        4 E 9 8
• T	A
5	P 1
U	3 ^
CLUE WITH BLACKLIGHT APPLlf n
CLUE = TRAP / COMBO = 5239
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44. CHILD-PROOF PUZZLE
Supplies Needed:
• Cabinet
• Magnetic Cabinet Lock
Difficulty Level:
Set-Up Instructions:
1. Remove tbe knob of a cabinet and install a child-proof magnetic lock in its place. It's an easy process. The magnetic knob is used to open the cabinet.
2. Place a clue, puzzle, key or lockbox in the cabinet.
3. Hide the magnetic knob.
4. Leave a clue for players that lets them know there is something they need inside the cabinet. They shouldn't be able to open it without the magnetic knob.
5. Provide a puzzle that, when solved, gives them the location of the knob.
6. Let players know not to force anything open. You don't want a broken cabinet.
You can find these locks on Amazon or stores like Walmart or Target.
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45. CHUTES AND LADDERS
Supplies Needed:
• Chutes and Ladders board and two player pieces
• Two-player game transcript displayed somewhere in the room
Difficulty Level
'       ThTgomeboard and two phj» P*"9 wiH need 10 bo dis»vcri.d somewhere in the room.
2. Players will read the play-by-play of the game and move the corresponding pieces accordingly.
3. The numbers the pieces end up on at the end w.ll be the 5-digits of a combo lock.
4 As in the game, if you land on a square at the bottom of a ladder you go up the ladder, and if you land on a square at the top 0f a slide, you will slide down the slide.
Play-by-play:
Player I rolls a 4 Player 2 rolls a 4 Player 1 rolls a 4
Player 2 rolls a 6 Player 1 rolls a 6 Player 2 rolls a 5
Player I rolls a 4 Player 2 rolls a 5 Player 1 rolls a 2
Player 2 rolls a 3 Player 1 rolls a 5 Player 2 rolls a 1
Player I rolls a 5 Player 2 rolls a 3 Player 1 rolls a 5
Player 2 rolls a 5 Player 1 rolls a 3 Player 2 rolls a 1
Player I rolls a 6 Player 2 rolls a 3 Player 1 rolls a 3
Player 2 rolls a 4 Player 1 rolls a 2 Player 2 rolls a 1
Player 1 rolls a 4 Player 2 rolls a 2 Player 1 rolls a 2
5 DIGIT COMBO 1-0-0-7-3
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46. COLOR MIX
Supplies Needed:
. Cards with two colors (or colored transparenc.es) .   A color chart like the example on the next page
Difficulty Level:
Set-Up Instructions:
1. On 3 or 4 index cards or sheets of paper, draw or print two pnnia colored circles on each one. The two colors combined will cr third color. (The two colors on the card below are Red and B]
2. Write a number on each card, as well. This will let players km! which order the cards should be placed in. w
3. Create a color chart like the one on the next page. On each color add either an arrow, letter or number. Those will be used to unlock either a directional lock, word lock or number lock. (In the example image, I have used arrows, letters and numbers as an example only. You'll probably only want to use one, not all three - unless you want to add difficulty that way.)
4. Place the color chart on the wall, in a lockbox, or hide it in a place where players will find it.
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COLOR CI I ART
f 5	r 9	*
		i 1
		2
t
7
For reference, the colors in the example above are (in order) purple, blue, green, yellow and red. A color version can be seen at summercamppw.com/puzzles-color.
Puzzle Play:
1. Using the card they found (first image), players will need to figure out that combining red and blue gives you purple. They will, of course, need to find the other four cards as well.
2. If using a number lock, 5 is in the purple block which means it is part of the combination.
3. The number 2 on the card tells players that 5 is the second number in the combination.
5
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47. COLORED CUPS
Supplies Needed:
. Solo cups (or something similar) in three different colors .   Sharpie (or colored pictures to hang up)
Difficulty Level:
Set-Up Instructions: mrllnrk 1   Take the number that opens a 3-d.g.t padlock.
' Separate the cups by color and ass.gn each color to one of the padlock number, For example if you have blue, green and red cups and the code to the padlock IS 5-7-2, you can make a stack of 5 blue cups, 7 green cups and 2 red cups.
3   Write 12 or 3 under each cup. The number 1 denotes that it's the ' first number of the lock, the number 2 .s the second number of the lock and so on. So, in our example, all the blue cups would have a 1 on the bottom, all the green cups a 1, and all the red cups a 3. 4. Place the cups around the room. You can place one or two jn lockboxes to be discovered later.
To Add Difficulty
Instead of writing the numbers on the bottom of the cups, you could give them a clue to the order of the numbers by hanging three framed pictures on the wall with the first picture being blue (ocean), the second green (forest) and the third red (fire). Add a silhouette of a cup in the corner of each image.
48. COMING SOON
Supplies Needed:
.   3 Movie Posters with opening dates
• Hasp
.   3 Number Locks
Difficulty Level:
Hasp
^^PrdTmtie posters that have the opening dates on the, (Ir theaters on December 12). The posters can be camp mov.e posters or themed to your game.
2 Hang the posters up around the room.
3 Set three numbered locks using the dates on the move posters. F0r ' example, if a poster says the movie will be out on July 14, set the
lock to 7-1-4.
4 Using a hasp and the 3 locks, secure a lockbox. An image of a hasp is above. It allows you to lock your box up using up to six padlocks. You can order one on Amazon.
5. Leave a clue that will lead players to the movie posters and their theater dates. For example, "Coming soon to a theater near you. On that day, you can open the lock."
6. On the back of each lock, write or tape a word or picture of something that can be found in the corresponding movie poster. Players will need to use this clue to figure out that the number from a particular movie poster goes to a specific lock. You could also use paper with a hole punched in it and has the picture on it. Then run the lock through it.
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r
example Posteis:
the bottom of the Indian Summer oster it says, This Year, Indian Summer Starts September 22nd! For your image, you can use a canoe, since, of the three posters I chose for these examples, a canoe can only be found on this one.
September (9) and 22nd (22) would tell players that 9-2-2 is the combination for the lock with the canoe on it.
"Two Thumbs Up!" UA^nnlyiaSgComwJvr
'■*»:Sow*, Starts 22",f "
For the Heavyweights poster, you could use a canteen as your image on the lock.
At the bottom is says, The Laughs Begin August 15. Therefore, the lock should be set to 8-1-5.
"Hilarious!
Filled Wirt, Nonsfop Laughs!"
Pound For Pound, Th« Years Moit Triumphant Corned I
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49. CONNECT 4 PUZZLE
Supplies Needed:
.   A Connect Four game of some sort with 2 different ml
(discs) ^Pi% .   Gameplay scenario written out as the clue .   Marker to mark the holes on the game with numbers
Difficulty Level:
Set-Up Instructions:
1. Each hole on the game needs to be marked with a numb
in the upper corner like the picture in the photo on the n» ^
2. Write out a transcript of a specific game being played Pa§e). players to recreate. f°r For example:
Player 1 (red) makes the first move in column 3. Player 2 (black) makes a move in column 7 Player 1 (red) column 3 Player 2 (black) column 6 Player 1 (red) column 3
Player 2 (black) blocks that vertical advancement Etc.
Gameplay continues until one player has played a piece to c
row for the win. The numbers on the holes on the board that"1"^ 4 a
with the 4 in a row will be the clue to a 4-digit combo. COrresPond
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Samp
le Game Play scenario:
column I (red) column 4 (black) uJumn 3 column 4 column 2 column 3 iiiliimn 4 column 5 column 5
10   column 2
"• column I l2- column 3 '3. column 3 '4- column 6 column 7 column 6 column -1 column 6
15.
16.
17.
18.
II
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
column 6 column 7 column 5 column 5 column 7 column 7 column 4 column 4 column 2 lo win
To Add Difficulty:
The gameplay moves above can be written in snrh ,
user has to figure out which column it goes in **
For example you could say, "Red plays in column 3 followed by black to block that vertical advance." The «roun w»„M Y . h'oup would figure out
that the Black plays in the column that will block them from winning with a 4 in a row.
Example image 1 showing the numbers that mark each hole.
# )» '• i 9 «   !# )
m * *• "5 "•
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Example image 2 shows on the previous page.
the completed gameplay of the game vvritte
^^^^
Winning code is 1 -9-4-1
(a color version can be- Been at summercamppro com/pu/z]c«s-color)
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