15 Best Escape The Room Styled Games, Ranked - The first knowledge sharing application in Vietnam

Players looking to challenge themselves against an “inescapable” room will find these games perfect to pit their minds against.

While real-life escape rooms are harder to come by during these trying times where cleanliness is held to a much higher degree, virtual escape games are always readily available. No matter what console, computer, or mobile device, there are a variety of great options for those that are itching for a fun, new “escape the room” adventure.

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One may think that all the games within the genre of the escape room style may be too similar due to their gameplay but the variety the genre has to offer is much more vast than one would think. Many games keep the genre feeling fresh, interesting, and most importantly, challenging.

Updated December 27, 2021, by Christine Mendoza: The popularity of the escape room game genre doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon so it’s only natural that there are tons of fans that may wanna check out some new titles to pass the time. Some of these entries lean more towards a relaxing night alone with some puzzles and others are more of a fun cooperative experience to share with some friends. To keep puzzle fans up-to-date about which are the best escape room games are out there, the list has been updated with some great titles to check out while unwinding on one’s own or teaming up with some buddies.

Saw: The Video Game

Platforms
: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC

The release of the original Saw movie seemed way ahead of its time. Well before the wave of escape rooms popping up around every street corner, the original Saw film was scaring audiences with Jigsaw and his terrifying traps all the way back in 2004. Saw: The Video Game is a rendition of the misadventures of the movie’s Detective Tapp and his run-in with Jigsaw and other victims of his games.

This game may play a bit differently from the average escape room game that one may have in mind. Much like the films, the game is gritty and violent; with every dangerous new room posing new threats that make the possibility of failure a fatal one.

Rime- Room Escape Game

Platform
: PC, iOS, Android

This escape game is a great option for those that want a simple puzzle title with a bit of an eerie twist in the environment. Rime is a puzzle game that centers around the straightforward story of the player getting lost in the world of a magical book, trying to find their way out. There are a total of three different endings the player can achieve, making multiple runs worthwhile.

Rime’s clean interface makes for an easy-to-digest story and gameplay experience.

Escape F1rst

Platform
: Steam, Nintendo Switch

More often than not, two brains are better than one! Escape F1rst is a great escape game to play with friends as it is a multiplayer escape game that tests a friendship’s ability to work well together. Escape F1rst isn’t just about bonding with friends while solving puzzles, it’s about challenging them as well!

Not only can puzzles be solved in a co-op setting, but they can also be completed in a competitive mode if players want a challenge. However, for the times when a buddy isn’t ready to play, the Escape F1rst can also be played in a solo one-player mode as well.

The Birdcage

Platform
: Android, iOS

For those puzzle game fans that can’t seem to find time in their busy day to sit down and relax with some video games, The Birdcage is a great alternative. This mobile game is a quick escape game that’s great for being able to pick up throughout the day. The simplistic (yet still fun and challenging) puzzle designs are perfect for picking up on the go, when waiting for friends, or just as a little break from everyday chores.

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This escape game is a unique one as it doesn’t focus on the player finding an escape route for themselves but rather a means of escape for the beautiful trapped bird inside each intricately unique cage.

Escape Simulator

Platform
: PC, Steam

While the name of this game may be simple, Escape Simulator itself is anything but that. This game features small, clean environments to help keep the spotlight on its true star: the puzzles. This title is yet another escape room-style game that can be enjoyed alone or in a co-op mode with friends.

As for those hardcore fans that want to have a try at building a level themselves, there is also a workshop mode that allows players to make their own custom level. In addition to that, there is a community map section that allows players to play custom maps that other people have made.

OK Bob

Platform
: Steam

For those that wish for a more immersive escape room experience, look no further than OK Bob. This game is described as an eerie VR escape room experience that easily sets the tone right from the beginning. The game begins with the player swallowing a mysterious pill that suddenly takes them to their first location to begin their strange journey.

It’s clear that the player (the elusive Bob), is being coerced by cryptic notes left around his environment to solve the puzzles around him and escape. However, the mystery of the notes slowly unfolds as the game goes on and does a fantastic job of keeping the player on their toes at all times.

We Were Here (Series)

Platform
: Steam, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X & S, Xbox One

Multiplayer escape room-style games are quite rare on their own; however, We Were Here takes it one step further to stand out from the crowd with its unique two-player dynamic. We Were Here separates a team of players and keeps them in completely different locations, left to tinker with their surroundings to find out how to help their partner in the other room.

The only means of communication between the two is their trusty walkie-talkie. Both parties must work together to help solve their partner’s puzzles and what connects their rooms to help aid their collective escape.

Tiny Room Stories: Town Mystery

Platform
: Steam, Nintendo Switch, iOS, Android

In this unique point and click style escape room game, the player finds themselves traveling through a remote town to unlock the puzzles within each new room and building. Tiny Room Stories is unique within its genre as although the main character has the freedom to roam throughout the town in search of his father, each room/building holds its own secrets that must be solved in order to move on.

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The suspense of entering each new room and the eerie ghost town as a whole, all add to the feeling of being trapped in a mystery. While one could view each room as a level to escape from, another interpretation could be that the entirety of the town and its secrets is the true concealment that the player must escape from.

The House Of Da Vinci (Series)

Platform
: PC, iOS, Android

The House Of Da Vinci is set in Florence, Italy, and features beautiful architecture as the centerpiece of each intricate puzzle. The player takes the role of the famous Leonardo Da Vinci’s top apprentice, in search of their mentor in the midst of his mysterious disappearance.

The player then ventures into Da Vinci’s workshop in order to find any hidden clues or messages their mentor had left behind for them. Each room features a new puzzle that brings the player one step closer to finding out the truth behind their elusive mentor’s disappearance.

Zero Escape: The Nonary Games

Platform
: Nintendo DS, PlayStation Vita, Playstation 4, PC, iOS, Nintendo 3DS

The Nonary series consists of Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors and Virtue’s Last Reward; with the last entry being Zero Time Dilemma. The intricate story of the Nonary series spans over a wide cast of characters and truly puts the player’s wits to the test.

The stakes are high within each room the cast is to escape from as their survival depends solely on their success, decisions, teamwork, and overall relationships with one another. With the implementation of time travel and betrayal, the Nonary Series will leave players not only worrying about their success in solving each puzzle but also about who they can really trust and what brought these characters to participate in the Nonary games in the first place.

Monument Valley

Platform
: iOS, Android

Monument Valley is definitely a beautiful hidden gem; an indie title that was heavily inspired by games like Fez and is frequently compared to pieces by renowned artist, M.C Escher. Monument Valley is presented in an isometric view and follows the journey of Ida, a princess that the player controls around each environment to find the hidden passages in the architecture in order to complete each level.

Each level is comprised of impossible geometry that the player must manipulate via the unique interactions in every new environment.

Superliminal

Platform
: PC, Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch

While Superliminal may not seem like the typical escape room game at first, it definitely hits all the right boxes for fans of the genre. Superliminal is a puzzle game played from the first-person perspective set in the Pierce Institute, following the player as they test the company’s new SomnaSculpt technology developed for dream therapy.

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Superliminal’s main mechanic is the interesting use of forced perspective and the unique ability to take objects in the environment and manipulate them in order to reach each objective.

I Expect You To Die

Platform
: PC, PlayStation 4, Oculus Quest

This VR experience takes players into the lives of a secret agent, dodging and evading every death trap their cunning evil mastermind enemies have in store for them. I Expect You To Die takes its theme seriously and sets itself apart from other escape room-style games in a pleasingly aesthetic way. While many escape rooms focus on achieving a dark, eerie atmosphere to create a sense of fear and tension, I Expect You To Die is filled with colorful palettes and fun interactable items.

The VR experience I Expect You To Die (and its upcoming sequel) rigorously tests how well a player can truly take the role of a spy and sniff out every secret hint where possible.

The Room (Series)

Platform
: iOS, Android, Steam, Nintendo Switch

The Room series is one of the most prolific series that always come to mind when players are itching for a fun escape room experience. The Room is all about intricate machinery and gadgets; every clock or music box isn’t as simple as it first seems as these everyday household items can hold the solution to an entire puzzle.

The Room ironically focuses less on the entirety of the room the player is trapped in and rather focuses on fidgeting with the small intricate tinkerings of special items found within each room. Using optical illusions and ornate puzzles built into seemingly ordinary items, The Room series is one of the most detail-oriented escape room games with a great eerie vintage feel to top it all off.

Portal 1 & 2

Platform
: Steam, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

There’s no doubt Portal 1 and 2 are incredibly well-received and well-known among the gaming community but it’s not often seen as an escape room game when it easily checks all the right boxes to be one! Despite all villain GLaDOS’s taunting and mocking, Chell is forced to continue through the Aperture Science facility, solving and finding a way out of each test chamber with the help of her trusty portal gun.

While throughout the years Portal has been celebrated as an amazing puzzle platformer, its escape room aspect of it isn’t as well recognized and should definitely be considered the next time a friend asks for a great escape room recommendation. GLaDOS, Wheatley, and the beloved Companion Cube would be happy for the mention!

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