Looking for a Boston escape room? We’ve done 17+ escape rooms in Boston (and surrounding cities) and update this list whenever we’re back in the area. Here are our top-recommended escape rooms in Boston (including Cambridge):
- Storyteller’s Secret – Boxaroo (2-5p)
- Conundrum Museum – Boxaroo (4-10p)
- U-Boat – Red Fox Escapes (4-10p)
- Heist – Red Fox Escapes (2-10p)
- Magician’s Study – Boxaroo (2-10p)
- Panacea – Room Escapers Boston (2-8p)
- Pirate’s Booty II: Lost Ship – Room Escapers Boston (2-8p)
- Hustler – Trapology Boston (4-10p)
- Crush Depth – Trapology Boston (2-8p)
- Retreat – Trapology Boston (2-5p)
Shoutout to local enthusiast James Cobalt for providing some local recs.
Full disclosure – We have received media-discounted tickets to some mentioned rooms.
How much are escape rooms in Boston?
For teams of four or more, Boston escape rooms will cost between $30-40 per person. Smaller groups of 2-3 may pay more on a per-person basis when they book a private game. Games generally last 60 minutes.
Can children play escape rooms in Boston?
The Boston escape room market seems relatively friendly and welcoming to children, as long as the theme is age-appropriate. Check your respective company’s website for guidance on bringing children into the game, and any requirements about accompanying adults. All companies will require an adult to sign any waivers on behalf of a minor.
#1. Storyteller’s Secret – Boxaroo
Wow! This escape room is a gem and one of our favorites out of the 300+ we’ve done. This game is ideal for enthusiasts and exceeds on all four dimensions we care about: technology, set design, storytelling, and puzzling. Storyteller’s Secret is excellent for any experienced small groups. The game is a generous 75 minutes long for a reasonable sliding-scale price and features dynamic difficulty adjustment to add in additional puzzles for teams doing well.
Some highlights are 1) the thematic rooms, each decorated elaborately with a bunch of hidden and delightful technology 2) one or more “meta-puzzles” that have you revisiting past clues to piece things together 3) a cinematic story that ties it all together. A must do for escape room enthusiasts and worth a special trip to Boston to experience.
- Opened: 2019
- Price: $40-47 per person, depending on your group size.
- Players: 2-5, private games
- Booking: https://boxaroo.me/
#2. Conundrum Museum – Boxaroo
Conundrum Museum is a delightfully-themed art gallery heist escape room (Red Fox Escapes also has a game with this theme), with each puzzle involving interacting with and understanding one or more pieces of the varied assortment of art in the museum. The environment is nice and clean, and the puzzle flow is organized and understandable.
Our favorite moments happened at the beginning and the end – there are some fun moments that we won’t spoil, but you might find them delightful as we did. This game features a narrative that’s told through what you see, not what you read. You get a scoresheet at the end that lets you compare your times with other groups that have played.
- Opened: 2018
- Price: $32-$40 per person
- Players: 2-10, private games
- Booking: https://boxaroo.me/
#3. The U-Boat – Red Fox Escapes
This is a World War II U-Boat themed escape room, and the set is fully decked out to match the theme. There is an espionage-related (and fairly developed) story that your team will uncover as you make progress in this game. There are multiple rooms, each with their own character, and plenty to do for all members of your team. The props and decor feel heavy and substantial, and supplement and complement the various interactions you will have with the set.
We especially enjoyed a particular WOW moment that showed how the team at Red Fox Escapes really thought through their set. This is a challenging game and we believe that the minimum team size of 4 is necessary, even for a team of enthusiasts.
- Opened: 2019
- Price: $34 per player
- Players: 4-10, public games
- Booking: https://redfoxescapes.com/
#4. The Heist – Red Fox Escapes
This is a neat art-gallery heist-themed game (Boxaroo also has a game with this theme) with quite a few clever puzzles that incorporate the room’s original art installations. The art installations felt like actual art pieces—they were unique, unfamiliar, and all put together helped the room feel like an actual gallery. We enjoyed the open space and the feeling of being in an art gallery, and the creative ways that the installations are used as puzzles.
We learned that the hosts have seamless ways to increase or decrease the difficulty of the game by swapping out clues, depending on the experience and size of the participating teams. We got to see some of the alternate clues that were used, and we thought that this was a well-done way to adjust the difficulty of the game. We think that the ideal team size for enthusiasts is around 3–4, although less experienced players should bring a larger group.
- Opened: 2019
- Price: $34 per player
- Players: 2-10, public games
- Booking: https://redfoxescapes.com/
#5. Magician’s Study – Boxaroo
Magician’s Study is Boxaroo’s original game, which opened in March 2016 but was closed for an extended hiatus while they made renovations. We haven’t played the renovated version (only the original), but have heard that they have added some updates and polish.
Magician’s Study features fun surprises and reveals embedded in a high-tech game. There are plenty of puzzles and teamwork-based activities for teams to do, in a decorated study with some impressive large set pieces.
- Re-opened: 2018
- Price: $32-40 per person
- Players: 2-10, private games
- Booking: https://boxaroo.me/
#6. Panacea – Room Escapers Boston
Panacea is one of the two debut rooms at Room Escapers Boston new School Street location. The game is inspired by a real apothecary that used to be in the same building. In this game, you must master the seven principles of alchemy by solving one puzzle per. Answering these seven puzzles will unlock the panacea to cure the illness that is spreading outside.
We enjoyed the lovely handcrafted atmosphere, the various somewhat apothecary-themed puzzles around the space, and the easy way to track your progress through the game.
- Opened: 2018
- Price: $30 per person
- Players: 2-8, private games
- Booking: https://roomescapersboston.com
#7. Pirate’s Booty II: Lost Ship – Room Escapers Boston
Pirate’s Booty II: Lost Ship is a sequel and upgrade to Room Escapers’ original game at this location: Pirate’s Booty. The game is in an expansive space that can fit a large group of 10. Expect fun puzzles and discoveries that should excite both enthusiasts and beginners alike.
We especially appreciate this company’s player-friendly business decisions, with guaranteed private games for groups of 6+, a generous buffer time between bookings, and a play time of 70 minutes (instead of the standard 60).
- Re-opened: 2017
- Price: $30 per person
- Players: 2-10, private games
- Booking: https://roomescapersboston.com
#8. Hustler – Trapology Boston
The Hustler is a split-team game where your team starts in two separate rooms. This Boston escape room is suitable for players who like a puzzle frenzy. The game splits up into multiple streams of puzzling and stays parallel until the very end of the game. There are lots of puzzles and lots of items to put together and make associations with throughout the game.
The set is busy and packed, and there are some nice, high-quality props, but the layout of the room easily creates physical bottlenecks for large teams (especially at the max team size). Small teams will definitely have difficulty finishing because of the sheer volume of content!
- Opened: 2016
- Price: $32 per person
- Players: 2-10, private games
- Booking: https://trapologyboston.com/
#9. Crush Depth – Trapology Boston
Crush Depth is the first game available in Trapology’s brand new 5th-floor space. This submarine set is our favorite set out of all of the games that we’ve played at Trapology. It’s a detailed and realistic space, and they’ve been able to transform what once was office space into a believable submarine.
We did, however, think that some of the puzzles were a stretch and that some of the design and puzzle choices left our heads scratching about which pieces of information or input we were supposed to use next.
- Opened: 2018
- Price: $32 per person
- Players: 2-8, private games
- Booking: https://trapologyboston.com/
#10. Retreat – Trapology Boston
The Retreat is Trapology Boston’s third game. This nighttime camping-themed game features an immersive environment suitable for small groups. The max team size is an intimate five since anything more would make the room incredibly cramped. We appreciated the wall-to-wall décor throughout the small space and how it changed (and the story progressed) as the players progressed through various parts of the game.
The game does incorporate (and warns players about) strobe lights. We thought it was somewhat overdone and uncomfortable, so we would recommend you ask your host to turn them off. Drunk Tank is another good game at this location, but we’d mostly recommend that one for beginners.
- Opened: 2017
- Price: $32 per person
- Players: 2-5, private games
- Booking: https://trapologyboston.com/
More Games
Beyond the standard escape room scene in Boston, there are all several “Quest” experiences in the Boston metro area that are quite unique. The other areas in the US that we cover have nothing like this. These experiences all have a collection of automated short “challenges” that take a few minutes each, and which you are encouraged to do again and again until you succeed (or reach your desired score). Check out:
- Level 99 in in Natick, MA
- Boda Borg in Malden, MA
- Time Mission at R1 Indoor Karting in Lincoln, RI
- Level 99 in Providence, RI
If you’re looking for even more escape rooms in Boston, there are two additional franchise companies that have multiple locations across the United States:
More Games
If you’re new to escape room games and are looking for some tips and tricks, check out our post: Top 23 Tips & Tricks to Win Escape Room Games. If you’re traveling to NYC, check out our post:
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June 19, 2017 at 7:52 am
One more room escape facility is open in Malden on June the first. They totally have 3 themes. Now they just have two themes opened which are “The secret chamber” (Egyptian Theme) and ” The Half Treasure Map” (pirate theme). Rooms are full of sensors and triggers. Puzzles are challenging but doable.
May 30, 2018 at 2:40 am
Are The Apartment and The Dig at the Boston location lame? Or decent but just not as good as Clock Tower?
May 30, 2018 at 10:07 am
They’re decent, but Clock Tower is a massive improvement on either.
November 18, 2018 at 3:23 pm
The Apartment in my mind is incredibly average, while The Dig is good, but not as incredible as the Clock Tower. I would suggest booking the Clock Tower at an unpopular time because it is worth being alone with your group to fully engage with the brilliant set, puzzles, and tech. It’s an awesome game.
September 13, 2018 at 9:01 pm
Both of Boxaroo’s rooms are great! Also liked Room Escapers Boston (Organized Chaos)
September 13, 2018 at 9:03 pm
Oh yeah! We need to add back Magicians Secrets since it reopened. We’ll be back sometime hopefully to play Boxaroos new game and Organzied Chaos.
September 29, 2021 at 12:18 pm
Price update for Boda Borg
$24 – 2 Hours
$36 – 4 Hours
October 26, 2021 at 12:43 pm
Thank you – updated!
June 25, 2019 at 7:11 pm
Glad you got to try Storyteller’s Secret, it is one of my favorite rooms in the U.S. We’ve only done a handful or rooms in Boston but based on your list, we’ve already done most of the top rooms!
January 8, 2022 at 9:31 pm
If you haven’t had a chance to try any of the Red Fox Escapes Rooms, I highly recommend! We’ve done over 15 rooms in Boston and this company tops our list https://redfoxescapes.com/
January 8, 2022 at 9:44 pm
Thank you! We actually tried them out a few months ago and they definitely deserve an addition – they will get on the next edition of this list.