As Bay Area locals, we’ve done 20+ South Bay / San Jose escape rooms and 70+ in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is most of the available local rooms.

We’re ranking our top choices here for best South Bay / San Jose escape room along with reviews and recommendations based on why you might like them too. This article is our San Jose list, please also check out our San Francisco list.

Best Escape Rooms in San Jose

  1. Excalibur – Off the Couch
  2. Sorcerer’s Sanctum  – Omescape
  3. Pandemic Zero 🔰 – Omescape
  4. Inheritance 🔰 – Off the Couch
  5. Wild West 🔰 – PanIQ
  6. Cabin 🔰 – MPower Escape

Our annotations:

🔰(beginners) – Our recommendations for beginners

Recommendations based on your group size:

  • Small groups (2-5): Excalibur, Pandemic Zero, Wild West, Inheritance, Cabin
  • Large groups (6+): Sorcerer’s Sanctum

Recommendations based on style:

  • High-tech: Excalibur, Sorcerer’s Sanctum, Pandemic Zero
  • Set-driven: Excalibur, Sorcerer’s Sanctum, Pandemic Zero, Wild West, Inheritance
  • Classic: Wild West, Inheritance, Cabin

If you book any of these games, let your host know that you heard of them from EscapeRoomTips.com!

Full Disclosure: We have received media-discounted or comped tickets to a few of these rooms.

#1. Excalibur – Off the Couch

Off the Couch is the most ambitious escape room company in San Jose, with a vast space and plans to bring a lot more games to the South Bay. Excalibur is our favorite of their three rooms currently available.

Story

King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table have long defended the realm, but now their castle seems abandoned, and new champions must arise. Explore Castle Camelot, and discover how one becomes worthy of Excalibur, Arthur’s enchanted sword.

Highlights

Excalibur is a rare 2-hour game that manages to fill its spacious castle rooms with plenty of content. The team has gone all-out with the build quality with weighty props and elaborate furnishings. The puzzles are interesting, the set is large, and there’s plenty of discovery to go around.

Quick Facts

  • Location: 1220 Memorex Drive, Suite 300, Santa Clara, CA (near the airport)
  • Staff Involvement: Staff watches remotely
  • Best for: Escape room enthusiasts (we recommend approximately 4). If you’re a beginner, check out their other rooms first.
  • Room Opened: 2018
  • Price, Size, Duration: $180-$520 per game, 2-8 players (no strangers), 120 (!) minutes
  • Make a Booking: https://offthecouchgames.com/

#2. Sorcerer’s Sanctum – Omescape

Sorcerer’s Sanctum is the latest and greatest of Omescape’s San Jose offerings, opened in May 2017 and including the most content, most number of rooms, and largest physical area out of all of their San Jose games. Omescape San Jose is in a commercial warehouse area – be careful not to let Google maps route you to the wrong parking area.

Story

You and your friends have accidentally stepped into a house occupied by great magicians. Your team work will be crucial in helping you pass through a series of magical puzzles in order to escape from the spell in time!

Highlights

This game takes part in an ample space with many rooms and plenty of content. There’s some new fun tricks from Omescape involving fun interactions with the various components of the environment, and plenty of magical experiences that will delight any group of enthusiasts. There’s lots of content, so make sure you bring your best team and go at a good pace.

Quick Facts

#3. Pandemic Zero – Omescape

Our ranking of the five games at Omescape’s San Jose location: 1. Sorcerer’s Sanctum 2. Pandemic Zero 3. Kingdom of Cats  4. Dark Altar 5. Joker’s Asylum. While this game is technically a minimum of three people, experienced room escapers will find this a fun challenge with only 2.

Story

Humanity is dying from a deadly pandemic, and you must access a secret underground laboratory to synthesize the cure and deliver it across the world. However, you must pass through the sewers to reach ths labs. Good luck!

Highlights

This linear journey will take you through multiple rooms that help progress the story. Pandemic Zero is especially appropriate for small groups who want to play together, especially since Omescape doesn’t group you with strangers. There are some high-tech surprises in this well-built and well-engineered escape room.

Quick Facts

#4. Inheritance – Off the Couch

Off the Couch has a humongous space and features three rooms and a VR game. Our ranking of their escape rooms are 1) Excalibur 2) Inheritance 3) Conspiracy. They also have an excellent VR game that might be available if you email them about it.

Story

Unlock the secrets left behind by Nikola Tesla to find his hidden fortune and earn the right to claim it.

Highlights

Inheritance is a well-made classic-style game with plenty of fun physical elements to play with. The hints are given through a cute, in-character mechanism. We appreciate the enthusiast-friendly pricing scale, where the games are all private and priced based on a sliding scale.

Quick Facts

#5. Wild West – PanIQ San Jose

Wild West is one of the newer PanIQ franchise locations. This one operates independently and features different games than the San Francisco PanIQ location. They opened with three franchised games, of which Wild West is the one with the most impressive set.

Story

You and your fellow outlaws have been locked into a jail cell in the Wild West. The Sheriff is out for a ride and left his key in his room. Now’s your time to escape!

Highlights

Wild West features a built out western-themed set. There was one particular room that we thought was lovely and true to the Western vibe. This room had a mix of physical tasks and standard escape room puzzles, and we believe it will be fun for small groups of beginners and experienced players alike.

Quick Facts

#6. The Cabin – MPower Escape

MPower Escape is a new company, opened in October 2018 in Morgan Hill. This is a bit further from San Jose itself, but we think this company is worth a trip for enthusiasts in the Bay Area. So far, they’ve opened up their first room, but more are coming!

Story

Tracking your friend’s last known whereabouts, you find yourself near a cabin deep in the Bayou. You and your team will need to search for clues and crack the codes in order to solve the mystery.

Highlights

This is a well-done classic-style escape room, with a bunch of fun Bayou-themed decorations, a variety of satisfying puzzles that involve set interactions, and a few thoughtful details hidden throughout the game. We’re looking forward to their upcoming games.

Quick Facts

More Escape Rooms

If you’re interested in more Top Escape Room lists, also check out:

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