Top 5 Escape Room Themes For Your Next Birthday Party

So, it's birthday season again. Are you looking for something particularly special this year?

How about flying your guests to Paris, for a picnic under the Eiffel Tower, complete with an eclair cake? Or maybe you could jet off to Australia for some shrimp on the barbie? Ok ok... while those sound amazing, it's not particularly practical. Instead, you should plan an escape room birthday party!

You've probably heard about escape rooms. They're a thrilling escape from reality that give you and your friends an unforgettably fun experience. Commercial escape rooms host amazing special effects and designs that transport you into a whole new world. Buuuuut they can also wreck your budget. At $30-$50 per player (plus a meal after), you're looking at several hundred dollars for a small party. At that cost, you might as well fly to Paris. You need a budget-friendly solution.

So, bring the whole experience into your home! A complete at-home escape room kit will only cost you $29. And you can use it for any sized party. 4-6 people? $29. 10-20 people? $29. An entire Mardi Gras krewe? $29 (beads and throws not included). Let's look at what that $29 gets you.

An at home escape room birthday party is more than a budget-friendly solution to planning the party. At home escape games ramp up the fun and excitement to levels not seen since man first walked on the moon! Seriously! Check out these advantages.

Escape rooms involve everyone. No wallflowers allowed. Players will need to find clues, solve puzzles, and work together if they're going to succeed. There's a role for everyone, so nobody is ever left out. Everyone will feel like a part of the team and will celebrate the escape together!

Escape room parties are new and exciting! Believe it or not, not all your friends have tried escape rooms. Even those who are familiar with escape rooms won't have experienced the unique thrill of an at-home escape party. This makes your event a one-of-a-kind party that your guests will be talking about all year!

Downloadable escape rooms scale to any size party. Just split large groups into teams of 4-6 people, and print one copy of the game for each team. Easy! The only extra cost is printing and snacks. Did you invite 400 people? Print 100 games! (And order lots of chairs and tables!)

DIY escape room parties are easy to plan and easy to clean up. Each game comes with a complete setup guide that walks you through the process, step by step. The printable escape room kits also come with editable party posters, so you can quickly and easily decorate your room. On the day, all you need to do is cut out the game pieces, put them on the table, and start the timer. Once the players are done, throw away the game. It's that simple.

Now I think I've kept you hanging long enough! Whether you're making your own or using a ready-to-play kit, here are five of the best themes to use for your at-home escape room party:

You're at a lush, elegant birthday party. Suddenly, one of the guests burst into the room - someone's been murdered! You have an hour to find the killer, or you could be the next victim! Our Envy escape game will transport you from a boring birthday into the danger and excitement of the roaring 20s!

This theme works wonderfully for an adult escape room birthday party. It's also a brilliant excuse to dress up fancy! Have everyone dress up in their 1920s duds. Don't have any? Head to the local costume store for some great, low-budget ideas. They may even have a slim cigarette holder for you.

This game forces you to play detective. Everyone loves to play detective. We're all internet sleuths these days. Envy will instantly appeal to armchair detectives and Sherlock enthusiasts alike. They'll be immersed in seconds.

A murder mystery happening at a birthday party makes a perfect theme for a birthday party. The skittish among you constantly look over their shoulder and keep checking in with friends and loved ones via text. It's almost too good!

Download Envy for a roaring good time! For $29, you can print out as many copies of the game as you like. The kit also comes with downloadable posters to help transform your house from modern chic to roaring 20s flair. You can be as creative or as simple as you like.

You descend to the depths of an Egyptian pyramid, looking for the mummy's tomb. Like Indiana Jones, you want to escape alive, with the treasure, and with your hat still on your head. If this sounds like the adventure for your crew, download Lost Mummy.

Your grandfather discovered Tut's tomb. It's been your claim to fame. Well, that and the time you won the Fourth of July hot dog eating competition. Yesterday, you found your grandfather's journal while looking for loose change under the couch. He believed there was another tomb near Tut's, but he never found it! He thinks that it holds a Lost Mummy and untold treasure. Grab your hat, fly to Egypt, and follow in his footsteps. Just remember, X never, ever marks the spot. Except when it does.

While the thought of treasure is enticing, there's one teeny-tiny problem. If you fail to escape within the hour, you'll join the Lost Mummy as a permanent resident of Tut's tomb. You'll need a team to help you escape in time! You'll have to share the treasure. 

Lost Mummy works equally well for both kids and adult parties. Download the printable Lost Mummy game and posters for $29. Print it out and get ready for fun! Find a ticking clock on the internet. The sound of time ticking away will focus your team. Everyone wants to escape rich and alive! After all, there're snacks to eat after the game.

You're James Bond, Ethan Hunt, and Austin Powers rolled into one. You must break into the Warhead Antimatter Response facility, steal the weapon, and destroy the facility. Simple, right? With only an hour, you may not have time to play a baccarat game or enjoy a martini (shaken, not stirred), but you can save the resistance!

Rebel Revolt is a great escape room birthday party for players 14 and up. Adults and kids can play together. For more fun, print out multiple copies of the game and have the adults and kids compete to see who escapes first! The winner gets the first slices of pizza!

Everyone has a little James Bond in them. Who doesn't want to save the world and look suave and debonair doing it? Your friends will love trying to crack the codes, avoiding the bad guys, and destroying the facility! When they escape, they'll be ready for real CIA training.

But do you dare tell them this is a suicide mission from which other teams never returned? They may decide to watch Fraser reruns instead!

Download Rebel Revolt for your next birthday party at home. By now, you know the price, right? Say it with me — $29. No matter how many guests you have, you'll have a grand time saving the world for $29. Bond's Astor Martin costs a bit more than that, especially with Q's amazing additions!

You're ready for the zombie apocalypse, right? You have everything you need. You've found a fantastic hiding place. You and your family are safe from the initial wave, or so it seems. But you missed one critical piece! The zombies can smell the pizza in your oven and found your hiding place! Can you escape in time with the pizza intact?

No escape room theme list would be complete without Zombies. Feature Escape Room Z in your next escape room birthday party. Players 16 and over will have a blast navigating the tricky zombies and escaping alive!

Escape Room Z lends itself well to costumes. Have the party guests dress as zombies or zombie apocalypse survivors. Watch every season of The Walking Dead for inspiration. It's not wasting time if it's research.

You can decorate with posters and props. Props are easy — make a few objects look old and weathered, add splashes of blood, and voila! The zombie escape room comes to life!

You can add fun minigames to Escape Room Z. You'll need a nerf gun for this one to shoot the zombies. You can have players scavenge for resources around the house or the yard. All our games are fully customizable, allowing you to add a personal touch to your event.

Download Escape Room Z for, you guessed it, $29! Decorate the party space, invite your guests, and get to work escaping from the zombies!

Time Travel Escape Quest is great fun for a kids' party. The kids accidentally traveled back in time to the age of the dinosaurs. Then, the time machine broke. They have to fix it in one hour. It's dinner time in the Paleolithic, and they're on the menu!

This game works well for a guided, diverse experience. For extra fun, stage different parts of the game in different areas. The game requires travel to several different time periods before the players "escape" to their own time. This allows for different props and decorations in different areas.

The players aren't James Bond, zombie hunters, or F. Scott Fitzgerald in this game. They are themselves, unstuck in time and desperately trying to travel home. They'll have a blast just being themselves!

Download Time Travel Escape Quest for $29. Your players will have a great time traveling through time while racing against the clock to make it home.

These themes are tried-and-true classics, guaranteed to thrill and delight guests of all ages. 

So whether you grab a printable kit, or steal the theme for your own custom escape room birthday party, you can rest safe knowing that your event will be hot gossip for months to come!

Enjoy!