DIY Escape Room At Home
Escape rooms are so much fun but can be costly or challenging if you don’t have a babysitter lined up. Have you ever considered a DIY escape room?
Staying in and creating your own DIY escape room is just as fun! Just like a traditional escape room, you work together with your spouse {and friends} to solve a whole bunch of puzzles and riddles and try to “break out” of the room you’re locked in. It’s such a fun exercise in teamwork and logic – plus a gigantic sense of accomplishment when you actually “escape.”
We’ve put our own Diva-twist on the idea of an escape room and turned it into a romantic group date night that you can DIY at home for free! Lovers, it’s time to work together to open the locked box and find the “key to my heart!”
These puzzles were pretty tricky to create, but our friend Dawn did such an amazing job helping us make sure that everything worked smoothly. Thanks Dawn!
Now, let’s get into all the details of your DIY escape room!
Escape Room Logistics
Putting together an escape room can be slightly complicated, but it is worth it for the final experience!
For starters, in order to adequately set up an escape room, one person has to hide the clues and know the final lock combination. This means that they cannot participate in solving the clues with the group, but are instead the Escape Room Guide. (This is such a fun job to have though!)
Secondly, we have provided a full set of printable clues and instructions for solving the escape room puzzles based on a PRE-DETERMINED LOCK COMBO. This means that if you have a 3 digit lock already, it can only be used for this version if you can adjust the combination to our suggested lock combination.
If you do not already have a 3-digit lock, we highly recommend grabbing this affordable lock! It will work perfectly for this game and you can set the combination to the numbers we provide.
Lastly, we also have provided alternate printables to use if you wish to use your own combination. The instructions and details are in the SECOND printable download below.
diy escape room PRINTABLES
With such a fun experience comes fun printables and all of the instructions you need to pull off this amazing group date. Here’s what this printable set comes with!
- Date Night Invitation – Print out as many invites as you need OR text a photo to your guests to invite them to a night of puzzle solving and fun!
- Background Story – This helpful explanation will give the puzzle solvers some context for what they are trying to do.
- Materials List – We have got you covered with everything you need to set up the escape room and solve the puzzles. Most items you likely already have! For convenience, feel free to grab everything you need from the helpful links below:
- Reset 3 Digit Lock
- Small lockable box – Of note, the lock that this box comes with should not be used as a combination lock is required for the puzzles provided.
- Deck of Face Cards
- Antique key
- Tape
- Glue stick
- Marker
- Scissors
- Tips for Setting Up – If you’re new to escape rooms, you will quickly see that these tips will help make the experience go that much smoother.
- 3 Exciting Puzzles – To solve the “key to my heart”, follow the instructions for setting up and hiding each of the 3 puzzles.
- Answers & Puzzle Instructions – A one-page summary of the 3 puzzles and how to set them up! This will be your best friend during the escape room experience!
- Printable Key – In case you don’t have an antique key to work with, we have provided a stylish printable key for you to hide in the locked box.
Hosting a DIY Escape Room
If you’re going to host this date night, you will want to read up on all the details in the answer key so you have a good understanding of all the puzzles and how they work.
The first step is to hide all of the clues – and there are quite a few of them! Hide them in clever locations, but don’t forget to put a few in more obvious locations, too. It’s no fun if your guests get super frustrated.
Now it’s time for your group date night to begin! Start off by reading the backstory, then have the couples work together to solve the puzzles. Keep in mind that you and your spouse could host together or you could host alone and let your spouse participate. Alternatively, you could create two rooms and let the men and women compete to see who can find the key the fastest. It might be fun to time your guests. You could even just set up one room and let different groups take turns, setting a timer to see who finds the key more quickly.
As your guests are playing, feel free to give hints. Try to come up with creative ways to hint about where the missing clues are hidden without giving away too much. You could even set a rule that each group gets to ask for three hints and then they’re on their own.
Make sure you’re familiar with the puzzles and riddles as well as where you’ve hidden the clues! Ultimately, your guests’ goal is to find three numbers which will unlock your box and give them the key. If you want the game to go faster or be a little easier, you could tell them this ahead of time.
**SPOILER ALERT!**
If you keep reading, you’ll start hearing about and seeing the solutions to the puzzles. If you are wanting to use this fun idea but NOT play host, stop reading here! If you’re ready to play host, then keep on reading…
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Still with us? Yay! So excited for you to set up the game!
Escape Room Puzzles
Puzzle #1
To figure out the first number of the lock, the guests will be searching for the “Love Clues” {first comes love…} aka the foldable cubes and glue. They will need to find the two cubes and assemble them with the glue stick. The first number of the combination is provided on the printable, but to get that number, your guests will need to add the two sets of dots on the cubes together.
Puzzle #2
In order to determine the second number in the combination, your guests will be looking for the “Marriage Clues” {then comes marriage…}. These come in the form of 2 printable rings that when found, will reveal 2 numbers that should be added together to get the 2nd digit of the lock combo. Your guests will need to find the rings and consult the rings display page to learn the values of the rings.
Puzzle #3
And to find the final number of the lock combination, your guests will be on the hunt for the “Baby Clues” {then comes the baby in the baby carriage!}. The baby clues exist within an intense baby-themed crossword puzzle that highlights certain letters once completed. These letters then point to the deck of cards (hidden in the room) that should be MISSING one card specifically. That card value is the final digit of the lock combination.
Of note, this may be the most challenging part of the escape room if your guests are unfamiliar with baby trivia. It’s up to you if you want to allow them to consult Google or not! 😉
Pre-Set Lock Puzzle Adjustments
We made a second set of printables for puzzles 1 and 2 that can be adjusted to any combination you already have. If your lock is not capable of being reset to a different combination, follow the instructions on the 2 puzzles provided in the second printable set (labeled “Puzzles for Pre-Set Lock”). Puzzle 3’s adjustment is only to remove the heart that belongs to the value of the 3rd digit from the deck of face cards.
An Unforgettable DIY Escape Room
This experience takes a bit of work, but will make for an unforgettable night!
If you’re worried you won’t have that much time, or that your guests will want things a little easier – no problem! You can easily modify these puzzles to be a bit more simple by doing things like assembling the cubes in advance (puzzle #1), putting the locked box in the center of the room, or helping them with different clues on the crossword puzzle.
Well, are you ready to find the key to love? Create this DIY escape room for your friends now!
For even more puzzle fun, make sure to check out these posts!
We love your comments
I planned this for a group of friends and us. This was a fun idea and most of it worked out great. I added a few items to make it a little easier. We weren’t able to get the red heart message, but I had already tried it and knew that. Once the puzzle was put together, I gave the saying to the team. They could then continue with the game. Thanks so much for all the hard work!
We are SO glad you had a fun time! We LOVE that you made it work for your group! Thank you so much for taking the time to let us know you enjoyed this date!! XOXO
I tried to post this the other day, but it’s not showing up, so I’m sorry if this is somehow a duplicate. I am preparing to do this escape room next weekend, and I’m having trouble with the red heart. No matter what I am putting over it (including a piece of red plastic that is designed for this from a game we have) the message is not legible. You can sort of tell that it’s there, but you can’t even pretend to read it (and that’s with me already knowing what it says!). Has anyone else had this problem? What can I do to fix it? Thank you!!!
Hi Kendyl! Thanks for reaching out to us about this issue. Can you please contact Ferren, our customer service guru, and let her know this situation? She will be able to help you right away! Ferren: divas@thedatingdivas.com Thanks so much!
I’m getting things all ready to host this next weekend, but I’ve got a bit of a problem. The heart that you are supposed to put red plastic over… It’s just that the words are so light and the red is SO dark that nothing I’m putting over it makes it readable. I even have a red piece of plastic that is designed for this concept from a game we have, and it still doesn’t make it legible. Am I doing something wrong?
Hmm, so sorry it isn’t working for you Kendyl. I just printed again and it’s working pretty well for me. Maybe you could try adjusting printer settings or make sure your ink is full? Good luck! I hope you can get to the bottom of things, it’s so fun!!
Hi, I am having trouble seeing the tangram when I’ve colored the plastic red. I’m not sure what to do! Any suggestions?
Oh, bummer! Maybe try adjusting the settings on your printer to make sure the colors are printing dark enough?! Good luck!!
Hi! This looks great! I’m having a hard time finding a lock that allows you to use 2 digits. Any suggestions? Thanks!!!
Oooo, I actually just had one lying around and have no clue where it came from… but maybe you could use three of these locker locks: https://www.amazon.com/Master-Lock-Standard-Combination-1505D/dp/B000BDB550/ (and just label each one to coincide with the number) or even some of the single digit ones and they would just need to put it as a 1 and and 8 instead of ’18’. Hope that helps!!
What a sweet gift idea! I love that!! I think this would be a little tricky to do without someone to set up and ‘lead’ the way and knowing the answers. I think your best shot would be to see if a friend or family member could come set it up for you earlier in the day and then you could work through the puzzles together for date night. If you want to play a part in it, you really don’t want to even look too closely at the printables… so it could be tough to include this one!
I suppose you could just do it for your husband but I think the fun of it is working together to solve it :\
I hope that helps a little! If you want some alternatives with elements of surprise/problem-solving, you could try the Mystery Spy Date: https://www.thedatingdivas.com/mystery-spy-date/ or the Mystery Choice Date https://www.thedatingdivas.com/mystery-choice-date-night/. Good luck!!
Ok, We will keep trying. Thanks so much for confirming I had the right download.
Of course! Seriously, just shoot me an email if I can help in more detail. Hope everyone enjoys!!
Hi Kendra! I’m so glad you’re planning to use this fun date night! Last year I had uploaded an earlier, incorrect version of the printables but those have been updated and I just double checked to make sure that they are the correct ones – and they are, so you should be all set. If you’re looking at the picture in the post, it might be confusing because the piece that goes on the flashlight isn’t turned the way that it is in the printables but it is still the correct piece. Once you cut out the flashlight piece, the side that was printed on goes IN towards the flashlight, then just try turning the flashlight until it lines up to create a “14” like on a digital clock. Hope that helps, but if it’s still confusing just shoot me an email at megan@thedatingdivas.com and we’ll get it all sorted out!
Looking to do this for a couple small geoup for my church…. I just cant figure out how the participants would know to hole punch the engagement rings… is there a clue that I am missing directing them to do so?
Nope, you’re not missing anything – they’ve just got to make some guesses to figure it out. It is a super tough clue so if you feel like your guests won’t get it, you can do the hole punching ahead of time or give them a hint when the time comes! Hope everything goes well – have tons of fun!!
So I’m having a hard time understanding where the clues are. Can you help me? Am I missing something very obvious?
Hey Marissa! No worries, this is definitely one of our more complex date ideas! The ‘clues’ are the printable pieces of the three different puzzles. So you’ll hide each of those pieces around the room. Your guests will need to find the pieces and figure out how they come together and what to do with those clues to reveal the ‘answer.’ As each puzzle is solved, a number is revealed as the answer and they’ll use those three numbers to unlock the box! Hope that helps, but if you have more questions, just let me know!! Have fun and good luck!
I forgot to get back you before now and we didn’t take any pictures. I’ve never been to a real escape room but I figure the experience was similar in that people were anxious to find the answers to the puzzles which put everyone a little on edge because everyone wanted so badly to “win” the game. When it was frustrating for our participants and they seemed to be up against a mental wall, everyone would start to look at me with “help” in their eyes, but after a few clues at different times, they got the box unlocked and found their prizes (I added caramels to the box to add to their “treasure”). Even though they admitted it was frustrating during the game, they all definitely enjoyed it! Thanks again for such a cool evening 🙂
Oh, I’m sad we don’t get to see pictures but I’m so glad it worked out!! I LOVE the idea of adding a ‘treasure’ to the box – so creative!
Ah-ha! That picture makes so much more sense! Thanks for looking into it so quickly. Since no one is getting the invitation in advance, I’m planning on handing each participant an envelope, when they get here, with the invite and one of the puzzle pieces that I’d normally hide so that they can see what they’ll be looking for. It will be a little different since no one is coming expecting to do anything like this, but I’m hoping they’ll be excited as soon as it becomes clear that we’re doing it! Thanks for having the print outs to do it, and I’ll try to remember to let you know how it went 🙂
Perfect! Sounds like you’ve got an awesome plan. Have fun!!
Hey Megan! I LOVE this idea and am planning on doing it this Sunday night for our family dinner (my husband and I try to get all our siblings and their spouses together once a month for dinner and this week it is it our place). I have printed and cut out everything as directed and tonight I was trying to see how it all worked out, but I cannot for the life of me figure out how to line up the flashlight and the cutout cover with the heart shaped lock picture to reveal the number “14” as the answer key suggests. I’m feeling pretty dumb about now, but if you could give me any direction as to how that puzzle works itself out, that would be super helpful to be able to pass on to my family if they get stuck as well this weekend! I cannot WAIT to see what this event will look like!
Oh my goodness Sarah! I’m so glad to hear you’re going to do this soon – that sounds so exciting!! I am SO sorry, it looks like I accidentally uploaded an earlier version of the printable, not the most updated one. Thanks for bringing it to my attention! I’ve switched it out for the correct one, so you’ll have to print that page again (sorry about that!) but it should work perfectly now! If you’re still having trouble though, definitely let me know—I’d be glad to help figure it out! We’d love to hear how it goes and even see pics if you snap a few!!
We’ve done one “escape room” and LOVED it!! We got out with 2 minutes to spare! We’re doing another one this weekend. I can’t WAIT!
GAH! I don’t wanna read it because we want to do one when my siblings come in town for Thanksgiving! I found one of these pretty close to our house… SO excited!!!
We LOVE doing escape rooms for date night! I never even thought to do my own (it is complicated!) Thank you for taking the work out of this! It looks so fun!