Online escape rooms compared: four ways to play from home
A host on a video call, a box on the table, a video game, or a group chat. What each one needs, what it costs, and who it suits.
The short version
There is no best one. They are four different evenings. We make the fourth, so read this knowing that. The prices are what we found in November 2026, and they change.
| Way to play | What you need | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| A host on a video call | A call everyone joins, a set time, a screen each | About $30 to $35 a player for the best known rooms |
| A box on the table | Everyone in one room, and one box | About $15 a box, and most boxes play once |
| A video game | A computer and a copy for each player | About $20 a copy |
| A group chat on your phones | A phone each and one link | $3.99 to $7.99 a room, for up to 6 players |
A host on a video call
This is what most searches turn up. A company runs a real room, or a version built for the screen, and a live host walks your team through it on a call. The Escape Game's remote rooms list at $30 to $35 a player.
Good for: a work team, a big birthday, anyone who wants a person in charge and a set to look at.
Less good for: a casual night. Everyone has to be on camera at the same hour, and the bill grows with every player.
A box on the table
Card and paper games that pack a room into a box. An Exit: The Game title runs about $15, takes one to four players an hour or two, and is used up when you finish, because you cut and fold the parts.
Good for: people who live together, or a night when everyone is already in one place.
Less good for: friends in different cities. The puzzle is on the table, and only the people at the table can touch it.
A video game
Co-op puzzle games built as escape rooms. Escape Simulator lists at $19.99 a copy, and each player needs their own copy and a computer that runs it.
Good for: friends who already play games together online and have the hardware.
Less good for: the group chat with one person on a work laptop and another on a phone.
A group chat on your phones
This is ours. Group Chat Escape is an escape room that works like a group chat. One person starts a room and texts a link. Up to five friends open it in their phone's browser. A game master tells the story in cards, and every phone holds a different card: a role, a clue, a piece of a code. Nobody can open a lock alone, so the group has to talk.
The game master is an AI, and every card it writes carries an AI label. It narrates. Code decides if you're right.
Good for: friends in different places who want to play tonight, with no call and nothing to install. One payment covers the room, so six friends pay about a dollar each.
Less good for: anyone who wants a set to look at or parts to hold. It is words in a chat. There is one theme so far, The Lake House, at three difficulties. And the host is an AI, which some groups will not want.
How to choose
- Everyone can be in one room: a box on the table.
- You want a live host and the budget is there: a hosted room on a call.
- Your friends already game on computers: a co-op video game.
- Your friends are spread out, and the group chat is where you already talk: a room in a chat.
What ours costs, in full
With friends, up to 6 phones: Easy is $3.99, Medium $5.99, Hard $7.99. Solo with AI teammates: Easy is $1.99, Medium $3.99, Hard $5.99. Easy runs up to 15 minutes, Medium and Hard up to 45. Haven't started your room? Full refund within 14 days. Group Chat Escape is for players 18 and up.
To see a whole game first, read How to play.
Group rooms from $3.99. Up to 6 from one link. No app. 18 and up.