
- BGG rating
- 6.5
Escape Room: The Game – Murder Mystery
- 3–5 players
- 60 min
- Complexity 2.0/5
- 2016

2016
Rules assistance for Escape Room: The Game
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
For 3 players

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Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Escape Room: The Game is a board game released in 2016 for 3–5 players, 60 minutes per game, and ages 16 and up. Its main mechanics are Deduction, Cooperative Game, and Elapsed Real Time Ending.
Take the viral social experience of Escape Rooms to the comfort of your own home and for a fraction of the cost that you would pay! Included in this game are 4 unique 60 minute escape room puzzles that will test your cranial skills. Use images, gears, words, keys, shapes, maps and more to solve the three stages within each escape room. An analog timer on the Chrono Decoder centerpiece incessantly counts down, emitting ominous noises to create an environment shut out from the outside world. If the puzzles stump you for too long, slide a hint card into the Hint Decoder to keep your team moving. Slide 4 keys into the Chrono Decoder when you think you have the answer... but beware, if you're wrong, a precious minute will be taken from you. The 4 escape rooms vary in difficulty, designed to give any group the experience they expect and deserve. If you're craving more puzzles, Escape Room expansions will be available, but you'll need the base game first as the Chrono Decoder is essential to the experience. Included in the base game in order of difficulty is: Prison Break, Virus, Nuclear Countdown, and Temple of the Aztec Prison Break: Ten years in prison for a crime you didn't commit. Ten years of your life wasted for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, it hardly seemed fair. You know the guards will reach your cell during the rounds in an hour. Every bone in your body tells you this is the opportunity of a lifetime; you're 60 minutes away from freedom! Virus: What a time to faint! You swear you could kill your lab partner, but you know that won't be necessary. The liquid that's oozing out of the broken bottle will kill everybody in the room soon enough... Nuclear Countdown: The table is filled with all kinds of materials that send shivers down your spine. At that moment your phone rings and your worst nightmare becomes reality, the bomb threat is real! Temple of the Aztec: The stories told about the temple were numerous. Anybody that had entered the temple was never seen again, supposedly killed by vipers. But stories also spoke of the Eye of Aztec, the largest diamond that ever existed --description from the publisher This entry is for the original base game, containing the four escape rooms mentioned above. Several editions of the base game contain different combinations of escape rooms. These editions have separate entries on BGG: Escape Room: The Game Prison Break + Virus + Nuclear Countdown (Polish, Estonian, Ukrainian and Italian editions) Escape room: Το παιχνίδι Prison Break + Virus + Temple of the Aztec (Greek edition) Escape Room: The Game Prison Break + Virus + Welcome to Funland + Murder Mystery (Second English edition) 이스케이프 룸 방 탈출 게임 (Escape Room: The Game) Prison Break + Virus + Welcome to Funland + Temple of the Aztec (Korean edition) One of the escape rooms from this edition has been published separately (in English): Escape Room: The Game – Nuclear Countdown
Escape Room: The Game supports 3–5 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Escape Room: The Game is 60 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Escape Room: The Game for ages 16 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Escape Room: The Game has a complexity rating of 2.3 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Escape Room: The Game belongs to these categories: Puzzle and Electronic. Its main mechanics are Deduction, Cooperative Game, and Elapsed Real Time Ending. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The catalogue lists Escape Room: The Game as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.