Escape rooms are such a fun adventure for a group of friends or a family outing. The immersive experience allows a team of players to work together to solve puzzles, discover clues, and complete tasks to finish the game’s mission within a set amount of time. Escape games put your problem-solving skills to the test and allow you to participate in an interactive experience that feels like a video game brought to life! If you’re looking for something out of this world, consider stepping into one of these rooms with your crew. To help you decide where to go, here are the best escape rooms in NYC.
1. Haunted in Hollis Escape Rooms
For an escape room that adds some major fright to the experience, you’ll want to venture to Queens for six adrenaline-pumping options! If you attended their haunted house—which was rated the #1 scariest in New York by CBS News—then you know you and your friends will be spooked to your core at the Haunted in Hollis Escape Rooms. From surviving a runaway subway, to outwitting a twisted granny in her super creepy doll room in under an hour, there’s an escape room for everyone to enjoy.
🏨 Haunted Hotel Heist – Escape Room
🧦 Jailed! Crocs with socks – Escape Room
🎎 Granny’s Doll Room – Escape Room
📦 Mrs. B’s box – Escape Room
🚇 Stuck in the Subway – Escape Room
🏥 Hollis Hospice – Escape Room
Where: 21117 Hollis Avenue in Queens
2. CityDays – NYC Escape Room Games
CityDays Escape Room Games allow thrill seekers to see sights and landmarks in the city while working on challenges and puzzles! You can uncover a murder mystery in Chelsea or discover the secrets of New Amsterdam and the history of NYC. No matter which trail you pick, there’s bound to be lots of fun and adventure around every corner!
Depending on the trail there are specific times while others allow more flexibility on start and stop times. Head here for more info.
Where: Multiple locations
3. Mission Escape Games
Founded in 2014, Mission Escape Games is one of the country’s top escape game room companies. The rooms feature highly immersive, technologically advanced games that make the experience thrilling and lifelike. They’ve won numerous awards for their games, including the 2015 Golden Lock-in Award. Here in NYC, they offer four games at their Midtown location: End of Days A and B, Escape the Hydeout, and Cyberpunk, Carbon: 3708. Learn more here.
Mission Escape Games is open from 12 pm – 11 pm, Sunday through Thursday, 12 pm – 12 am on Friday, and 10 am – 12 am on Saturday.
Where: 265 W 37th, St Suite 802A
4. Exit Escape Room
Exit Escape Room is one of the highest-rated escape rooms in NYC. Tech experts and interior design specialists designed the rooms to create the most authentic experience possible. They offer three different games High-Speed NYC, the Perfect Heist, and Sugar Rush. They also offer packages for birthdays, corporate events, and other special occasions. Learn more here.
Exit Escape Room is open daily from 11 am – 10 pm and stays open until 11:30 pm on Friday and Saturday.
Where: 247 W 36th Street, Suite 101
5. Komnata Quest
Komnata Quest is one of the world’s most innovative and unique escape rooms and features a location in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn. They are known for their horror-themed rooms with unsettling special effects and sounds meant to heighten the tension and enhance the experience. They offer multiple games, including the City of Ashes, Hex of the Chinese Jewelry Box, and Doctor Frankenstein. Learn more here.
Komnata Quest is open from 2 pm – 10 pm daily.
Where: 104 West Street, Brooklyn
6. Brooklyn Escape Room
Brooklyn Escape Room is an escape room in Downtown Brooklyn, right near the Barclay’s Center. At this escape room, players are trapped in a mysterious home and led by a spirit guide to look for clues to help solve the puzzle. The challenging yet immersive experience is available to children eight and up and makes a fun adventure for birthday parties and other family events. Learn more here.
The Brooklyn Escape Room is open from 2:30 pm – 8:30 pm Monday through Thursday, 12 pm – 10 pm Friday and Saturday, and 12 pm – 8:45 pm on Sunday.
Where: 594 Pacific St, Brooklyn
7. Escape the Room NYC
Escape the Room was one of the original escape rooms in NYC and opened its doors in 2013. The fun interactive experience has hosted famous participants, including Madonna, Tina Fey, and Hugh Jackman, and cast members from popular movies and shows like Stranger Things and Star Wars. Escape the Room features seven different games; Jurassic Escape, Meltdown, the Dig, the Clock Tower, the Office, the Submarine, and the Home. Each has a unique theme and storyline related to its concept, offering something fresh and exciting every time you visit. Learn more here.
Escape the Room NYC is open from 12 pm – 12 am Monday through Friday, and 10 am – 12 am Saturday and Sunday.
Where: 24 W 25th Street, 8th Floor
8. Beat The Bomb
Beat The Bomb is an immersive, team-building game room in DUMBO. Billing itself at New York’s craziest team game, it offers a fun and unique twist on the game room concept. Players dodge lasers and solve puzzles to defuse a paint bomb. If they don’t “beat the bomb” and diffuse it within 60 minutes, they will be blasted with colorful paint (jumpsuits and face masks are provided). Groups can also choose between two missions, one for beginners and one for more advanced players. Learn more here.
Beat The Bomb is open from 3 pm – 9 pm Monday through Thursday, 1-10 pm on Friday, 11 am – 12 am on Saturday, and 11 am – 9 pm.
Where: 255 Water Street, Brooklyn
9. BrainXcape Escape Room
BrainXcape Room is an award-winning escape room located in lower Manhattan. Rated among the best escape rooms in NYC by many publications, BrainXscape features several different rooms adorned with movie décor for a more detailed, cinematic experience. Players can choose between three separate rooms, The Haunted Hotel, Rikers 1932, and Game of Gold. The first two are open to private groups of 2-10 players and feature the most frightening scenery and sound effects around. Game of Gold is available to groups of 2-5 players and offers a more family-friendly option. Learn more here.
BrainXcape Manhattan is open from 11 am – 10:30 pm Monday through Friday and 10:45 am – 10:50 pm Saturday and Sunday.
Where: 160 Broadway, 3rd Floor
10. Shipwrecked
Shipwrecked is a state-of-the-art amusement center in Red Hook that offers tons of family-friendly fun, including three mini escape rooms. Visitors can enjoy a round of mini-golf, arcade games, a food court, and interactive escape rooms. Choose between three different themes: Haunted, Mission: Reactor, and Temple Escape. You have one hour to play as many games as you like. However, you are allotted up to 25 minutes to solve each puzzle. Shipwrecked is excellent for families looking for a fun outing and want to try an escape room that is more suitable for younger children. Learn more here.
Shipwrecked is closed Monday – Wednesday and is open 7 pm – 11 pm on Thursday, 3 pm – 11 pm on Friday, 11 am – 11 pm on Saturday, and 11 am – 10 pm on Sunday.
Where: 621 Court St, Brooklyn
11. OMEscape
OMEscape is an interactive game room located in Midtown that offers three distinct rooms – Laboratory of Biohazard, the Penitentiary, and Room X. In the Laboratory of Biohazard, players must band together to track down the laboratory of evil Dr. Snake, a mad scientist who is developing a new neurotoxin to contaminate the city’s water. In the Penitentiary, players try to escape Saint Temple, one of the most infamous military prisons in history, using clues left by a serial killer named the Night Stalker. Room X features a time travel theme where players search for the Omega Keys to restore the time engine and return to the 21st Century. Each room offers a unique challenge and innovative storyline that will keep players engaged from start to finish. Learn more here.
OMEscape is open from 1 pm – 10 pm daily.
Where: 325 W. 38th Street
12. PanIQ Escape Room
PanIQ Escape Room is a puzzle-based escape room located near Herald Square. Each of the four games offers visitors a chance to experience the immersive exhibits from various angles. Players can choose between Moonshine Madness, Houdini’s Workshop, Pirates of the Bermuda Triangle, and Guardian of Gotham. From 1920’s speakeasies to alien pirate ships, Clue Chase offers visitors the ability to explore a fun fantasy world that blends history with the supernatural! The games are designed for 1 -10 players and must be completed in under 60 minutes. Learn more here.
PanIQ Escape Room is open from 12:30 pm – 10:30 pm Monday and Tuesday, 12:30 pm – 11 pm Wednesday through Saturday, and 12:30 pm – 11 pm on Sunday.
Where: 39 W 32nd Street, 4th Floor
13. Escape Room Madness
Located right by the Empire State Building, Escape Room Madness is a two-story facility in a perfect location. Their creatively designed escape rooms were developed by top engineers, mathematicians, and designers to create an intellectually stimulating and adrenaline-filled experience. Visitors can choose from six different rooms: the perfect crime, quarantine, nuclear annihilation, prey, masquerade, and exodus. They also offer several virtual rooms that visitors can play online via Zoom. Learn more here.
Escape Room NYC is open from 12 pm – 11:30 pm Monday through Thursday and 10 am – 11:30 pm Friday through Sunday.
Where: 38 W 32nd St, 5th Floor, Suite 500
14. The Escape Game
Welcome to the “Adventure Factory” that is The Escape Game NYC. This hub of different escape rooms is in Midtown and offers five different unique experiences to pick from. Prison Break, The Heist, Special Ops: Mysterious Market, Gold Rush, and Playground are the choices you can select from when signing up for this adventure! Their experiences are hand created by scenic artists, engineers, tech experts, carpenters, and storytellers, making them some of the very best escape rooms in NYC! Learn more here.
Where: 295 Madison Avenue
15. Escape Virtuality
Looking for an escape room with a twist? Head to this entertainment complex to experience escape rooms in virtual reality! Great for any group, you can tackle one of their 3 group escape room experiences, or have some solo fun and take on one of their VR escape games. Grab a headset and let’s get to it! Learn more here.
Where: 130 W 29th St
16. Mysstic Rooms
Mysstic Rooms does something not many escape rooms do…and that’s blending theatre with mystery. They have two different theatrical escape rooms, “Montauk Project,” an investigation into mysterious incidents around the abandoned Montauk Air Force Station, and “Ghost Light,” an immersion into the ghoulish spirits haunting the New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway during the Vaudeville era.