Escape rooms have existed for years but have recently begun to increase in popularity—and for good reason!
They can be intellectually challenging and highly engaging, and best of all, they tend to require some serious teamwork, making them ideal outings for friends or family.
So, if you’re looking for the perfect plan for a unique occasion that calls for an activity fit for a small group, one of these escape rooms around the District will be a definite crowd-pleaser!
1. The Escape Game DC – Georgetown
Located in Georgetown, The Escape Game DC is one of the premier options in the District with its 6 unique escape room options and ability to host groups of up to 10 people!
- A Pirate’s Adventure – Fit for up to 8 players with a difficulty rating of 8/10.
- The Cabin – Fit for up to 8 players with a difficulty rating of 6/10.
- The Depths – Fit for up to 8 players with a difficulty rating of 7/10.
- The Curse of the Mummy – Fit for up to 8 players with a difficulty rating of 7/10.
- Titanic – Fit for up to 8 players with a difficulty rating of 8/10.
- Dr. Whack’s Elixir of Life – Fit for up to 8 players with a difficulty rating of 8/10.
The escapes are timed to be completed within an hour and have a range of difficulty, which makes this a perfect spot for all audiences.
Location: 3345 M St NW
2. Escape The Room – Penn Quarter
Escape The Room DC has three exciting themed escape rooms that are thrilling for all guests to enjoy:
- The Dig – An archeological adventure reminiscent of an Indiana Jones-type exploration fit for up to 10 people, you’ll have one hour to unravel the mystery.
- Jurrasic Escape – You and seven friends will have an hour to stop an evil corporation from cloning and militarizing dinosaurs!
- The Agency – Fit for groups of eight, this top-secret mission calls upon you and your crew to complete your task in 60 minutes or less.
Location: 409 7th St NW
3. Escape The Room – Midtown / Golden Triangle
The second location of ‘Escape The Room DC’ in the District currently hosts even more chances for fun than the location we listed above, with four total themed escape rooms (of which three are unique to this location).
- The Agency – The same theme and design featured in their Penn Quarter location.
- The Submarine – Race against the clock with seven other friends to outsmart the submarine’s insane captain and rise to the surface before your oxygen runs out.
- Western Bank Heist – You and seven other compatriots have to outsmart the local sheriff and his deputies to escape the law in under an hour after robbing an old Western bank.
- Outbreak – You and seven team members have 60 minutes to prevent a pandemic by figuring out how to create a cure to stop a mad scientist’s plan to poison the US’s water supply!
Location: 1720 I St NW
4. The Escape Game DC – Penn Quarter
The Escape Game DC’s other location can be found in Penn Quarter where you’ll find a few themed escape rooms that aren’t currently available at their Georgetown location.
Those include:
- Prison Break – Fit for up to 8 players with a difficulty rating of 9/10.
- The Depths – The same theme and design available at their Georgetown location.
- Special Ops: Mysterious Market – Fit for up to 8 players with a difficulty rating of 8/10.
- The Heist – Fit for up to 8 players with a difficulty rating of 8/10.
Location: 950 F St NW Suite 106
5. Beat the Bomb DC
The stakes are higher than ever at Beat the Bomb with its three unique experiences each with different missions that literally “Go Boom” if you don’t accomplish them in time.
While not your typical escape room, each of the three experiences has five unique rooms with unique challenges that must be completed within an hour to avoid being caught in the ‘explosion’.
Fortunately, you’ll be covered with a protective hazmat suit before you go in so the only thing that might get stained or damaged is your ego!
- Paint Bomb Mission – Four to six players have an hour to solve each room’s mission or risk being splatted by a massive paint bomb!
- Hack Attack
- Lazer Maze
- Echo Chamber
- Floor Grid
- Cyberbot
- Foam Bomb Mission – Four to six players have an hour to solve each room’s mission or risk being splatted by a massive foam bomb!
- Sequencer
- Crypto Laser
- Mad Dash
- Low Battery
- Block Monster
- Slime Bomb Mission – Four to six players have an hour to solve each room’s mission or risk being splatted by a massive slime bomb!
- Space Junk
- Laser Vault
- Word Bank
- Avoidance
- Meltdown
Location: 2005 Hecht Ave NE
6. Insomnia Escape Room DC
DC’s Insomnia Escape Room is a great option for challenging puzzles for groups that consider themselves escape room veterans!
There are currently five escape room options for you to choose from, some even incorporating technology like VR and AR puzzles:
- Dungeon Things – Two to ten players with a difficulty rating of 8/10.
- The Mafia – Two to nine players with a difficulty rating of 7/10.
- The Alchemist – Two to eight players with a difficulty rating of 9/10.
- Oblivion – Two to eight players with a difficulty rating of 6/10 but with a techy twist.
- The Patient – Two to nine players with a difficulty rating of 10/10.
Location: 2300 Wisconsin Ave NW #200b
7. Escape Room Live – Old Town Alexandria
Located right on one of the most beautiful streets in the world in Old Town Alexandria, Escape Room Live is one of the best around if you are already on the other side of the Potomac River!
Currently, there are four unique themed escape rooms listed on their website for you to choose from:
- The Wizard’s Apothecary – Up to eight players with a difficulty rating of 6/10.
- Sherlock Holmes: A Matter of Time – Up to eight players with a difficulty rating of 7/10.
- Edgar Allen Poe: Poe-ranormal Activity – Up to eight players with a difficulty rating of 8/10.
- Sherlock Holmes: Bomb’s Away – Up to six players with a difficulty rating of 7/10.
Location: 814 King St 2nd floor, Alexandria, VA
8. Escapology – National Harbor
With eight uniquely themed escape rooms, Escapology might be one of the best escape room destinations in the DMV area if you have the time and ability to make the trek there.
- Scooby-Doo and the Spooky Castle Adventure – Help Mystery Inc. solve the case of the missing Baroness and identify who’s behind the case of the monsters, ghouls, and ghosts that have been haunting the small town around this spooky castle!
- Batman: The Dark Knight Challenge – Take on this training program designed by the Dark Knight himself to prove to him that you have what it takes to be one of the first lines of defense against crime and injustice in Gotham City!
- A Pirate’s Curse – You’ll have just one hour to break the curse that traps the souls of those who find themselves aboard the abandoned pirate ship known as ‘The Soul Catcher’.
- Lost City – After finding yourselves locked in the temple of an ancient lost city, you have just 60 minutes to prove your worth to the angered spirits that you awoke when you entered!
- Mansion Murder – As the sole heir to a grand fortune, prove your innocence when your grandfather is suddenly found murdered in the library during a major family gathering and, if you can, uncover who was actually behind the crime!
- 7 Deadly Sins – Tasked with finding the hidden crypt in the haunted Crickley Church, you have just 60 minutes to find a fabled dagger and use it to stop the evil minister’s haunting spirit.
- Who Stole Mona? – Having tracked down the stolen Mona Lisa to the private collection of a ruthless and dangerous businessman, you and your team have to locate, retrieve, and extract the priceless painting without being caught by any of his security guards.
- Th3 Cod3 – As one of the FBI Cyber Crime Unit’s newest agents you have just 60 minutes to prove your innocence after finding out one of the world’s most notorious hackers “Nitr0” is setting you up to take the fall for one of his biggest crimes ever!
Location: 230 American Way, Oxon Hill, MD
9. Bonds Escape Room – Arlington
Just across the river, you’ll find another excellent escape room destination with six unique themed escape room options to choose from!
Bonds Escape Room’s Arlington location is filled with options that range from kid-friendly to adults-only fright-inducing fun!
- Death By Chocolate – Fit for three to ten people with a 4/5 difficulty rating.
- Enchanted Castle – Fit for three to eight people with a 3/5 difficulty rating.
- The Sleepover Slaughterhouse – Fit for three to ten people with a 5/5 difficulty rating.
- Saddlewood Saloon – Fit for two to six people with a 3/5 difficulty rating.
- Elven Forest – Fit for three to eight people with a 4/5 difficulty rating.
- Dr. Panic’s Asylum – Fit for Two to six people with a 3/5 difficulty rating.
Location: 2800 Clarendon Blvd suite 910, Arlington, VA
10. Escape Artist DC
Ideal for larger groups, Escape Artist DC has three unique themed escape rooms with the capacity to fit up to twelve people!
The three escape room options currently available are:
- House of Pawns – Up to ten people are tasked with breaking into a corrupt politician’s office and finding evidence to expose the conspiracy before the election closes!
- Gallery Heist – You and up to nine others must solve the case of the missing painting that’s just been stolen from the gallery by finding out who did it, retrieving the stolen art, and, finally, figuring out how to get yourselves out of the art gallery you’ve been locked in.
- Night at the Museum – A group of up to twelve people have only an hour to figure out how to repair a priceless painting that happened to get damaged while the museum manager was out of town!
Location: 720 I St SE