Christmas escape room games you can play at home

For a Christmas escape room game you can start today, try Mission: Elfpossible for ages 14+, or Escape the Crate's Reindeer Games for a family with younger children. Both arrive by email. If you want a puzzle each day in the run-up to Christmas, an EXIT advent calendar spreads one adventure across 24 doors.

Mission: Elfpossible is our digital Christmas game. Our boxed games need time to ship, so the choice comes down to who is playing and when you need it.

Mission: Elfpossible, the Christmas game we make

Santa has been captured and the North Pole is under siege. A handful of elves got out and sent a request for help, which arrives as an email from pip@elf.enterprises with the subject line "THE ELVES NEED YOUR HELP!". Everything after that happens in your browser: you work through security systems, get past the defenses around the Pole, and piece together where they are holding him.

It runs on a laptop or a desktop. A phone screen is too small, and one section asks you to move a cursor around in a way a tablet cannot handle, so we would not plan a tablet evening around it. Chrome or Firefox work best. The game auto-saves at each milestone, which matters more than it sounds: if someone wanders off to deal with the turkey, they refresh the page and rejoin at whatever puzzle the group has reached.

Groups share one screen or open it on several, and you only need one copy for everyone playing together. It also works over a video call. Tanya, who left us a review, said her group "were able to include a family member via FaceTime, so that was really nice." Chris played it as a work team-building session and finished a hair under 90 minutes, which is the fast end of the range.

Mission: Elfpossible is for 1 to 6 players aged 14+, with 1.5 to 3+ hours of play. It is entirely digital, and you have at least a year to finish it.

If you need help getting the game running, email support@puzzlingpursuits.com.

See how Mission: Elfpossible works.

Why we rate it 14+ even though it is about elves

The cartoon penguins and elves in chef hats make it look like a children's game, but the puzzles are designed for teens and adults. We recommend ages 14 and up. One customer told us their 13- and 15-year-olds could not get to the end, so plan on helping younger players.

Choose it for the Christmas adventure: it has no violence or crime scene, and everyone is working together to rescue Santa. That makes it a good fit for a holiday evening with people who enjoy puzzles and would prefer to leave the murder mysteries on the shelf.

Will a physical escape room game arrive in time for Christmas?

Check our shipping page for delivery estimates to your address and the options available at checkout. Order early for Christmas, particularly for international delivery. Carrier delays can make a tight deadline tighter.

For a gift you need today, Mission: Elfpossible arrives by email. Enter your own email at checkout, then forward the game email from Pip and the Getting Started guide to the recipient. If you are giving it to people who will play separately, buy a copy for each; every copy has its own game link.

Christmas escape room games from other companies

These two options suit different holiday plans: a family game to play together, or a daily puzzle throughout December.

Escape: Reindeer Games, from Escape the Crate

Escape the Crate's Escape: Reindeer Games is an easier Christmas adventure designed for families, with parents helping younger players. Santa's reindeer have gone missing, and you work with the Elf Security Commander to find them. The game code arrives by email shortly after ordering.

Once you start Reindeer Games, you have 72 hours to finish, and you cannot play again afterward. Check its product page before planning the evening; it does not list a player count, play time or age rating specifically for this title. If your group is 14 or over and wants a longer access window, Mission: Elfpossible gives you at least a year.

EXIT advent calendars from Thames & Kosmos

If you want something physical and you are reading this well before December, the advent calendars are a good fit. Thames & Kosmos builds them as a single EXIT game spread across 24 days: each door hides a room with a riddle in it, and the answer tells you which door to open tomorrow. The Silent Storm is the most straightforwardly Christmassy of them.

The EXIT advent calendars are single-use. Check that the edition you want is in stock and allow time for delivery before December 1 if you want to open one door a day. You can also start later and catch up over a few evenings.

Does it have to be Christmas-themed?

A game set elsewhere can still make a good Christmas present. Choose a setting the recipient will enjoy, then check the age rating and play time. Our guide to playing escape room games at home explains what a boxed game involves.

What else to play at home over the Christmas week

If you have time for delivery and want something to wrap, these games suit different groups. None is Christmas-themed, so you can keep playing after the decorations come down.

Down the Rabbit Hole, our Wonderland game, is an approachable first box. It has one part, with 1.5 to 3+ hours of play for 1 to 6 players aged 12+. The illustrated Wonderland setting works well when you want an adventure without a crime story.

The Fifth Column, our 1945 codebreaking game, takes you to Manhattan just after Germany's surrender, where Nazi loyalists are carrying on with their plans. The game uses reproduced historical documents and runs across two parts, with 2 to 4+ hours of play for 1 to 6 players aged 14+.

For several evenings of puzzles, The Blackbrim Trilogy follows a private detective's pursuit of Reager Skinner through Victorian England. Its three boxes contain six parts of one story, with 10+ hours of play for 1 to 6 players aged 14+. You can also start with Blackbrim: 1876 on its own.

None of our games require cutting or writing on the materials, so whichever box ends up under the tree can be passed to another household afterward with everything intact. If none of the three fits, our other boxed games sit on one page, and we wrote a longer piece on how to pick an escape room at home gift for anyone buying for somebody else.

If you would rather try our puzzles before spending anything, the free Puzzle Archive holds fifteen puzzles graded from introductory to expert. You solve them in your browser, with tiered hints and an answer box when you want to check yourself. Ten of them are also free to print, which is a good way to keep a table busy on the day itself.

Christmas escape room questions

Can I buy an escape room game on Christmas Eve and still play it on Christmas Day?

Only if it is a digital game. Mission: Elfpossible arrives by email within minutes of checkout, so it works on Christmas Eve or on the morning itself. Any physical box, ours or anyone else's, needs to be ordered well before then.

When is the last day to order a physical game for Christmas?

Check our shipping page for current delivery estimates and order early enough to allow for holiday delays. We cannot give a reliable Christmas cutoff that applies to every address and shipping method. If the date is close, choose a digital game.

Is Mission: Elfpossible suitable for children?

We recommend ages 14 and up. The setting has no violence or crime scene, but the puzzles are designed for teens and adults. One customer reported that their 13- and 15-year-olds could not finish it. For younger children, look at Escape the Crate's Reindeer Games.

What do I need to play Mission: Elfpossible?

A laptop or a desktop computer and an internet connection. A phone screen is too small, and one part of the game does not work on a tablet because it requires moving a cursor. Chrome or Firefox are the browsers we recommend.

Do we need to print anything?

No. Mission: Elfpossible runs entirely in the browser, so there is nothing to print, download or cut out. The same is true of our free Puzzle Archive.

Can we play it after Christmas?

Yes. You have at least a year to play, so it works just as well over New Year, or in the middle of January when everyone finally has an evening free.