Opinionated Gamers Holiday Gift Guide – Part 6 – Escape Rooms and Puzzle Games

Well, the holiday season is upon us, and it’s time to start looking for gifts for loved ones (and assorted family members too). Gamers are notoriously hard to shop for because…. reasons. We’ve polled our writers here and we’ve come up with a few lists that might help you find some gifts for that special gamer in your life. With all these lists, we will use Amazon affiliate links (and if you buy things from clicking these links, we might make a commission that help us keep the proverbial lights on here)

You can check out our previous lists at: https://opinionatedgamers.com/category/holiday-gift-list/

We have always been big fans of Escape Rooms and Puzzle games, and we think they would make great presents as well.

teg

The Escape Game

We have reviewed a number of physical escape rooms, and a gift certificate to one of these establishments would be a great gift.  I think it’s safe to say that our favorites have been at The Escape Game – you can get gift certificates here…

Reviews:  PlaygroundMission: Mars, Prison Break

They also have a number of play-at-home options including online escape room options.

They also have a boardgame – Escape from Iron Gate – which we have reviewed, and which you can get online.

nancy drew mystery at magnolia gardens

Hunt-a-Killer (play at home):

https://amzn.to/3VtqEBr

We just reviewed one of their standalone games earlier today, and they have a number of different games available now so you can find one that has a theme that matches your style.  They even have a jigsaw puzzle mystery, which could appeal to some.

They also have a subscription service that will give you a monthly installment of a six-month long adventure.  They are normally about $30/month, but appear to be on sale currently.

exit game between worlds

EXIT Games

The EXIT series from Kosmos has been one of our favorites. There are probably over 20 different adventures now, each giving you an hour of fun in a slim compact box.

We have plenty of reviews here online

This is a nice 3-game set – https://amzn.to/3ALi9K0

and you can search for similar ones on Amazon.

escape the room cursed dollhouse

Escape the Room

This series from Think Fun has some great boxes, including one that looks like a dollhouse!

https://amzn.to/3Vdwasg

Escape Room The Game – Welcome to Funland

Escape Room: the Game

This series uses a neat plastic electronic box that you fit plastic keys into.  We’ve reviewed a few of their adventures: here and here.

escape room in a box walking dead box

Escape Room in A Box

There have been a number of games in this series from Mattel , but we found the Isabel and Kira duology especially good:  https://amzn.to/3Ube3C2  

The Walking Dead version was also challenging: https://amzn.to/3F4j9vm

star wars unlock

UNLOCK

The Unlock series are games which are contained fully in a deck of cards.  These rely a lot upon visual inspection of cards, and they have a nice series for kids as well

cluebox

IDVenture

For those that are looking for more physical puzzles, the Cluebox series from idVenture is well done.  https://amzn.to/3id8R3a

They also do some great Internet requiring puzzle games – Fire in Adlerstein was a big hit herehttps://amzn.to/3F247pY

Escape Room Jigsaw Puzzles

The Quezzle series from Uniworld was so much fun to do – https://amzn.to/3GPTgAS

Ravensburger has a nice line of Escape Jigsaw puzzles – https://amzn.to/3AMlk4e

Other games we’ve tried and recommend

Surely you can find something for the puzzle lover that you need a gift for!

Until your next appointment,

The Gaming Doctor

About Dale Yu

Dale Yu is the Editor of the Opinionated Gamers. He can occasionally be found working as a volunteer administrator for BoardGameGeek, and he previously wrote for BoardGame News.
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