Escape Room Video Games: Prepare for Success in Real-World Venues

If you’re looking for a fun way to sharpen your escape room skills from the comfort of your home, video games can help bridge the gap between casual interest and confident problem-solver. The right escape room-style games can train your eye for detail, improve your puzzle logic, and even help with team dynamics. Some are solo-friendly, while others mimic the group experience with shared objectives and time limits.

Whether you’re prepping for your first in-person escape room or just want to build a stronger puzzle-solving mindset, these games offer a surprisingly effective way to practice.

And if you’re in the area, book your time at LA’s best escape room, the Escape Revolution. We would love to host you and your group.

PC and Console Games That Mirror Real Escape Rooms

Mad Experiments: Escape Room

This game drops you into a surreal mansion run by the eccentric Professor Cheshire. You’ll work with up to five other players to solve room-based puzzles across a series of story-driven episodes. The environments feature vintage science labs, steampunk contraptions, and eerie lighting that all feel at home in a real escape venue.

You can play in timed mode or a relaxed untimed mode. It’s available for PC, Mac, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.

Price: $9.99
Platform: PC, Mac, Xbox, Nintendo Switch
Website: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1201550/Mad_Experiments_Escape_Room/

Escape First Trilogy

This is a series of three escape room games designed specifically with online multiplayer in mind. Each game offers several room scenarios, including creepy asylum corridors and circus-themed nightmares. The puzzles rely on logic, object interaction, and pattern recognition, much like what you’d find in a real venue.

The design deliberately mimics the flow of actual escape rooms, with countdown timers and layered challenges.

Price: Around $3.30 each
Platform: PC, optional VR, Nintendo Switch
Website: https://store.steampowered.com/app/850450/Escape_First/

Tales of Escape

Tales of Escape focuses on cooperative play with up to six participants. Each “episode” is a standalone escape room with its own story, from abandoned mines to haunted cabins. The developers leaned into realistic room layouts and logic-based puzzle sequences, making this one of the most natural transitions from game to real-world experience.

Some rooms are free, while others come as DLC add-ons.

Price: Free starter game, additional content priced individually
Platform: PC
Website: https://store.steampowered.com/app/587860/Tales_of_Escape/

The Escaper

If you’re looking for a game that rewards sharp observation and object handling, The Escaper might be a good fit. This game includes several room scenarios that test your understanding of physics, memory, and spatial awareness. Time limits are part of the challenge, though you can also play without a timer for practice.

Price: $3.99
Platform: PC
Website: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1234520/The_Escaper/

The Experiment: Escape Room

This title places you inside a mysterious scientific research facility where you must escape using clues and logic scattered throughout the environment. The game supports solo play or multiplayer with up to six people. The puzzles mix environmental interaction with traditional code breaking and symbol matching.

Price: $3.99
Platform: PC, Xbox, Nintendo Switch
Website: https://store.steampowered.com/app/977570/The_Experiment_Escape_Room/

VR-Based Games for a Fully Immersive Training Ground

If you have access to a VR headset, these next games can help build even stronger puzzle-solving instincts. The sense of space and movement in VR closely resembles walking through an actual escape room.

I Expect You To Die (1 & 2)

This spy-themed puzzle game places you in a series of interactive scenarios where your goal is to escape danger using logic, gadgets, and environmental clues. You’ll need to think creatively—there’s often more than one way to beat a room. The humor and clever design make it highly entertaining without compromising on difficulty.

Price: $24.99 each, bundle pricing available
Platform: Meta Quest, SteamVR, PSVR
Website: https://store.steampowered.com/app/587430/I_Expect_You_To_Die/

The Room VR: A Dark Matter

Fans of tactile puzzles will appreciate this gorgeous game set in Victorian-era London. The puzzles rely heavily on mechanical manipulation, rotation, and pattern decoding. The environments are dark and atmospheric, which helps heighten your focus. Every interaction feels like something you’d encounter in a high-end escape venue.

Price: $29.99
Platform: Meta Quest, SteamVR, PSVR
Website: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1104380/The_Room_VR_A_Dark_Matter/

A Rogue Escape

This one is a little different. Instead of a traditional escape room, you’re placed inside a giant nautical control machine and must figure out how to escape by understanding its systems. You’ll pull levers, adjust valves, and interpret readouts to slowly gain control of the machine.

It’s a great option for those who want a more hands-on, trial-and-error approach to puzzle solving.

Price: $19.99
Platform: Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, SteamVR
Website: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1476100/A_Rogue_Escape/

Bonus: Explore Custom Rooms in Escape Simulator

Escape Simulator deserves special mention for one reason: its thriving community of room designers. Available through Steam, Escape Simulator lets you play developer-created scenarios or dive into hundreds of community-made rooms through the Steam Workshop. Some of the best rooms are modeled after actual escape games and created by professional designers.

If you’re trying to prep for a real venue with a specific theme—steampunk, horror, time travel—there’s probably a community room out there that matches.

Price: $14.99
Platform: PC, Mac
Website: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1435790/Escape_Simulator/

Use These Games to Build Real-World Escape Room Skills

Getting good at escape rooms is about more than solving a riddle or finding a hidden key. It’s about developing patience, teamwork, spatial awareness, and a flexible way of thinking. Each of the games listed above lets you practice these skills in a low-pressure, repeatable environment. You’ll begin to spot patterns more quickly, track clue progress more easily, and learn how to communicate ideas effectively with teammates.

Those are the exact habits that help in a real venue—especially when the clock is ticking.

When you’re ready to take what you’ve learned and apply it to a real-life challenge, The Escape Revolution has you covered. Their rooms are story-driven, detail-rich, and packed with puzzles that reward creative thinking. Whether you’re solving your way out of a shipwreck or cracking a heist in progress, you’ll feel right at home if you’ve trained with these games beforehand.

Explore your local escape room options at Escape Revolution, and book a real-world adventure you’ll actually be prepared for. Happy escaping!