Escape room clue generator
41 riddles and clues with answers that fit a lock, by theme and difficulty. Lock any of them in one click.
- Escape roomeasyNumeric
A date is carved into the oak shelf. The year a famous prison fell in Paris. Four digits.
Hint: The Bastille. Seventeen eighty-something.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
1789 - Escape roomeasyWritten answer
I speak without a mouth and hear without ears. I have no body, but I come alive with wind. What am I?
Hint: Shout it in a canyon.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
echo - Escape roommediumNumeric
The clock in the hall stopped when the lights went out. The hour hand points at 3, the minute hand at 9. Enter the time as four digits.
Hint: Three forty-five, no colon.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
0345 - Escape roomeasyWritten answer
I am tall when I am young and short when I am old. What am I?
Hint: It burns.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
candle - Escape roommediumNumeric
Count the legs: two spiders, a cat and the butler. Enter the total.
Hint: Spiders have eight each.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
22 - Escape roomeasyColors
Four paint pots were knocked over. Put the colours back in rainbow order, warmest first.
Hint: Red comes first in a rainbow.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
red → orange → yellow → green - Escape roommediumDirection 4
Wet footprints climb two steps, turn left, then go down one. Follow them.
Hint: Up, up, left, down.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
U U L D - Escape roomhardWritten answer
What has keys but opens no locks, space but no room, and lets you enter but not go in?
Hint: You are probably typing on one.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
keyboard - Escape roomhardNumeric
The inscription reads MDCCLXXVI. Enter it as digits.
Hint: M is 1000, D is 500, C is 100, L is 50, X is 10, V is 5, I is 1.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
1776 - Escape roommediumWritten answer
I have cities but no houses, forests but no trees, and water but no fish. What am I?
Hint: You unfold me.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
map - ClassroommediumNumeric
How far is the Moon from Earth, on average, in thousands of kilometres? Three digits.
Hint: A little under four hundred thousand.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
384 - ClassroomeasyWritten answer
Which process lets a plant turn light into sugar? One word, spelling does not need capitals.
Hint: It starts with photo and ends with synthesis.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
photosynthesis - ClassroomeasyNumeric
At what temperature does water boil at sea level, in degrees Celsius? Three digits.
Hint: One hundred.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
100 - ClassroomhardNumeric
Multiply the first three prime numbers together. Enter the result.
Hint: 2, 3 and 5.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
30 - ClassroomeasyWritten answer
The capital of Japan. One word.
Hint: Not Kyoto any more.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
tokyo - ClassroommediumNumeric
Pi, to three decimal places, without the point. Four digits.
Hint: 3.141 becomes...(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
3141 - ClassroommediumWritten answer
The powerhouse of the cell. One word, plural.
Hint: It starts with mito.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
mitochondria - ClassroomeasyNumeric
The year Columbus reached the Americas. Four digits.
Hint: Fourteen ninety-something.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
1492 - Office and team buildingeasyNumeric
Take the floor of the meeting room, double it, add the number of chairs around the big table (there are eight). Enter the result if the room is on floor 3.
Hint: 3 times 2, plus 8.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
14 - Office and team buildingeasyWritten answer
The one thing the whole team agrees on before 9 am. Six letters, brewed.
Hint: It comes in a mug.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
coffee - Office and team buildingmediumNumeric
The year the company was founded is on the plaque by the lift. Enter it. (Change this to yours.)
Hint: Look by the lift.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
2014 - Office and team buildingmediumWritten answer
One word: what the whole trail is about, and the reason nobody can solve this alone.
Hint: Eight letters, starts with team.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
teamwork - Office and team buildingmediumColors
The three colours of the logo in the lobby, top to bottom. (Set these to yours.)
Hint: Look at the lobby wall.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
blue → green → yellow - At homeeasyNumeric
The number on the oven dial when we bake the Sunday cake, in degrees. Three digits.
Hint: One eighty.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
180 - At homeeasyWritten answer
The name of the family dog. (Set it to yours.)
Hint: Woof.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
biscuit - At homeeasyNumeric
The house number on our front door, then the number of steps up to it. (Set it to yours.)
Hint: Front door first.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
1204 - At homemediumDirection 4
From the front door: straight ahead, turn right into the kitchen, then right again to the fridge. Enter the moves.
Hint: Up, right, right.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
U R R - OutdoorseasyNumeric
Count the slats on the park bench facing the pond. (Set it to yours.)
Hint: Sit down and count.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
7 - OutdoorseasyWritten answer
The tree by the gate drops acorns. What kind is it?
Hint: Acorns come from...(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
oak - OutdoorsmediumDirection 4
From the big rock: north, north, east, then south to the hollow tree.
Hint: Up, up, right, down.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
U U R D - OutdoorsmediumNumeric
Paces from the fountain to the red door. Fifteen, if you take normal steps.
Hint: Between ten and twenty.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
15 - PartyeasyNumeric
The age of tonight's birthday person, then the month they were born, as two digits each. (Set it to theirs.)
Hint: Age first.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
3006 - PartyeasyWritten answer
The song everybody sings badly at midnight on the 31st of December. Two words, no space.
Hint: Auld ...(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
auldlangsyne - PartyeasyColors
The balloons by the door, left to right. Enter the colours in that order.
Hint: Start at the left.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
pink → purple → blue - PartymediumNumeric
Count the guests in the room, add the number of candles on the cake. (Set it to yours.)
Hint: Count twice.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
42 - Escape roommediumWordle
Five letters. The only thing in the room that still gives light when the power is out.
Hint: You hold it and it points a beam.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
torch - ClassroomeasyWordle
Five letters. The third rock from the Sun, and the only one with a post office.
Hint: You are standing on it.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
earth - Office and team buildinghardWordle
Five letters. The week nobody in accounting takes a holiday.
Hint: The books get checked.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
audit - At homeeasyWordle
Five letters. It goes in the toaster and comes out browner.
Hint: A bakery sells it by the loaf.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
bread - OutdoorsmediumWordle
Five letters. It has a mouth and a bed but never sleeps or eats.
Hint: You cross it on a bridge.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
river - PartyeasyWordle
Five letters. What the piñata is full of, and what nobody admits to eating before dinner.
Hint: Sweet, and it comes in wrappers.(players can ask for it, and it shows itself after 3 wrong answers)
Show the answer
candy
Make your own lock to share
Hide a message, a photo or a reward behind a code, then send it by link or QR code. Ready in two minutes,and your players need no app.
From a clue to a trail
One clue is a moment; four in a row are a room. Lock the first clue, then in the builder switch on multi-step and add the next ones: each reveal becomes the following clue, and players move from lock to lock with one link. Print the QR code of the trail and tape it to the door.
When you need a code rather than a riddle, the lock code generator turns a date or a word into digits with the hint written; the cipher maker hides the answer in Morse or Caesar for a harder step.
Frequently asked questions
- What makes a clue work with a lock?
- Its answer has to be something a pad can take: a number, a word, a sequence of colours or arrows. "Where is the key?" is a puzzle; "the year on the portrait" is a lock. Every clue here is written with its pad in mind.
- Can I change the answers?
- Yes, and for some you should: the clues marked "set it to yours" are frames for your own house number, dog's name or company year. Press "Lock this clue", change the answer on the pad in the builder, and publish.
- How many clues should an escape room have?
- Four to six for a 30 to 45 minute session. Alternate the pads: a number, then a word, then a colour or arrow sequence. Players learn the rhythm and the trail stays fresh. The builder chains locks into a multi-step trail with one link.
- How do players enter the answers?
- On their phone, from a link or a QR code, without an account. The lock checks the answer on the server and shows the reveal, typically the next clue. Wrong answers can be retried, and the hint opens with a button or shows itself after three misses, which is how every clue here arrives in the builder.
- Can I use the Wordle clues too?
- Yes. Some clues are played on the five-letter Wordle board, which works like every other lock format: take the clue, open it in the builder, try it, then publish it.
- Are these clues free to use commercially?
- Yes. The clues are free to use in any way, paid escape rooms included. See current plans and features on the pricing page.
Free tools
Lock Simulator
Set a combination, a word or a sequence, write the question and the hint, and try the lock as a player would. Publish it in one click.
Lock Code Generator
Turn a date or a word into lock codes with the question and the hint already written: day-month, A1Z26, phone keypad, reversed.
Cipher Maker
Encode a message in Caesar, Morse, A1Z26, Atbash, Reverse or ROT13, then lock the decoded answer with its key as the hint.