The 9 best escape rooms in Sacramento

Sacramento’s original escape room has three experiences that will confound your senses, all of which range high on the difficulty scale. Fortune’s Favor is the hardest and takes place in an enchanted grotto where you’ll only have clues from a mysterious researcher to escape and bring back good luck to the world. The Séance is Escape Sacramento’s most multifaceted room, integrating puzzling and atmosphere, as well as a few thrills along the way. Lastly, there’s Space Station, popular for its most abstract puzzles, which require deep thinking and teamwork. If you don’t have the maximum number of people allowed for each room, other folks may join you.

Just south of Sacramento in Elk Grove, you’ll find several adrenaline-filled escape rooms where you can play with up to 12 of your friends (and one you can play solo). Enter the Torture Chamber and try to escape from a serial killer; take part in Conspiracy Theory, a 1970s spy thriller that features a game within a game and the question of who amongst you is friend or foe; or see what happens inside of Pet Snatched, an escape room made for dog lovers where you’ll have to outwit an old granny to save your dog Fluffy.

Just north of Sacramento in Roseville is Quandary Escape Rooms where, if you’re paying attention, you’ll realize that a continuous story line connects all of the games. Sweet Revenge has an optional game-within-a-game for more advanced players where you can infiltrate as an agent, double agent, or rogue player. The Dynaline Incident takes place in a science lab and is great for those who enjoy tech-based puzzles, and The Locked In Dead pits you against zombies and can also be played solo. Choose from having the room just for you and your group or playing with people you haven’t met before.

You’ll have to escape Sacramento and drive to either Rocklin or Vacaville if you want to visit this escape room experience that allows kids under the age of 14 to participate in private experiences (as long as there’s an adult present). There are nine different rooms to choose from (across both locations), most of which are a moderate level of difficulty and include working on a case with Sherlock Holmes, being whisked away into a secret society, and getting a spaceship back to full power with the fate of the galaxy on the line. Rather than being trapped in a room, most of the experiences are about solving a mystery in order to achieve a goal, which makes them a good choice for people who might not enjoy the feeling of being trapped.

All of the rooms at this company are based on historical heroes and take place in a different time and place. Discover a cure to save mankind, enter a leprechaun’s lair, help Santa save Christmas, steal back a treasure from pirates in the early 1800s, and (coming soon) escape from Nazis without being discovered. 

There are three stories to choose from at Break Through Sac: V.I.P.E.R’s Nest, where you’ll infiltrate the VIP lounge at a casino and attempt to bring down a shadowy criminal organization; Skull and Scepter, where you’ll need to unravel a labyrinth of secrets to infiltrate a radical religious sect; and The Ninja Protocol, which takes place in a world where answers don’t come easily and you may or may not be the hero of the story. All the rooms are private and kids as young as seven can join in on the fun. 

Another spot with all private bookings, California State Escape offers four different experiences. Two of the most popular are Trespassed, a horror experience where you unlock rooms inside of an abandoned mansion, and Space Sector, which takes place inside a top-secret government lab on the moon and involves fixing a teleport machine to return to earth before the facility self destructs (this one is best for people who enjoy solving tech-based puzzles). Or choose Crematory, a challenging puzzle where you use clues left behind by murdered victims to escape a deadly fate or Wizard’s Redemption, a magical 90-minute experience with tasks encompassing potions, alchemy, history, and more.

Every detail is crucial in these three escape rooms. The popular and intense Skull Witch room traps six players inside a creepy cursed cabin while Containment Breach (maximum 8 players) is great for beginners. The Whispering Halls, a slightly scary, but not super difficult challenge lets the group (maximum 10 players) solve paranormal mysteries in an old Victorian manor before the clock strikes midnight. 

NorCal Escape Co. is about 30 minutes north of Sacramento, but is worth the drive. The room Condemned 2 has two separate paths, both with an eerie vibe and an emphasis on teamwork, but prepare to be tempted by greed and betrayal. All of the puzzles tie directly to a story about how followers of a serial killer are attempting to carry out his unfinished business and have fantastic reveals. Fox Tail Saloon is perfect for beginners and/or people who don’t like the idea of being trapped. In this scavenger hunt-style room, you’re searching inside of an Old West saloon for Billy the Kid’s fortune with only three hints from the bartender to help you out.