The Game Gal

Family-friendly games for you and yours

DIY Escape Room Kit – Science Lab Breakout

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A mysterious science corporation invites you to a private tour of their facilities—and then leaves you locked in a room! Why you? What do they want? And most importantly, how do you escape? It’s up to your and your team to find out, but the clock is already ticking…

Check out all of my escape rooms and find the perfect one for you!

What is a DIY escape room?

Escape room companies are taking off around the world, offering a unique challenge where players are “locked” in a room and have to find clues and crack codes to escape.

This Science Lab Breakout escape room kit is a download that has everything you need to host the same kind of high-suspense, realistic-feel escape room, in any room you choose. All of the planning has been done for you. You just print, prepare, and host.

Grab the downloadable package

Will this escape room kit work for me?

This escape room is designed for:

  • 3 to 10 players
  • Ages 12 and up
  • About 1 hour to complete

It would make a great:

  • Birthday party
  • Date night
  • Family reunion activity
  • Youth night
  • Corporate team building exercise

It’s a great room if you want the feel of a commercial escape room, where your guests really feel like they’re locked in a room and trying to escape (and if you don’t mind doing some reading and setup). If you want something quick and easy that only involves printing things and doesn’t require a host, it’s not the room for you.

But everything is pre-planned. If you can read, print, cut, and hide things, you can throw your own awesome escape room party with this download.

Plus escape rooms are a ton of fun! Your guests will enjoy the searching, solving, and suspense that come with an escape room, as well as those great “a-ha!” moments when they finally figure out a clue. As a host, you won’t be able to play through the room, but it can be just as fun and rewarding to watch your guests play.

Check out my newest escape room!

How does it work?

This game consists of hidden clues in a room. Most clues are printed from the download. Some clues are physical objects you will need to provide, but they are all common household objects. There are very clear instructions in the download for preparing your room, where your guests will be “locked” and where they will search for and solve clues. The combination of printable clues and actual items makes the game more authentic and exciting for your guests.

DIY escape room at home sample

What does it look like?

Setting up and hosting your room will look something like this:

“Great job on the escape room! Our teens (Jr. high age) loved it and it was really easy to set up. The puzzles were interesting enough to keep the adults helping occupied, and it took the perfect amount of time. Thanks for a wonderful product!” – Meredith B.

“I surprised a group of teenage robotics club members with your Science Lab Escape Room game this evening. Great job on the game. The kids really enjoyed it. Totally worth the $25. The clues were great, the graphics were great, the theme was great and you tied the whole game together nicely. Nice touch having the clues on the web sites. Very well written and thought out. Instructions were clear and easy to understand. I give you 5 stars!” – Chris

“Our Escape Room went really well! I think I hid a few of the clues a little too well, but for the most part they found everything and escaped. Thanks for making it something an ordinary person can put together :)” – Laura H.

“I really loved the team building aspect and the plot was so entertaining! Great way to spend time with friends and family.” – Brenn G.

“Thank you for designing such a great escape room! I used it for my sister’s surprise party, and she and all her friends LOVED it! Thank you for making this a great, easy, stress-free experience!” – Michaela E.

“We ran the easy version for our daughter’s 13th birthday party last weekend. They loved it, and they escaped in 47 minutes with a few hints. Thank you!” – John M.

“My staff loved the activity. It was a great team building activity and so much easier than trying to take them to a different town for a true escape room.” – Jenna H.

“We had the first of three days that we are doing the escape room today for employee appreciation week at work. It was fantastic! Everyone loved it! It was a huge hit and we will likely do it again next year.” – Becky A.

“It was great. Everyone had fun and it was easy to organise. Look forward to seeing if you’ll create any more!” – Terry B.

“It went great! The party was actually last night for a group of 12 year old girls. They managed to escape the room in exactly one hour and only needed a little guidance to keep them on track. It was very well thought out and the instructions were very easy to follow. Much more economical  then taking them all to an Escape Room. I will highly recommend your website to friends.” – Megan P.

“Thank you for the great game! We LOVED it! I purchased it for my 13 year old daughters birthday party and it was a huge hit! They insisted I use the hard version, so I did and used every tip provided for making it tougher, but hid a few extra hint cards for them. They ended up using 5 hint cards, and finishing in 56 minutes, even with her 2 year old sister in the room trying to ‘help.’ I was shocked they finished in under an hour! It was challenging for sure, but they had a ton of fun!” – Miranda W.

Read more reviews here.

Also find a detailed review from Andy on his DIY Escape Room blog.

DIY Escape Room Kit

Science Lab Breakout

This escape room kit lets you host your own DIY escape room at home. All of the planning has been done, you just need to print and prepare! The escape room takes place in a conference room or office, so the setting will be easy for you to recreate. There’s an involved plot with a light science fiction theme, and it will be a lot of fun for your guests!

What’s included:

  • Digital download, which includes:
    • 13 pages of high-quality clues
    • Thorough, detailed instructions
    • Printable invitations and decorations
    • Two difficulty levels to choose from
DIY Escape Room Kit Science Lab Everything Included

What you will need to do at home:

  • Print and cut the materials
  • Choose and prepare a room
  • Hide clues in the room
  • Supply these common household objects:
    • Calendar
    • Analog clock
    • Combination lock
    • Thick book
    • Paper and pens
    • Drinking glass
    • Small cup
    • Mirror
    • Metal brad
    • Masking tape
    • A way for your guests to access the Internet, such as a computer, laptop, smart phone, or tablet (or guests may use their own devices)

Purchase your Escape Room Package

Downloadable Package

$25

Includes a digital download with over 20 pages of clues and detailed instructions, all of the planning and files you need to host your own escape room.

Buy Now – $25

I guarantee 100 percent satisfaction! If you’re unhappy with your purchase, email me within 30 days and I will offer you a full refund.

I’m really excited to start releasing these new DIY escape room kits. I love escape rooms because they’re more than just a scavenger hunt or solving puzzles. It’s an immersive experience that puts you in a more real situation, increasing the excitement. Professional escape rooms are a lot of fun, but my belief is that anyone should be able to host their own escape room at home.

If you have any questions, comments, or reviews, be sure to respond below!

Also be sure to check out my Printables page for more great games to play!

Want more than one Game Gal escape room? Buy all 5 rooms at once and save 25 percent!

Anything else I should know?

The escape room download has a no-commercial-use copyright attached. You are free to download and use for your own noncommercial purposes, but please do not share the digital files, post the digital files, or use any contents of the download to host an escape room you charge money for.

Comments

  1. Hi Paige, We loved your Science Lab Breakout Escape Room… so much that my teens are asking for another to do with their friends. I didn’t see other scenarios for older teens. Am I overlooking something?
    Maria Anthony

    1. Hi Maria, unfortunately, I only have the one escape room for teens. The only other escape room I have is for kids ages 8-12. I have a couple of escape rooms for teens/adults in the works though! I hope to release them soon. I’m glad your teens enjoyed the game!

      1. We ran the Escape Room for our Girl Guides (aged 10-14) and they loved it. They are looking forward to the next one…. so please keep creating some. Having laminated the print outs, we are running it again with the older Ranger Guides (14-16) next week.

  2. If I wanted to use this for a kids summer activity, can the same printed set be used multiple times or do the escapees have to write or damage the printables? Thanks!

    1. Hi MacKenzie,
      Some clues can be used again, and some are designed to be written on. But if you laminate these clues and provide plenty of scratch paper for your players to write on, you could use them again and again.

    1. I recommend it for ages 12 and up. If the 10-12 year olds have adults in the room playing with them, I would say it would be OK. For 10-11 year olds by themselves, I wouldn’t recommend it. I do have a children’s escape room called Color Crisis. Hope this helps!

      1. our group isn’t quite that large, but if you could share those details with me for our group of about 50 I would appreciate it. Thank you!

        1. There are several ways you could go about it. I would divide into about 15 groups with about 10 players each. You could set up several rooms and take turns, resetting up the room between groups. Time each team and compete for the shortest time. You could also (if you have space) set up 15 rooms at once. If you don’t have 15 rooms, you can do more than one team at a time in a large room as long as the teams have their own table to work at and aren’t close enough to each other to eavesdrop. Would any of those options work for you?

      3. Would this work as a team building activity for a staff meeting for educators? A group of about 55-65 people? Can you provide me some details, please?

        1. Hi Nicole, yes, you could use the game that way. First you’ll want to divide your players into groups of about 6 to 10. Then you can either A) set up one room and take turns. Time each group and compete for the fastest time. You’ll just need to re-set up the room and replace some of the clues between teams. You could also B) run all groups simultaneously, either in their own rooms or at their own tables in one large room. Have the teams compete to see who can break out fastest. You could also do option A with two or three rooms to speed things up. Does this help?

    1. Hi Andrew, there are a few ways you could go about doing it. You could divide into 4 or 5 groups, set up one room, and take turns. Time each group and compete for the fastest time. You’ll just need to re-set up the room and replace some of the clues between teams. You could also run 4 or 5 rooms simultaneously, if you have a big building and that many spare rooms. Try to set up each room identically and have the teams compete to see who can break out fastest. Send me an email at [email protected] if you want to talk about it in more detail.

  8. I am looking for an escape room activity for a group of students who are learning English to create a lot of discussion. They have a fairly high level of English – do you think would this be suitable?

    1. Hi Cyckiv,
      Only you can say for sure. If they have a high level of English, it could work! It will definitely create a lot of discussion. I have a complete satisfaction guarantee policy, so if you download the kit, look it over, and decide it will be too difficult, just let me know and I’ll give you a full refund.

  9. Hello, I intend to have an Escape Room in French, is it possible for me to modify the language on your pages? And how many kids at the time can we have for this activity?

    1. Hi Nancie, I don’t think it would be possible to translate into French. There is a lot of text, and there are passwords for a website in English that can’t be changed. For numbers of kids, I would say 10 at the most.

  10. We just did the Science Lab escape room in my “Game Design” class in summer school for 13 5th-8th grade students. They LOVED it! I was a little worried that the difficulty would be too high for them, but older kids helped out and it worked really well. They loved the theme and we even got to do it in the actual science lab at school. The easy version worked PERFECTLY for us. I had fun setting it up and getting the kids into theme. I only wish that you had more! Thank you!

  11. Is there anyway to set it up with 7 or 8 groups of 5 students doing it at the same time in a science classroom?

    1. Hi Sharon, it could be done. Each group will need their own clues/props. The biggest concern I’d have is making sure groups can’t overhear or cheat off of each other. It would be best if each group were at their own table.

  12. are the files editable? I haven’t seen the complete package, but I am wondering if I can take your files and fit it to our conference (escape from the soccer stadium??)

  13. I did this escape room for my sons (I have two the same age) birthday party….they were turning 11. I didn’t have enough room for all 11 guests to play together, plus I thought some kids would get bored if they weren’t all doing something, so I split up the game into two rooms. In one room I had all the blueprint clues. In the other room I had all the security alarm clues. I sent one team to each room…once they accomplished the goal of that room, they all came to the kitchen for pizza while I reset the rooms. When I reset them, I added the additional clues they would need for the lock to both rooms. Then the boys switched rooms and kept playing until they escaped. I timed each team in each room and added the times together to determine the winner. It was SO fun! If I could do it again, I would hide the clues in easier places….it took the boys longer to escape than I expected (I did give lots of little hints). They really didn’t tear apart the room like I thought they would. Your files and instructions were SO organized and easy to follow. I plan on doing this escape room again with the teenagers from our church and I definitely plan on checking out your other rooms as well. Thank you for a fantastic product!

  14. Is this something that I can use part of the kit for an office retirement party? I am looking for games that people can do to figure a few things out while eating and mingling. They would not have the full time to devote to everything.

    1. I’ve never heard of anyone do it that way. You could try! You can definitely set it up that way. I’m just not sure how distracting it will be for people; if they’re easily able to mingle and play at the same time.

  15. Just finished the Science Lab Breakout for my son`s birthday, it took almost 2 hours for 3 of them (12 years old) to finally escape but they did it and loved it! They were set against using the hint cards and only used one. I hid the combination for a lock on the wall with glow in the dark paint.

  16. I just read through the instructions. I don’t want this to be too easy, nor too hard! Is it possible to use some easy clues and some hard clues? Using this with 13-14 year old boys who are all smart.

    1. Hi Tracey, yes, it’s possible to pick and choose which easy clues and which hard clues you want to use. Great question! My best advice would be to read through both the easy and hard clue instructions and use what you want from both versions to customize the game. The clue instructions also have additional ideas for making the game harder. Hope that helps!

  18. I live in Spain and I am preparing a birthday escape room for a group of 4 gifted 10 years old kids. I like your printable games and think they are perfect, but I have several questions about them:
    1. Can the printables be bought in other languages than english?
    2. If not, can the printables be translated into Spanish by me? I mean, are they made on vector documents that can be edited (for example in Adobe Illustrator) to be translated?
    3. And also, even if I can translate, are the clues too much “language dependent” so that they cannot be well adapted to another language?
    Thanks very much for your response.

  20. Hi there! I’m so excited to run this escape room with my daughter’s softball team this weekend. If I only have access to black and white printing, will that screw up the hints? Obviously I can go to a printing store if it’s absolutely necessary. Thanks.

  22. I’m looking to do this for a staff party at an elementary school. The problem is they only have about 30-40 min to play a game but the description says it takes an hour. Any chance there’s a way to make it faster?

    1. Yep! Use the easy version of the game and don’t hide any clues at all. You can also color-code the clues or group them by section to make it even easier. (This makes the most sense once you’re looking at the game. Email me at [email protected] if you want to go over specifics.) But yes, totally doable!

  23. Hi there, I want to throw an escape room birthday party for my 13 year old son and 8 of his friends. I am wondering how big should be the room for the science lab. Also for this age should I pick the easy or the hard clues.
    Thanks. Rita

    1. For this age, I would go with the easy version. As for the size of the room, as long as it can comfortably hold all of your players, any room should work. A table or a desk that can be used as a writing surface will also be helpful.

  24. Hi Game Gal,

    Can i just tell you that this has been a wild success?! The instructions are so easy to follow! I created this room for a corporate event and can’t stop singing your praises from the rooftops. You made me look like the office MVP, and I referred everyone to your site to get rooms for themselves. SO. MUCH. FUN! Thank you, and I will be back for another in the fall.

    Any ideas on possibly helping me create a multi-cultural holiday room? Happy to pay for the consult!

  26. Hi, I have been trying to purchase the science lab escape room but it times out, tried emailing but not avail. Is this still current and if so how do I purchase? Thanks Cindy

  28. Hi there, am I correct that if there was a group of say 16 then as long as you had 2 of all the items eg 2 clocks then purchasing one downloadable pack would be sufficient as long as you printed all the clues twice? Or would 2 packs need to be purchased? Thanks

  29. Hi I am looking at doing this for a corporate function. Will it be too easy for adults, as I see a number of comments around using this for school aged kids?

  31. I need four of the Science Lab Breakout kits, can I get them at the buy 3 get 1 free price? I will be doing this as a corporate team building exercise with about 32 people broke out into 4 groups. If you have any suggestions I would really appreciate it. Thank You.

    1. So the Science Lab kit is actually just a digital download. You only need to purchase the kit one time, even if you want to run it four times. You do need to print everything four times and gather four sets of props/supplies. Does that make sense?

    1. Yes, it works great for adults. It comes with two difficulty levels. The easy one is good for teens, and the hard one is better for adults. Just use the difficult version and it will be great!

  33. Hi! I’m going to work in Antarctica and would love to do an escape room for my team of 12. However, we have limited internet connection – do you have to have access to the internet to play these games? Thanks 🙂

    1. Hi Vicki! First of all, Antarctica? So cool! And yes, there is an option included to run the room without the Internet. You’ll basically be using pieces of paper and handing them back and forth to the host to take the place of the computer. It’s not as realistic, but it works just fine!

  34. My daughter and her friends had a great time with this at our sleepover last night. We did the hard version which turned out to be a little difficult for 12 year olds. I had to supply a lot of guidance.

  35. Hi! I’m looking for an escape room for 11 year old girls (birthday party for my daughter!) They are smart girls – do you think this will work? I think I read there was an “easy” version and a hard version?

    1. Yes, I think it will work! The easy version is great for teens, and I often hear from 11 and 12 year olds who do it. If they are smart girls and into puzzles and clues, I think it will be no problem for them. The difficulty level is also very adaptable; if you think even the easy version is too difficult, I’ll be happy to give you some ideas to make it easier.

  36. Hello, I am looking for a science themed Escape Room to setup at a community college. The expected players are first and second year college students with science/math back ground. Will The Science Lab Breakout work? I am very familiar with escape rooms and wouldn’t mind doing extra work to get this working. Thanks!

    1. Hi Sithy. The Science Lab Breakout escape room is really only science themed (and it’s more of a science fiction plot). The actual clues and puzzles aren’t really science-based (maybe a couple of them are; one uses the Periodic Table). That said, you can definitely add to the escape room in any way you want. For example, if one of the clues is to be hidden in the room, you could instead lock the clue in a box and code the combination however you want. It’s very easy to add puzzles (and you could base them in math and science) to make the room more difficult, especially if you are familiar with escape rooms. Does this help? Do you have any other questions?

  39. My daughter’s escape room birthday party booked at a local business was cancelled because of the Coronavirus. Could this be done via FaceTime from multiple homes? I would like to do something for her even if her friends can’t come to our house.

    1. Hmm, that’s a very good question. I’ve never done it that way, but I definitely think it could work. You might put less of an emphasis on hiding and finding clues and more on communication and teamwork. It might work best with all of the team members sitting at tables with clues spread out in front of them (as opposed to hidden around the room), or hidden in easy locations. I definitely think you should give it a shot! If you do, I would love to hear how it goes, and any details you want to share on how you make it work. I’d love to provide other customers with advice on how to do the same thing during this COVID-19 time. (I would test it myself long distance, but I test my games thoroughly before I release them and all of my family and friends have already played it!) Keep me updated!

  40. Hi there. Would this work with three people? I have a 9yo, 11 yo and my oldest is turning 13. She wants to do an escape room while we are in lock down 😊

    1. Sure! Sometimes smaller groups are actually more effective than larger groups (especially with kids). That age range is kind of young, but if they have access to lots of hints they should be able to do it.

  41. Hi! I purchased the Science Lab Breakout Escape Room kit May 2020 for my sons 12th birthday May 7th. What a GREAT time we had. This was a difficult birthday because were quarantined due to Covid 19 (as of this writing, 5/13/2020, we still are, although we are slowly coming back to normal.)

    I am a Nurse so I have been working throughout this whole pandemic. I was able to use the printer at work (with permission from my supervisor) to print out everything but, unfortunately I couldn’t print in color or on card stock. I made due and I was able to setup and play this escape room with my 9yr old and now 12 yr old! A couple of things. I didn’t see anywhere where it said how long setup might take, PLEASE give yourself a good hour or 2 to set up the room. I didn’t see if there was an option to just order all the printables printed out already, that would have been a nice option for me only because of the circumstances. Normally I would just go to the library and print whatever I need but everything and everyone is on lock-down so that wasn’t an option. Those were the only cons, and i wouldn’t even call them cons, just unfortunate issues due to current circumstances.

    We plan to set up and try again, this time tweaking everything to fit our needs. I plan to purchase more DIY escape room kits from theGameGal!! Thanks for the fun and even better the memories we created by downloading this Escape Room!!!!

    1. Thanks so much! I’m so glad it went well! Those are great suggestions, thank you. I used to have an option where you could purchase a pre-printed kit, but since I’m kind of a one-woman shop it was too time consuming to keep up. I’ll try to be more clear in the instructions on how much time to allow yourself to set up. I really appreciate the feedback! Hope you enjoy using the kit in days to come!

  43. Hi Game Gal, We are looking to purchase our 2nd escape room kit with you. A few questions: 1) For this room, can I use a small Analog alarm clock inplace of a full size clock? 2) Does the calendar need to be current year, can we print our own calendar? 3) How many metal brads are needed? Thanks.

    1. Great questions, thanks for asking! 1) Yep, a small analog clock will work just fine. 2) A calendar from any year will work! You can print your own, too. It just needs to have the month of December. 3) One brad is needed. Hope that clears things up!

  44. Hi,
    I am trying to decide between this one or the Color Crisis one for a small group of bright kids ages 9-12. Which would be the best? I want it to be quite challenging but not so challenging that they get very frustrated.

    1. Great question. I would recommend Color Crisis. Nine is just pretty young for Science Lab Breakout. If you need to, you can always make Color Crisis more challenging by adding steps, like hiding some of the pre-made clues in locked boxes (I can give you more ideas about this if you are interested). It should be perfect for that age range though.

  45. Okay, I ordered the Color Crisis.I would love ideas for lock boxes. I had a very hard time finding baby boxes that I can lock with a lock and it is for tomorrow. I did purchase all the other supplies and 2 locks. How could I incorporate them easily?

    1. You bet! Hiding clues around a room is optional. You could just as easily leave all the clues out on a picnic table, or hide them outside somewhere. It’s best if there is a defined playing area like a porch, but you could also set up a playing area with boundaries made from chalk, chairs, patio furniture, etc. The game has a plot that puts your players in a fictional room in an office building, so you can just pretend your players are in a building or alter the plot and say that your players have been left in a yard (or porch, etc.) instead. Does this help?

  47. Hi i purchased the science escape room download a couple of months ago and I can’t find the email now in my inbox. Can you please confirm which email it would have come from ?

    1. Hi Raven,
      I would set aside two to three hours to read over the game and print and prepare the supplies. Setting up the room depends on how much you’re clearing out or decorating, but I would plan an additional hour for that. So three to four hours total. Hope that helps!

  51. Hello 🙂 Looking to do this for 14 and 15 year olds this summer, with as many real props as possible (locks, puzzles, moderate math) We did a corporate day (Prison break) it was great, now I want to create as real life to possible escape room for my son and 9 friends , 10 in total. Looking for ideas, We have until July to plan 🙂

    1. Hi Polly! That age range is perfect for this game. The game comes with some built-in props you provide already (a calendar, a clock, a cup, and some others). You can also work in as many extra props as you want. There are numerous clues in the game, and you can hide them in any way you want (like in other locked boxes). A fun part of this game is decorating, which is easy but gives you more opportunities to bring in physical objects that can make great hiding places. You could put all 10 players in one room together, or, as another option, you could set up two rooms and have two groups race. If you want to talk about any other specific ideas, go to my About page and use the “Contact me here” link to send me an email. I’d be happy to go over more ideas!

    1. It could certainly be done outdoors. It is a “room” so if you could come up with a contained area (like a pavilion or something) that would be idea, and there is a door that in theory is locked, but if you can adapt through those two items you should be fine.

  53. Hi! Your escape rooms look super fun, I teach English to Japanese high school students. I was thinking a escape room would be a fun activity for my English club. Which of your escape rooms do you think would be the easiest for people who aren’t fluent in English? Thanks!!

    1. Hi! I don’t know that there’s any one room that might be better than the others, but perhaps the Color Crisis one could work well because it’s minimal on written/spoken items? It’s technically designed for children, but teens/adults can have fun with it too! Hope that helps. 🙂

  54. Hi, I purchased this escape room a few years ago, and I can’t seem to find the file anymore. I have a combination lock and I can’t unlock it, because I forgot the code. I believe the code is the same one from this escape room. I don’t think I have reset the lock since doing the escape room. Is there a way I can get that code?

    1. So sorry for my delayed response! I don’t think the combination would be the same, because most spin combination locks come with pre-programed combinations you can’t change. But the one in my sample game is 01-03-29. (Or check page 64 of the book you used in the game.) I’ll resend you the game so you have it for future reference.

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