Free online escape room: the first room is on us
A free online escape room means a first room on the house, with no account and no credit card. From there, the TV becomes the room and every player holds a piece of the solution in their hand.
What we mean by an online escape room
The idea is the same as ever: a team is locked in, searches around, finds clues, solves puzzles and has to get out before time runs out. Online, the room is replaced by a screen. But the label covers very different experiences, and it pays to know which one you are after before you dive in.
The four kinds of online escape room you will run into
- Point-and-click escape games. Free, quick and solo: you click around a picture to find a key. Great for ten minutes, not for a whole evening.
- Virtual escape rooms with a host. A game master runs the session live over a video call. Very lively, but you have to book a time slot, and the price is often per player.
- Print-and-play kits. You download a PDF, print it and cut it out. Cheap and well suited to kids, but someone has to prep ahead of time, and the atmosphere depends on the organizer.
- Mystery games on a shared screen. A story, videos, puzzles: everybody watches the same screen and one person holds the mouse.
Ours builds on the last one, with one difference that changes everything: each player joins on their own phone and receives documents that nobody else has.
The TV for the setting, the phone for the secrets
In After Hours at the Museum, the TV shows the story and the museum rooms. Marcel, the night guard, talks to the team through the security cameras and over the radio. After each video, the room becomes explorable: your phone is the flashlight, you aim it at a painting, a display case, a clock, and you search.
The documents you find land on the phones, but not on all of them. The Archivist has the inventory, the Egyptologist the decoding table, the Technician the floor plan, the Musician the sheet music. Nobody can solve it alone: you have to read things out loud, compare, and put any document up on the TV for everyone with one tap.
No app, no prep
It all works in the browser. The shared screen is a laptop plugged into the TV (HDMI cable or screen mirroring), a phone mirrored to the TV, or just a laptop. A smart TV’s built-in browser often makes the 3D stutter, so plug in a laptop or mirror a phone instead. Players scan the QR code on the screen, pick a name, and the game starts. There is nothing to print or install, and no account is needed to play. If you are playing in the same living room, see our escape room at home page for the details.
Multiplayer online escape room: how many players?
Plan on about an hour and a half to get out of the museum, with 1 to 4 players. Three difficulty levels let you adjust to your team’s experience, and hints are available on every puzzle in exchange for a few minutes added to the clock. You can pause the game and pick it back up later: it is saved for thirty days.
Playing solo or as a pair? Here is how a two-player game goes. Everyone in a different place? See the virtual escape room page.
Free online escape room: the first room, then the purchase
The first room is free. You play the whole Grand Hall with your team, no account and no credit card, then decide whether you want to keep going. The full game is a one-time purchase, €9.99 (launch price until October 31, then €12.99), made by whoever starts the game, with no subscription. The other players never pay. Details are on the pricing page, and how a game unfolds is explained on the how it works page.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to install an app?
No. Everything runs in the browser, on the big screen (a laptop plugged into the TV, or a phone mirrored to it) and on each player's phone. You join a game by scanning a QR code or typing a four-letter code.
Is the online escape room really free?
The first room of every case is free for your whole team, no account and no credit card. To keep going, whoever started the game buys it once, €9.99 (launch price until October 31, then €12.99), and can replay it as often as they like. The other players never pay.
How many people can play together?
One to four players per game, each on their own phone. Anyone beyond that can follow along and search with the team in front of the TV, but only four phones can join the game.
Can I play solo?
Yes. Playing solo, you get all four roles and every document. The case is the same, you just have to connect the dots on your own.
What kind of internet connection do I need?
A regular home connection is plenty. The videos load as you move from room to room.
How is this different from a free escape game on a games site?
Those little browser escape games are solo, point-and-click affairs. This is a case that lasts 1.5 to 2 hours, with a story, a night guard who talks the team through it, 3D rooms and clues split between players: you have to talk to each other to get anywhere, just like in a real room.