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50 Escape Room Puzzle Ideas with electronics

Posted on by Daniel Stroński

Escape Room puzzles with electronics are the WOW-effect every player looks for. Electronic puzzles can be used to make amazing magical devices, ancient Aztec mechanisms, advanced space machines or spooky horror effects. Electronic Escape Room puzzles create this amazing feeling that your players will remember forever!

💡 See also our 200 puzzle ideas! 💡

In 2021, it’s difficult to find a game without Escape Room electronics. The majority of ER owners have at least a couple of electronic puzzles in their games. Where to start? Below, you’ll find fantastic ideas for puzzles you can get inspired by! We even listed a list of electronics needed to create them!

(If you already have some of our products and want to create something new, just use the Search option in your browser (ctril+F) to find puzzles with that electronics 🙂

Magical Songs puzzle idea

Players find a clue with colored music notes of two special tunes. They have to push colored LED buttons in the right sequence to “play” two different melodies that activate two different effects – LED lights and pump with a colored liquid. Each button has its own sound played after it is triggered. LED lights can be arranged in a way they point at something, and the liquid may be used for another puzzle.

What you’ll need:

Da Vinci’s Secret puzzle idea

Players are in a museum-themed room with multiple paintings on the walls. Two of the paintings are portraits (e.g. they can be Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and Lady with an Ermine) and have hidden Hands and Body sensors behind the characters’ eyes. Players get a hint that they can reveal the secret only when no one is looking. When players cover the eyes of the portraits, the UV lights around another painting light up. The light reveals a long combination written on the painting. Players have to use the code with a keypad placed on the wall nearby to solve the puzzle and open a hidden compartment behind yet another painting.

What you’ll need:

Church Bells puzzle idea

Players see 5 ropes hanging from the ceiling. They are connected to Pull-to-unlock sensors and play different sounds (chimes) when pulled. There are two variants of this puzzle idea:

  1. There is also a button that plays a sequence of different chimes. To solve the puzzle, players have to listen to every rope’s chime, then the whole sequence, and finally recreate the sequence by pulling the right ropes.
  2. Each rope has a different kind of Christian cross at the end. In the room, there is a journal describing visiting churches around the world, with photos of these churches or drawings of the corresponding crosses. Players have to pull the ropes according to the order of the journal.

After players guess the right sequence, a secret compartment opens. You can place there anything your players will need for later.

What you’ll need:

Bus Driver Conundrum

Players are in a metro/bus-themed room. There are a couple of handles for standing passengers hanging above their heads. When pulled, each handle starts playing a voice, i.e. a young girl, a teenager, an obese man, an elderly woman. Somewhere in the room, there is a picture of a row of people standing and holding the handles. Players have to match voices to these people and pull the handles in the correct order (the order of the row on the picture). Once they do that, there is a sound of metro/bus arriving at the station and a LED Display above the door changes from “JAIL” to a combination for a 4-digit padlock.

What you’ll need:

Chess Challenge puzzle idea

Players find a chessboard on a pedestal that has 3 hidden RFID sensors underneath. There is an actuator built in the pedestal. They have to find three chess pieces and solve three riddles (revealing the positions) to put the pieces in the correct places (squares). After they’ve done this, the actuator goes up and a secret compartment hidden in the pedestal is revealed.

What you’ll need:

Spooky Dead Body Trap puzzle idea

Players are exploring a horror-themed Room. There is a narrow corridor they have to go through. In the next section of the room, hidden under the floor, there is a Foot Button they will eventually step on. When they do that, the electromagnet placed under the ceiling releases a scary mannequin (before they do this, the electromagnet holds a metal plate hidden inside the mannequin), accompanied by a loud scream. The mannequin looks like a dead body. In its clothes, it hides a clue or a key to the next puzzle.

What you’ll need:

The Pattern of the Aztecs puzzle idea

Players find an old Aztec artifact in the shape of a “fire monkey” (with a flaming head, some fire-related emblems, etc.) with a magnet hidden in its base. In the middle of the room, there is a big board with holes. The board has a design similar to the one from the artifact painted all over. When they put the artifact inside each hole, it lights on or off. They have to look at the ceiling right above the board, and then look for scorched marks. Players have to light up only the holes underneath the scorched marks. After they’ve done that correctly, the puzzle opens an ancient chest with some artifacts for the next puzzle.

What you’ll need:

Ice Cream, You Scream puzzle idea

Players are trying to enter the Realm of the Dead (another room) but they are instructed that the portal opens when dying men scream in agony. Players have to scream loudly so they trigger the Noise sensor through the LED Progress sensor extension. When the Noise sensor is triggered, the LED lights chain placed around the portal is being gradually lit, diode by diode. When all the LED lights are lit, the portal opens, with a scary demonic laugh heard from the inside.

What you’ll need:

Fake Pirate Treasure puzzle idea (red herring included)

During the game, players find a pirate chest with many gold coins made of plastic and one of them made of metal. It seems they can use it in a puzzle that requires one of the coins placed in the specific place (with a Metal sensor). Sadly, all but one coin doesn’t work. Players can try every coin (and waste their time), they can try to feel which one is made of metal (it may be tricky), or they can use a gold-sniffing dog toy (with a strong magnet hidden in its nose) to attract the right coin. When the metal coin is placed on the Metal sensor, the UV LED lights chain placed around a map on a wall lights up, showing a hidden X on the map, leading to the next puzzle.

What you’ll need:

Haunted House’s Fusebox puzzle idea

In a haunted house-themed Escape Room, players find a page from a diary describing an encounter with a ghost. A young girl wrote there that the ghost messed with electronics in the house, burning the fuses – first in the kitchen, then the living room, and then in the bedroom. There is a fuse box with fuses clearly assigned to these rooms. There are three fuses missing. Players have to find them and place them in the fuse box in the right order to bring the ghost back. The ghost (which is a pre-recorded voice message and some light effects) gives a hint for another puzzle.

What you’ll need:

Fountain of Youth puzzle idea

Players have to get the Elixir of Youth (you can use water or any other safe liquid) for another puzzle. When they put an ancient container in a specific place, it triggers a Metal sensor or an RFID sensor. Then, the elixir is poured into the container (via Pump output set).

What you’ll need:

Electrician’s Conundrum puzzle idea

Players enter a dark room. They have a flashlight and there is a small electrical box. They have to use a flashlight to see the colors of wires connected to the box and connect them correctly to bring back the electricity in the room (via a Power output set). It can activate a lamp, TV screens, LED lights, etc.

What you’ll need:

Human Conductor puzzle idea

There are an inactive machine and two big cables coming from its sides. Players have to connect them together but they cannot reach each other. There is a hint-joke about people being the best electricity conductor. One player has to grab both ends of the cables (becoming a human conductor) and hold it until the progress bar on the machine is full. Then, the puzzle is won and the machine starts to work, showing hidden information behind a Venetian mirror (you can see through it when the LED lights placed around it on the other side are activated).

What you’ll need:

Supernatural Candles puzzle idea

In a horror-themed room, there are 6 candles hidden around the place. Players have to find them all and blow them out in 5 seconds. If they fail, the candles rekindle themselves and players have to try again. When all 6 candles are blown out in 5 seconds, the puzzle controller plays a long scary scream, during which four gauges on some ghostbusters-y machine in a room show different values. Players have to get all the values and for a 4-digit combination for a padlock to another room. If they forget the combination, they can repeat the whole puzzle again.

What you’ll need:

Antidote Served Cold puzzle idea

Players have a container with water but the liquid is at room temperature. There is a hint that they have to pour it into a bowl. The bowl is fixed to the table and the water (let’s call it a potion/antidote) has to be cold. Prepare a way for cooling the water down, preferably an ice cube dispenser. There is a Temperature sensor hidden at the bottom of the bowl. After players pour cold water into the bowl, the Temperature sensor triggers, and the puzzle is won. Players hear the pre-recorded voice of a cured man from a painting and after the recording ends, the painting reveals a hidden compartment behind it.

What you’ll need:

Garden Party puzzle idea

In a garden-themed room, players see a patch with some vegetables. The vegetables are in the “ground” but their top parts (made of colored rope or some other sturdy material) are visible. There is also a calendar with pictures of vegetables assigned to different months. Players have to match the top parts of the vegetables to their counterparts in the calendar and follow the order of the months to pull them (the parts that are above the ground) in a sequence. They won’t pull them out, just trigger the Pull-to-unlock sensors hidden underneath. When all the vegetables are pulled in the right order, players hear some angry crows and there is a toy in a shape of a crow that falls from the ceiling (it has a metal element inside and it’s held by an electromagnet until the puzzle is solved). In the crow, players can find some information or a puzzle element for future use.

What you’ll need:

Confused Hacker puzzle idea

There is a fake computer screen that requires a password (you don’t need an actual computer for that). In front of the screen, there is an outline of a keyboard. During the game, players find a password and a broken keyboard without any cable and with some keys missing. They have to place the keyboard within the outline in front of the screen. The RFID item, hidden under the keyboard, solved the first puzzle and open a secret drawer. Inside the drawer, there is a wireless keyboard (it’s USB receiver has to be connected to the Keyboard sensor!). Players have to use the password on this keyboard to solve the puzzle and open a secret door held by an electromagnet.

What you’ll need:

Demon Summoning

In a Hell-themed room, there is a pentagram on the floor with a LED candle at each of its points. Each candle has a different satanic symbol painted on it. Players have to rekindle the candles in the right order with a fake lighter (a prop with a magnet) they can find elsewhere. If they mess up the order (which can be found elsewhere)led display, they can just blow all the candles and start anew. If they succeed, they’ll hear a pre-recorded demonic incantation in Latin and red LED diodes light up around the pentagram. This is also a chest placed under the ceiling upside down. After the puzzle is solved, it opens and some rubber internal organs (hearts, kidneys, livers, etc.) fall down. One of them contains a key inside for future use.

What you’ll need:

Clever Fisherman puzzle idea

There is an aquarium in the room, with bars on the top so players cannot fit their hands inside. On the bottom, there is a small toy fish with a key on its side. Players have to get the fish out but all they can find is a broken fishing rod (a part of the handle). Instead of looking for other parts of the rod, players have to put the handle (with an RFID item hidden inside) in a specific place to trigger the RFID sensor and activate the pump. When the water level in the aquarium reaches the bars on the top, the pump stops and players can get the fish with a key.

What you’ll need:

Coroner’s Mystery

Players are in a morgue. There are dead bodies around but only one with a death certificate next to it. There are also notes on what to do with a patient – check if his pupils react to light (Light sensor in the eye and a flashlight next to the body), scream into his ear (Noise sensor), and check his pulse on the neck (Hands and Body sensor). After players do that, the blood starts going through a tube into a closed measure cylinder, showing the right level of blood. This level (shown in milliliters) is a code to a 3-digit padlock used in another puzzle.

What you’ll need:

I’m Bringing Order Back puzzle idea

them other players don’t know how to act

Players find a photo of a room they’re in but some furniture or smaller items are not in the right places. To solve the puzzle, players have to put these items in their places just like in the photo. You can use Metal sensors for items made of metal (e.g. a kettle pot), hide RFID items under the legs of a table or a chair, place magnets in some smaller objects for Magnetic sensors, etc. Just remember to create multiple reference points for players so it’s possible to match the arrangement of all these things in the room with a photo. After they do that, the puzzle controller plays a pre-recorded voice file (so players know they do this right) and UV lights turn on, showing a hidden message for another puzzle.

What you’ll need:

Never Gonna Give You Up puzzle idea

never gonna let you down

There is a set of 5 levers (Lever sensors) built into a wall. The levers can be pulled up or down. Players have to listen to some parts of different songs or a short fairy tale, played after they push a button.

They can hear the words “up” and “down” in them (e.g. Never gonna give you UP by Rick Astley) or variations of these words (“The knight traveled NORTH and settled DOWN”). Players have to deduce they have to match these clues with the positions of the levers. Once they’ve done that, there is a winning pre-recorded sound that informs players they solved the puzzle, and the electromagnet holding the door to another room releases.

What you’ll need:

Pinball Machine puzzle idea

Players find an old pinball machine. It may not have flippers and working decorations, we need a cabinet and a backbox. On the sides of the cabinet, there are buttons (Arcade Buttons), and a plunger (Pull-to-Unlock sensor) on the front. There may not be any ball or anything to play the game, yet the buttons and the plunger still work.
Players are instructed to enter the service mode on the pinball machine to get a hidden message. An old manual tells them that they need to hold both side buttons and pull the plunger 3 times. Once they to that, the LED Display on the backbox changes into 4-digit code for the next puzzle.

What you’ll need:

Step By Step puzzle idea

Players are in a cabin in the woods. There are some visible footprints on the floor going from the door to a closed drawer. Players are told to find out who was here and the hint is to retrace his or her steps. The twist is, they have to do it literally. Under each footprint, there is a hidden Foot Button sensor. Players have to trigger every sensor by stepping on footprints in the right order – step by step. When they do that, they hear a strange sound and the drawer opens (it has LED lights inside so players won’t miss it!).

What you’ll need:

Under Pressure puzzle idea

Players are in a submarine, a space base, or a military underwater base. There is a narrow corridor between two main rooms. Players are instructed to enter the corridor, shut the door to the first room, and “change the pressure” to enter the second room. The instructions for that should be presented as some old picture guide on the wall. First, the puzzle controller detects that the door was closed through a magnetic sensor in the door frame and a magnet in the door. It starts a sound effect of air being sucked in / water filling up the room).

Then, players have to close a pressure valve (Safecracker sensor, 4th mode) which stops the sound effect. Now, they have to push the big red button (Panic Button sensor) but the door to the second room is still closed. There is another picture guide to check the fuse box if the door doesn’t open. The fuse box in the corridor has one loose fuse. When players screw the loose fuse tight, the door opens (an electromagnet releases).

What you’ll need:

Sneaky Mother Nature puzzle idea

The game takes place in woods or some snowy environment. There is an animal that helps players with some hints, e.g. a fox. The problem is, he’s not willing to help until they help him! He stole some eggs from a nest and he left some footprints (make them in a fake snow/ground on the floor). Players have to find a fake bear paw and place it exactly on the footprints of the fox, framing the big guy.

To make it work, the paw has an RFID tag/sticker underneath and there are RFID sensors under the footprints (they can work through a thick board, don’t worry!). After players do that, the fox asks Mother Nature for a hint and directs them to a small pond (a one-way mirror surrounded by rocks). The LED lights behind the mirror light up, making it possible to see through and read a hint to another puzzle.

What you’ll need:

Professional Safecracker puzzle idea

Players have to open a locked drawer and there is a combination safe lock they have to turn to right positions. The problem is, the hint with the combination shows only the first number, the rest is unreadable. Players have to listen for distinct sounds as they turn the lock and find two remaining positions. When they do that, the drawer opens.

What you’ll need:

Paint Me Like One of Your French Girls puzzle idea

There is a photo (stylized as it was a painting) of a woman sitting at a table on a chair, in the very room players are in. She has both hands on a table, in very specific places (add some scratches or other points of reference). One player has to sit on the same chair (triggering a hidden Foot Button sensor) and place both hands in the same places (two Hands and Body sensors). There is also a metal object on the table they have to find and put in the same place. When they do that, the UV LED lights around the painting light up, showing a hidden message written with a special ink.

What you’ll need:

Invisible Harp puzzle idea

Players are in the mage’s room. There are a couple of instruments fixed to a table, with their names written on labels. There are, for example, the Mystical Flute, the Magical Bell, and the Wizard’s Cittern (they don’t have to work properly). The Invisible Harp, however, seems to be missing. The catch? It’s invisible (and there are Laser Tripwire sensors hidden in or underneath the table)! When players try to play on its invisible strings (so their hands will cross the sensors’ lines of sight), the instrument plays a note. First, players have to find the Harp’s label (with an RFID tag) and place it in the correct spot. Then, the short melody is played. Players have to recreate that melody to solve the puzzle, activating UV LED lights in the room.

What you’ll need:

I Hate Jumpscares puzzle idea

There is a mirror on the wall in a horror-themed room. It blends in with other decorations in the room. During the game, players find a hint that tells one of them to really look into their eyes (or some other vague hint that makes them look into the mirror). There is a Distance sensor underneath the mirror that triggers when someone is standing in front of it for at least 3 seconds. As one of the players tries to see something in the reflection, the puzzle becomes solved, activating LED lights behind this one-way mirror (WHAT A TWIST!) showing a demonic face and that should make them scream (it’s not required, just funny). You can even add some scary sound effects to the puzzle controller. But that’s not all! After the initial shock, players should look into the face in the mirror as it hides some numbers needed for a padlock in another puzzle.

What you’ll need:

Thor’s Hammer puzzle idea

In the Nordic Gods-themed room, players see the big and glorious Thor’s Hammer – Mjollnir. They got the information that only the most worthy Vikings can pick up this weapon. For now, it cannot be moved (held by a strong electromagnet). To prove they deserve the hammer, players have to beat Loki’s challenge. There is a board full of holes with runes painted inside them and a raven statue next to it (with a magnet in its base). There are also runes painted on the walls of the room. Thor left a note that he often screamed at Loki to make him talk.

Players have to scream “LOKI!” (or anything, really) to trigger a Noise sensor and activate LED lights going around the room, just for a second or two. They can repeat that as many times as they want. Now, some runes on the walls have LED lights under them and some have not. Players have to use the raven statue to activate the correct runes on the board (the lights on or off when the raven is placed on them). When all the correct runes are activated, the electromagnet releases and the hammer can be picked up. (I’ll try to prepare a video as this puzzle may seem confusing).

What you’ll need:

Ghost in the Lake puzzle idea

In the forest-themed room, there is a small fake pond surrounded by some rocks. The “water” is, in fact, a one-way mirror. For now, players can look into the mirror and see only their own reflection (which is cool on its own!). Next to the pond, there is a vine hanging from the ceiling. When players pull it, it plays a pre-recorded message from the Ghost of the Lake. The ghost asks to knock three times on the (fake) tree trunk in the room. When they do that, they hear bears roaring and another pre-recorded message telling them to scream to chase the bears away. When they scream, the ghost thanks them, revealing the secret of the pond. The LED lights behind the mirror activate and they can see the hidden message behind it.

What you’ll need:

Real Human Chain puzzle idea

This puzzle can work only in big rooms and with at least 4 players. The game takes place in an abandoned school. There are kids holding hands painted on the walls, starting in one place and ending on the opposite side of the room. There are two kids (on both ends of this “chain”), each with one hand free. When players stand next to one of these children, they trigger Foot sensors which activate pre-recorded messages like “play with us” or “finish the circle with us”. To solve the puzzle, players have to hold hands and touch hands of the painted kids on both sides (there are Human Chain puzzle’s metal plates underneath). Once they do that, the pre-recorded message says “thank you!” and any password or combination needed for the next puzzle.

What you’ll need:

Secret Agent’s Bookshelf puzzle idea

Players need to find a way to open an entrance to a secret room. To do that, they need to trigger multiple sensors hidden around the room. On the bookshelf, there is a small red button behind one of the books that need to be pushed. Also, the spines of the books have numbers and when they are arranged from the smallest to the tallest, they form a code for a numeric keypad placed on the side of the bookshelf. In one of the books, there is a couple of pages cut so it fits a special card (RFID card) for the slit on the top of the bookshelf (Card Reader sensor). And the last sensor – after players take all the books off the shelf, there is a vaguely visible handprint (Hands and Body sensor) – they just have to place their hand on it. The order of triggering the sensors is not important (Universal puzzle controller’s 4th mode). After all the sensors are triggered, the electromagnet is released and a secret passage opens.

What you’ll need:

Electric Chair Execution puzzle idea

Players are in a small execution room with an electric chair. The room is lit by LED lights Players are instructed to sentence to death the most sinful person among them (of course, it can be anyone but they will talk and laugh about it). The chosen player has to sit on the electric chair (activating a Foot Button sensor hidden in the seat) and grab two metal poles on the chair’s arms (Human Chain puzzle). You can add some straps so the chosen player can be immobilized but there is no sensor for that. The last step of the puzzle is another player pulling the lever on the wall (Lever sensor) which turns off the LED lights and starts electrocution sound effects. After 10 seconds, the LED lights turn on again and players see that a secret passage opened (Electromagnet output set).

What you’ll need:

List of Agents puzzle idea

Players are in a secret base of some clandestine agency. There is a clipboard with six names of agents on special missions around the world. During the game, players find six ID cards of the agents. There is also a huge map of the world on the wall (with Multi-RFID’s diodes hidden behind some countries). When a card is put on the special card scanner (Multi-RFID under a desk), the corresponding diode lights up and shows where is each agent. To make it easier, the map should have the names of all the countries, written in a way the first letter of each country is visibly bigger or different.

Now, players have to use the ID cards according to the order from the clipboard, connect the countries to the names, and read only the first letters that form a password to a 6-letter padlock.

What you’ll need:

Crystal Eyes puzzle idea

Players see a big skull with crystal eyes. Depending on the theme of the room, they can find a magic wand, a laser gun or any other prop with a laser pointer. When they direct the laser at one of the crystal eyes, the corresponding LED lights strip changes its color. Players have to change the colors of two LED lights strips until they get the right color combination. They can learn the correct color combination from a solution to another puzzle. Once they do that, players hear a pre-recorded sound effect and an electromagnet under the ceiling releases, dropping something (i.e. a key to the next room).

What you’ll need:

Horrifying surprise

Players are in a scary forest. There is an old tree painted on the wall, with a real hole in the trunk (Mystery Hole sensor). It should not be well-lit so players don’t see it right away.
On the other side of the room, there is a creepy squirrel toy next to a spot with a symbol of a nut. Players need to find a nut (with a magnet inside) and place it on this spot (with a Magnetic sensor underneath) to trigger a prerecorded message “I hate my brother who lives in the hollow in the tree. Do me a favor and pull his tail”. Then, players need to put their hand into this hole (that triggers a squirrel-like shriek) and pull something inside for a fake apple to drop from a ceiling (held by an electro-lock). The apple has a hint for the next puzzle.

What you’ll need:

Be quiet for a minute, guys!

There is a Noise sensor in a small room, with the sensitivity level set at nearly maximum (so it’s triggered when it picks up any sound). However, it is connected to a Sensor Inverter, so it’s triggered only when it registers complete silence. Additionally, it is connected to the LED Progress sensor extension that gradually fills up a LED chain when there is silence. Players need to deduce that when they don’t make any noise, the LED diodes fill up. Once they are full, the electromagnet opens and they can go to the next room. This puzzle is great as players constantly make noise. Also, the door can be open before the game (because there is silence) but once they enter and start making noise, it’s closed again.

What you’ll need:

Just checking, mate

Players see a chess board with most of the pieces fixed to the board. There are 3 pieces with magnets hidden in their base that are not fixed to the board. Players find 4 images of chess board configurations. They need to arrange them in a way that they form 4 consecutive turns leading to a checkmate. Then, players need to recreate these turns with the pieces with magnets. Hall sensors under the squares on the board register these moves in a correct sequence and solve the puzzle, opening a drawer.

What you’ll need:

Daniel Stroński

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