ESCAPE YOUR HOUSEThe Archive of Houses
A kitchen table at night with puzzle sheets, a cipher wheel, scissors, sealed envelopes and a torch

Free · printable A4 PDF

Printable escape room

Four ready-made cases and a kit to invent your own, all free as PDFs. Print them on A4, set up the house and play: the solutions are in a separate file.

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Side by side

Which kit to choose

In short: for children «Who stole the candles?», for Halloween «The night of the doors», for a dinner among adults «Three knocks at the kitchen door», for two people «The midnight note».

All free, as black-and-white A4 PDFs. The solutions are in a separate file.
KitOccasionAgePlayersLengthThe file
The entrance testFor families or friendsages 10+2-630-40 minutes12 pages + 3 of solutions
Who stole the candles?Birthdayages 8-124-10 children45 minutes17 pages + 12 of solutions
The night of the doorsHalloweenages 14+, adults included4-860 minutes20 pages + 14 of solutions
Three knocks at the kitchen doorMurder mystery dinneradults4-8a 2-and-a-half-hour dinner33 pages + 9 of solutions
The midnight noteA night for twoadults245-60 minutes20 pages + 7 of solutions
DIY kityou invent ityou decideas many as you likeyou decide16 pages of blank templates
The kits

The four cases

Each case has a story, a guide for the organiser and separate solutions.

Open case file K1 · the detective birthday party

Who stole the candles?

Someone has stolen the candles: the party starts when the detectives find them.

Three animal suspects, three teams, one cake waiting. A magpie that steals anything shiny, a cat that saw everything, a chatty little mouse. In the end, the culprit is the one you least expect.

Age
ages 8-12 (at 7, Relaxed level with one adult per team)
Cost
free
Players
4-10 children, plus 1 adult acting as the Keeper (2 adults for more than 8 children)
Who runs it
doesn't play, acts as the Keeper
Length
45 minutes
Difficulty
1-2 out of 5
Prep
about 20 minutes before the party (estimate, not counting printing and reading the guide)
The file
17 pages + 12 of solutions, A4, black and white

What you need: a printer, scissors (the adult keeps them), sticky tape, a torch, 5 odd socks, 5 household objects, a shoebox, the birthday cake candles.

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Open case file K2 · Halloween

The night of the doors

Tonight someone will knock three times on one of the doors in your home. You have an hour to work out which one, and to decide whether to open it.

A notebook kept by a doorkeeper who, every 31 October for fifty years, has been closing doors. A case from 1974 in Valdinievole. Every door in your home has a word and a number of knocks. Suspense without blood.

Age
ages 14+, adults included (11-13: kids' mode, Relaxed level, lights on and one adult per team; under 11, K1 is a better choice)
Cost
free
Players
4-8, plus the Doorkeeper, who runs the game and doesn't play
Who runs it
doesn't play, acts as the Doorkeeper
Length
60 minutes
Difficulty
2-3 out of 5
Prep
about 20 minutes with the lights on (estimate, not counting printing and reading the guide), plus a torch test the night before
The file
20 pages + 14 of solutions, A4, black and white

What you need: a printer, scissors, sticky tape, a torch per team (phones are fine), a broom, a mirror, four interior doors, LED candles if you like.

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Open case file K3 · murder mystery dinner

Three knocks at the kitchen door

A dinner, a death in 1961, and nobody at the table knows who did it: not even the person giving the culprit a voice.

The hills above Pescia, a storm, the bridge closed. Each guest gives voice to someone from that night. The secrets are sealed in envelopes that open course by course, when the table has earned them.

Age
adults
Cost
free
Players
4-8, host included
Who runs it
plays too, sets up without reading
Length
a dinner of about 2 and a half hours: the game runs between courses (about 2h10 of play, 2h20 with four players)
Difficulty
3 out of 5
Prep
materials: about 20 minutes (estimate, not counting printing and reading the guide); the dinner is prepared separately; the invitation goes out 3 days before
The file
33 pages + 9 of solutions, A4, black and white

What you need: a printer, scissors, sticky tape, 8 envelopes, a pen per guest, an extra place setting at the table, one accessory per character.

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Open case file K4 · a night for two

The midnight note

In 1962 a note didn't arrive in time. Tonight you find it, in your own home, each of you for the other.

Pescia, February 1962. A seamstress and a bricklayer, a game between the two of them: every night at midnight, one hides a note for the other. The last one was never found. The sofa, the window, the mirror, the pillow: your home becomes theirs.

Age
adults
Cost
free
Players
2 (a couple, or two friends)
Who runs it
both play, each prepares for the other
Length
45-60 minutes
Difficulty
2-3 out of 5
Prep
about 20 minutes, ten each (estimate, not counting printing and reading the guide)
The file
20 pages + 7 of solutions, A4, black and white

What you need: a printer, scissors, sticky tape, 2 pens, a box (a tin, a biscuit box, a shoebox), a mirror, a sofa, a window, a bed with a pillow (the kit gives an alternative for each).

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How it works

From printing to the first envelope

  1. Print

    A4, at 100%, in black and white. The pages to cut out are marked.

  2. Set up the house

    About twenty minutes (an estimate, not counting reading the guide): you hide the sheets following the labels.

  3. Play

    The organiser reads the opening. From then on, the house answers: whoever gets it right goes to the right place and finds the next sheet.

Questions

Questions

Are the printable escape rooms really free?

Yes. The four kits and the DIY kit are free when you leave an email address; the links to the PDFs appear straight away on the page. You only get email updates if you ask for them with a separate box.

How do I print them?

On A4, at 100% (without «fit to page»), in black and white. The solutions are in a separate file: print them only if you're the Keeper.

Can the organiser play?

It depends on the kit. In the murder mystery dinner and the evening for two, yes: you set it up without reading. For the birthday and Halloween, the organiser acts as the Keeper and doesn't play.

Do I need padlocks or materials to buy?

No. The locks are made of paper and the challenges use household objects. Each kit says what you need and suggests alternatives.

Can I use them for a school or a club?

For private use they're free. For schools, clubs and associations, companies or accommodation businesses, write to us at info@escapeyourhouse.com: for companies there's team building, for B&Bs and farm stays a licence.

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