top of page
Search

How to build a puzzle for an escape room on your own (hints)

EscapeRooms_EcoDecor

We share our experience on how we produce puzzles for escape rooms. 

Wooden box with electronic components, including boards, wires, and switches. Blue circuit board and red buttons visible. Tidy arrangement. Electronics for escape room puzzle
Mechanical fastening of all components and careful wiring

If you want to build a puzzle for the escape room yourself, then we highly recommend reading this article. 

Every point in it has been suffered and tortured by our ten years of experience in the ER industry - more than 640 projects have been implemented and more than 3,000 puzzles have been made. 

Therefore, we present you the instructions "how to build a puzzle for an escape room on your own (hints)».


Let's start with the material of the body, possible options: 

- Solid wood (furniture board)

Wooden puzzle pieces and a partially assembled box on a workbench. Circular disks marked with "30 mm". Blueprint and tools nearby.  Parts of portable escape game "laser maze"
The structure is designed in such a way that all the layers are pressed with four bolts. It is sturdy and easy to maintain

- Plywood

- Reinforced foam

- plastic sheets: acrylic/polystyrene

- Aluminum Composite Panels



We actively use the first two options as the most versatile and easily processed, but at the same time strong. 

For decorative overlays, sheet plastics, MDF/HDF and veneer can be used.


Designing the body itself: 

- To provide full access to the electronics, keep in mind that a small viewing hatch will not be enough. It is important to remember that the more space inside, the better.

- Design a sufficient space inside the enclosure, which will be sufficient to accommodate all the components. 

- Avoid small and protruding parts — players will break them off in the first couple of weeks. Unless you additionally reinforce them from the inside with a metal pin

Coiled metal rods on a workshop table, with rebar above. Industrial setting. manual bending of a metal bar on a special stand. Part of puzzle Beware of a touch!
If it is possible to use metal, then do it
Open wooden box with circuit boards, wires, and speakers inside. Blue and yellow components with visible text. Tools and cables nearby. Good wiring and cable management
All the electronic elements inside the puzzle are neatly and correctly positioned and rigidly fixed: a controller, a custom PCB, two speakers, a DC-DC converter and a portable battery
Wooden legs in a workshop, alternating light and dark tones. Arranged vertically on a table, with tools and materials in the background. Parts of the puzzle secret staircase
These wooden puzzle elements for the "secret staircase" escape room have additional wooden reinforcements at both ends

- If self-tapping screws are needed on the part of the puzzle visible to the players, then do not use standard PZ/PH heads, use self-tapping screws / screws with a hexagonal head or a semicircular head, so that it corresponds in some way to the general style and theme of the puzzle.

- Linings and any additional external elements must be attached mechanically in addition to glue! Players will defeat any glue!



- If there is a choice between a beautiful and elegant detail versus a large and more "rounded" one, please choose the last one.


The electronics inside puzzles:

- Controller: arduino / Rasberry or PLC — it all depends on your skills and approaches to designing electronics for escape rooms.

- All the electronics inside must be mechanically fixed. Even if you use glue that has never failed you, screw in a couple of additional screws. Trust us, everything comes off.

- Good cable management. Careful laying of wires and their marking, firstly, is just a good manner. Subsequent maintenance and troubleshooting are greatly simplified.

- The location of the electronics should be such that there is convenient access to the replacement of components/sensors. 



- Keep in mind the cables: power/signal/audio, etc. Take them out from below, behind or to the side, it all depends on how the puzzle will be located in the escape room. And just remember that these cables exist in principle.



- The controllers have various connectors: LAN, USB, aux 3.5, be careful not to place the electronics with these connectors against the walls.


Wooden box with open door, red interior compartment. A key labeled MSM Lock is in the keyhole. Circular cutouts visible. Body for "submarine" portable escape game
The pads will be fixed with decorative screws, we use thick acrylic protective glass, and two very durable tumblers are installed at the top (their body is made of metal)


Electronics outside (gaming electronics):

- LCD screens should be protected by an additional layer of 3-6mm thick acrylic (depending on the screen size)



- Use only two types of buttons: vandal-proof and "for slot machines" (arcade machines)

- Various rotating switches, potentiometers, for the most part have a plastic base and will fail very quickly, we highly recommend using only those that have a metal "base".




All the best,

EcoDecor team

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


Subscribe to our latest news and offers (we respect your privacy)

Get our new puzzles first

+7 903 611 88 64

escape@er-ecodecor.com

Puzzles, props and ready to play escape rooms

©2025 EcoDecor 

bottom of page