There are dozens of EXIT boxes. They are the same size, and on a shelf they look interchangeable.
They are not. Picking the wrong one as your first is a quick way to decide you do not like escape room games, when what actually happened is that you started several levels too high.
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The Number on the Box Is the Whole Decision
Every EXIT box has a difficulty scale printed on the front. It runs from NOVICE to EXPERT across five dots, and the filled dots tell you where that particular game sits.
It is the most useful thing on the packaging and it is easy to walk past. The artwork tells you the theme, and the theme rarely tells you much about whether you will finish.
Two things worth understanding about that scale:
- It is relative to the series, not to board games in general. A level 2 EXIT is a comfortable evening. A level 4 is where groups without a few boxes behind them tend to struggle.
- Difficulty is not tied to theme. A fairytale forest can be harder than a haunted house. Do not judge by the cover.
Everything in the list of five below is level 2 or 3. That is deliberate. Those are the boxes that produce a good first experience, and once you have finished one you will know whether to climb. For when you do, the boxes players name most come after the list.
The Part People Miss: You Destroy the Game
EXIT games are played once. You write on the components, fold them, cut them and tear them. That is not a side effect, it is how several of the puzzles work.
The publisher is upfront about it. One of the bullet points on the Circus Mystery listing reads, in their own words, rip, cut and destroy the game components to solve the mystery.
People still get caught out, because a box you use up feels different from a box you keep. Three things worth knowing before you decide that bothers you:
- It is not a board game, it is an evening. The fairer comparison is a night out for two, not something that sits on a shelf for years.
- What you are throwing away is paper and card. There is no plastic tray and no miniatures, so the leftovers can go in the recycling.
- Passing it on takes work. Some people photocopy the components before playing so the originals stay intact. It takes effort, and the game is not built for it.
If the idea still bothers you, buy one rather than five and find out.
Quick Comparison
| Game | Difficulty | Players | Age | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The House of Riddles | 2 of 5 | 1 to 4 | 10+ | Your first one, and the youngest players |
| The Enchanted Forest | 2 of 5 | 1 to 4 | 10+ | A gentler theme without a gentler puzzle |
| The Abandoned Cabin | 2.5 of 5 | 1 to 4 | 12+ | The classic starting point for adults |
| The Forgotten Island | 3 of 5 | 1 to 4 | 12+ | Your second or third box |
| The Circus Mystery | 3 of 5 | 1 to 4 | 12+ | An evening with a crime to solve |
The Quick Answer
- Never played one, and there is a ten or eleven year old at the table? The House of Riddles.
- Never played one, and want the classic escape room feel? The Abandoned Cabin.
- Want something the whole family will enjoy the look of? The Enchanted Forest.
- Already finished one and want a step up? The Forgotten Island or The Circus Mystery.
- Finished a level 3 and want the one players name most? Dead Man on the Orient Express.
- Buying one as a gift? See Buying an EXIT Game as a Gift, further down.
1. EXIT: The House of Riddles
Difficulty 2 of 5 | 1 to 4 players | Ages 10+ | Up to 2 hours
The publisher labels this one Beginner Level, and sells it as part of an entry level bundle. When the company that makes the series designs a box as the way in, that is worth more than any list.
Why start here: the publisher rates it 10+ and positions it as the beginner box, so it is the safest way in for a first group, including one with a younger player at the table.
Best if: nobody at the table has done one of these before, or the group includes someone under twelve.
Worth knowing: a beginner box is aimed at groups new to the format. If your table already does real escape rooms, the Abandoned Cabin or a level 3 box is the better match.
Check the current price on Amazon
2. EXIT: The Enchanted Forest
Difficulty 2 of 5 | 1 to 4 players | Ages 10+ | 45 to 90 minutes
A walk in the woods that stops being a walk in the woods. The only bridge disappears behind you, a talking wolf turns up, and the way back out depends on solving the riddles the forest sets.
Why it works: it is the same difficulty as the House of Riddles with a theme that pulls in a wider group. Fairytale artwork gets people to the table who would walk past a box with a corpse on it.
Best if: you want an easy entry point but the horror themed boxes are a hard sell at your table.
Worth knowing: the artwork reads younger than the game is. The fairytale cover fools people into expecting something for small children, and the puzzles are the same difficulty as the beginner box rather than easier.
The publisher rates it 10+, the same as the House of Riddles. For a ten year old, both fit the age rating, and the House of Riddles is the one the publisher positions as the way in.
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3. EXIT: The Abandoned Cabin
Difficulty 2.5 of 5 | 1 to 4 players | Ages 12+ | 45 to 90 minutes
You wake in a locked cabin in the woods and work your way out. This was one of the first three EXIT boxes, and those three together won the Kennerspiel des Jahres in 2017, the German award for the more demanding end of family gaming. It was the first time the award had gone to a series rather than a single game.
Why it works: it is a common recommendation as a first EXIT, and half a step harder than the two above, which makes it the natural first box for a table of adults. It is also the only one of these five that shared in the 2017 award.
Best if: your table is all adults and you want the classic, the one everyone else has played.
Worth knowing: it is the oldest of these five, one of the three that launched the series. That also makes it the box someone in your group is most likely to have played already, so ask before you buy.
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4. EXIT: The Forgotten Island
Difficulty 3 of 5 | 1 to 4 players | Ages 12+ | 60 to 120 minutes
The publisher calls this one Intermediate. Your boat capsizes, you wake on a black sand beach, and there is no boat.
Why it works: this is the natural second purchase. It sits one level above the boxes a first group should start with, and no further.
Best if: you have finished one and the group wants to be properly stuck at least once.
Worth knowing: buying this as a first box is a quick route to a disappointing first evening, and it is why it sits fourth on a list of five rather than first on a list of best. The difficulty is the reason, not the running time.
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5. EXIT: The Circus Mystery
Difficulty 3 of 5 | 1 to 4 players | Ages 12+ | 1 to 2 hours
A string of burglaries follows a circus from city to city. You are working out who, rather than working out how to get through a door, and the structure follows that: this one is an investigation rather than an escape.
Why it works: it is the only box on this list where the goal is solving a crime rather than escaping.
Best if: you liked the puzzles but the locked room framing never grabbed you.
Worth knowing: same difficulty and the same one to two hour estimate as the Forgotten Island. Plan it for a full evening rather than something you fit in after dinner.
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What Happens If You Start Too High
It is worth being specific, because this is the whole reason the list is ordered this way.
Every EXIT box includes a hint system, a stack of cards that give you progressively more help before finally giving the answer. Used occasionally it keeps the evening moving. Used constantly it stops being a game and becomes reading.
A group that starts too high is likely to reach for the hint cards early and keep reaching for them. They can still get to the end, but by then the hints are doing the solving. A group that starts at the right level solves the puzzles itself, which is the reason to buy the box.
Same series, completely different outcome, decided by a number on the front of the box.
Finished One? The Boxes Players Name Most
Search for the best EXIT games and the answers come from BoardGameGeek threads, Reddit and review sites, and the same few titles keep turning up in them. Most sit a step or two above everything in the list of five, which is exactly where you go next. Here they are in order of difficulty, so you can climb one dot at a time.
All five had an active offer on Amazon when we checked on October 1, 2026. They are some of the older boxes in the series, released in 2017 and 2018, so check the listing before you buy.
EXIT: The Mysterious Museum
Difficulty 2 of 5 | 1 to 4 players | Ages 10+ | 1 to 2 hours
A day trip to the Florence Natural History Museum, to see the sunken treasure of the Santa Maria, turns into an escape from the museum itself.
Worth knowing: this one is not a step up. It is the same level as the House of Riddles, which makes it the box for a group that enjoyed its first evening and wants another gentle one before climbing.
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EXIT: The Sinister Mansion
Difficulty 3 of 5 | 1 to 4 players | Ages 12+ | 1 to 2 hours
You arrive as guests at a grand mansion and find yourselves forced to play a macabre game against the clock.
Worth knowing: same level as the Forgotten Island and the Circus Mystery. The publisher calls it a macabre game, so it leans darker than either, and it makes a good third box for a group that liked one of them.
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EXIT: Dead Man on the Orient Express
Difficulty 4 of 5 | 1 to 4 players | Ages 12+ | 1 to 2 hours
There has been a murder on board, and the culprit is still on the train. You have until it reaches its destination to work out who did it.
Why it comes up so often: it is first on more than one BoardGameGeek list ranking the series, and like the Circus Mystery it is a case to solve rather than a room to escape.
Worth knowing: level 4 is where groups without a few boxes behind them tend to struggle. Play at least one level 3 first.
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EXIT: The Pharaoh’s Tomb
Difficulty 4 of 5 | 1 to 4 players | Ages 12+ | 1 to 2 hours
On a trip to the Valley of the Kings, you lose your tour group in the narrow passages, and a stone door closes behind you in a burial chamber.
Worth knowing: it is one of the three original boxes that won the 2017 Kennerspiel des Jahres, along with the Abandoned Cabin. Same award, very different evening: the Cabin is a 2.5, and this one is a 4.
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EXIT: The Forbidden Castle
Difficulty 4 of 5 | 1 to 4 players | Ages 12+ | 1 to 2 hours
A homemade flyer sends you to a medieval castle with no ticket booth and nobody around, and the door of the throne room locks behind you.
Worth knowing: same level as the Orient Express and the Pharaoh’s Tomb, so choose between the three by theme: a murder on a train, an Egyptian tomb or a medieval castle.
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Buying an EXIT Game as a Gift
A gift means choosing the level for someone else, often without being able to ask what they have already played. Three things narrow it down.
- Who will play it. If anyone at the table will be ten or eleven, choose from the three boxes on this page rated 10+: the House of Riddles, the Enchanted Forest and the Mysterious Museum. The other seven are rated 12+, including every level 3 and level 4.
- What they have played. Never played one: the House of Riddles or the Enchanted Forest, or the Abandoned Cabin if everyone playing is an adult. The Cabin is the better match for adults who already do real escape rooms. Finished one: a level 3, or the Mysterious Museum if someone at the table is ten or eleven. Finished a few, including a level 3: a level 4.
- Whether it could be a repeat. A box they have already played is wasted on them. In the list of five, the Abandoned Cabin is the oldest and the one they are most likely to have played already. If you cannot ask them without giving the surprise away, ask whoever they usually play with.
Each box can only be played once. To make the gift last longer, add a second box, the one they would move on to, so the next evening is already on the shelf. Every box on this page is rated for one to four players, so for a bigger household, see the question on five or six people in the FAQ below.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you only play an EXIT game once?
Yes. Solving the puzzles involves writing on, folding, cutting and tearing the components, so the box cannot be reset. Think of it as an evening out rather than something for the shelf.
Which EXIT game should I buy first?
The House of Riddles if there is anyone under twelve at the table, since the publisher rates it 10+ and labels it as beginner level. The Abandoned Cabin if your group is all adults and you want the classic, one of the three original boxes that won the Kennerspiel des Jahres together.
Which EXIT game is the best?
The one at your level. A level 4 that a new group cannot finish is a worse evening than a level 2 it can. Among players who have done several, Dead Man on the Orient Express is first on more than one BoardGameGeek list ranking the series, and it is a level 4. For a first box, start with the list of five.
What do the difficulty numbers actually mean?
They are relative to the rest of the series, shown as filled dots on a scale from Novice to Expert. A 2 is a comfortable first evening. A 3 is where most groups expect to get stuck somewhere along the way. A 4 or 5 assumes you have played several already.
Can we play with five or six people?
The boxes are rated for one to four. More people can sit around the table, but everyone needs to see the same card or page of the book at the same time, and that gets harder with every extra person. If your group is regularly six, two teams with two boxes is the practical option.
Do EXIT games work with two players?
Yes, and more comfortably than with six, since nobody is waiting for a turn with the card. What you give up is speed. A lot of EXIT puzzles reward several people examining different components at the same time, so a pair tends to work through them more slowly and sit longer on the harder ones. If two is your usual table, our guide to escape room games that actually work with two players covers the boxes designed around that player count.
Can you stop halfway and come back to it?
Yes. Nothing in the box stops you from leaving the table and picking it up later. If you are timing the session, pause the timer, and expect to spend a few minutes working out where you were.
Do you need an app or internet connection?
No. The hint system is in the box, and the game plays fully without a phone. Kosmos offers an optional free app, but it is not required. You will need to supply a pen, paper and scissors.
Can one person play alone?
Yes, every box on this page is rated for one to four players, so playing alone is within the rating.
How long do they actually take?
Between about 45 minutes and two hours, depending on the box and the group. Check the estimate on the box you buy, and start one when you have the evening rather than the last hour of it.
Are they worth it if you already do real escape rooms?
They are a different thing. You lose the physical set and the locked doors, and you gain puzzles you can take your time over at your own table.
Where to Start
If there is a ten or eleven year old at the table, buy The House of Riddles. The publisher rates it 10+ and points to it as the beginner box.
If your group is all adults and has never done one, buy The Abandoned Cabin. One of the three originals that took the Kennerspiel des Jahres, and half a step up from the beginner tier.
If the horror themes are a hard sell at your table, buy The Enchanted Forest. Same difficulty, friendlier cover.
If you have already finished one, buy The Forgotten Island or The Circus Mystery. Both are level 3, and the difference is whether you want to escape something or solve a crime.
If you have finished a level 3 and want the box players name most, buy Dead Man on the Orient Express. It is a level 4, so not as a first box.
If you are buying for December, EXIT also comes as an advent calendar, with a puzzle behind each door. Our guide to which EXIT advent calendar to buy compares them.
The thing to take away is smaller than a list of five games: before you buy any EXIT box, find the dots on the front. That number decides whether the evening works, and it is the one piece of information the cover art will never give you.
For more small boxes that work for a table of adults, see our list of board games adults enjoy too. For more ideas, our Christmas board game gift guide covers every kind of player.
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