The 8 best virtual escape room team building games for every taste

Have you ever dreamed about something exciting happening mid your workday routine? Like a murder mystery, a bank robbery, or a bunch of wizards fighting each other in your office kitchen? 

Well, wizards might have been a stretch, but the rest is perfectly attainable thanks to online escape rooms. Suitable for any team, no matter how large or small, on-site or remote, escape room team building is an exciting opportunity for your colleagues to take a break from the mundane reality, have a good laugh (or freight), and practice out-of-the-box thinking.

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No wonder escape rooms are so popular with companies searching for team building exercises! Today, we look into the best ideas for paid and free virtual escape-room team building. If you're looking for more inspiration, check out our list of team building apps.

The best virtual escape rooms for team building experiences

The internet is full of online escape rooms, but we wanted to dedicate this post to those that will work particularly well for corporate team building events. So we’ve selected one of the most team-building-friendly escape rooms from each genre to enjoy.

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1. Space Race | Mission: Mars — Sci-Fi virtual experience

# of players: up to 7
Time: 60 min
Price: $28/person
Secret ingredient: Virtual puzzles are built with a particular focus on team building, exercising your team’s communication, cooperation, and attention to detail.

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This online team building escape room will be especially fun if you are a team of future-oriented tech whizzes, curious about space and obsessed with modern technology. 

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Your team is stranded on Mars with a broken spaceship, an outdated robot, and rising levels of radiation — just like Matt Damon in The Martian, minus the potatoes. Work together to repair the damage and come home safely.

2. Alice in Puzzleland — Fairytale online escape game 

# of players: 6 per team, several groups allowed
Time: 90 min
Price: £132/team
Secret ingredient: This unique immersive experience allows your team to join a real-life quest room from the comfort of their homes - you won’t be solving a virtual puzzle, you’ll be navigating a curator to interact with a physical room

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Perfect for those remote teams that would like to feel closer to each other, but can’t, this virtual team building escape room allows you to meet in one room and solve puzzles together. 

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The Mad Hatter has been accused of theft, so it’s time for you and your colleagues to team up to find the missing Queen’s Tarts and clear the charges. Explore the Hatter’s cottage, find clues, and bring justice to Wonderland, together. Another great clue finding team building activity.

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3. The Pegasus Project — Spy virtual team adventure

# of players: 2-6 per team, up to 60 total
Time: 120 min
Price: £140/team
Secret ingredient: this virtual escape room is designed in such a way that for your team to win they will have to work together and there is no way around it. 

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Another entry from Escape Hunt: The Pegasus Project is where the group’s team-oriented online adventures meet a classic escape room. If your team could use some help in working together towards a common goal - this is the best virtual team building experience for them. 

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Work against the clock to solve the grand conspiracy of an evil corporation and protect thousands of people from mind control. Find the clues, solve the puzzles, and make the world a better place! 

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4. Treasure mountain - Adventure online escape room

# of players: ~5 per team
Time: 60 min

Price: $55/team
Secret ingredient: This virtual team building experience is designed as a race that encourages teams to work together to complete the riddles before their competitors. A great way to get to know your team mates better.

This online escape room is perfect for remote company-wide events. Stunningly designed, this experience feels more like a video game than a team building exercise. 

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Your team has discovered the map to lead you to the old treasure worth nearly $33 million. It is now up to you to conquer the mountain and get the gold. The only problem is that other teams out there also have the map. 

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5. The Hogwarts escape — Magic virtual experience

# of players: any
Time: 15-20 min
Price: free
Secret ingredient: The experience is charming in its simplicity - you won’t need any secret Zoom codes, complicated Teams’ setups, etc. You log in, share the screen, and solve the mystery with your team

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If your team’s favorite topics revolve around the crazy Harry Potter fan theories, they’re going to love a Harry Potter-themed online escape room. The game works particularly well for smaller teams searching for a free virtual team building activity. 

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Congrats! You’ve just received your Hogwarts letter! Forgive the 15-20-year delay and embark on a magical journey to solve the mysterious disappearance of one of your friends. 

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6. Moriarty’s Parlor — Classic detective virtual escape room

# of players: 4-8 players
Time: 60-90 min
Price: $80
Secret ingredient: The game features a 40% success rate, which makes it an excellent choice for the teams that enjoy a real challenge and need to work on their leadership skills

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This classical escape room will be perfect for you if you loved Sherlock Holmes before Benedict Cumberbatch took over and know how to appreciate a good detective story. 

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You find yourself in the middle of Moriarty’s trap. And now it’s up to you and your team to outsmart the game master and prove who is the true genius.

7. Twisted Woods — Horror online escape room

# of players: 2-8
Time: 60 min
Price: $25/person
Secret ingredient: This virtual room is also available on-site, which means that the game provides a highly realistic escape room experience

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If you and your team are searching for a somewhat chilling experience, Twisted Woods is second to none. Renowned for keeping the players on edge throwout the entire experience, this escape room will be equally spooky as it is challenging. 

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As you find yourselves out of gas near an empty cabin, you realize something unnerving is inside. Get the gas ASAP and get out before it gets to you! This is a great survival simulation game.

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Did any of the games catch your attention? Great, it’s time to set everything up! 

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8. Mafia 360 — 1920’s online virtual escape room

# of players: 2-500
Time: 60 min
Price: ~$29 per person, min $290
Secret ingredient: A 360° VR room, Mafia features puzzles and inventory that each player can interact with individually, contributing to the team’s success

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If your team adores the noir aesthetics of the Prohibition era - this is the experience for you! The game will require you to work on your own and together to get through the plot and solve challenging puzzles. 

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You find yourself in a secret speakeasy, surrounded by bootleggers, corrupt politicians, La Cosa Nostra, and a great mystery that you now are a part of. 

Why choose an online escape room game for team building

There are many benefits that virtual team building activities (escape room, among others) bring to the table. In the corporate culture, some of the most important ones are: 

• Attention to detail: often, the least obvious object in the room becomes the most valuable clue
• Cooperation: by solving the puzzles together, your team learns to support each other in challenging tasks
• Decision making: many riddles are timed, so the participants learn to choose among several options quickly 
• Argumentation: there are usually several different opinions on what is the best way to approach a task, so the players need to persuade the team
• Critical thinking: sometimes the participants get stuck and then it’s time for them to demonstrate their problem-solving skills

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Escape-room online team building: FAQ 

Here’s what people ask about virtual escape room team building: 

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How do you play escape room virtually?

In most cases, the game will be designed so that it intuitively guides you throughout the entire plot. Just like an open-world video game. And you won’t need any additional props to have a rewarding experience, just a screen, and a stable internet connection. 

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How to host the best virtual escape room for team building

Arguably, the most important success factor here is your positive attitude. However, there are some things you might also want to keep in mind when planning your next team building escape game. 

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Start with some basic preparations:

1. Check the game for any elements that might affect the players (e.g., flashing images, explicit content, startling episodes, etc.) 
2. Confirm with the team that these won’t be a problem or select another game
3. Decide in advance if you will be splitting into several teams and how you’ll go about it
4. Order some snacks and drinks for each player
5. Double-check that your internet connection is stable and all the links work for your browsers
6. Show up on time 
7. Have fun! 

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How do you build an escape room for team building?

If none of the games available online satisfy your thirst for puzzle-solving, you can always build your own! 

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You can use ready-made solutions, like Room Escape Maker, or get creative and use the tools you are already familiar with: 

1. Lay down the plot and the puzzles
2. Use Canva or a similar tool to design your “rooms” 
3. Host a Zoom/Teams/Veertly session where you will be hosting the experience
4. Enjoy the game with your teammates