Explore below for gift ideas, pre-game activities, and other items to fill the empty void in your life. 

At-Home Escape Rooms

Our first experience with a boxed escape room. Great alternative to the real thing. 
Made by Mattel so it's high-quality which is more than we can say about some at-home versions. 
We like this one because its a good value as you get four games instead of one in the set. 

Classics

As-Seen-In-Lobby. The Rubik's cube can be rearranged into 43,000,000,000,000,000,000 different ways so it never gets old...
Not really a puzzle but if you're curious whether you'll escape your next room consult one of these bad boys. 
So many escape rooms pay professional engineers to basically rebuild what this retro gem did decades ago. 

Movies

Nic Cage solves puzzles in order to....You had me at Nic Cage...
Definitely the best movie based on a board game ever made. (Jumanji isn't a real game)
Indiana Jones gets trapped in quicksand in the newest film but we still like this one better. 

TV Episodes

Brooklyn 99: The squad uses an escape room as a training exercise. Hilarity ensues. 
Big Bang Theory: The gang solves the room in the same amount of time it takes most of us to find our first clue.
The Middle: One of our favorite TV families working their way through an escape room. 

Books

There isn't much we can say without ticking off the Illuminati so just read it or don't. 
We loved the book before HBO made into a show. 
This one is (mostly) for the kiddos. Encyclopedia Brown books offer a variety of very clever mysteries per book. 

Video Games

Not only one of the best games Nintendo has made but the hero literally has to solve physical and mental puzzles to save the day within in-game shrines. 
It's arguable that Myst is one of the biggest inspirations for modern escape rooms. A classic. 
The funniest, most-clever computer game we've ever played. It even has 'escape' in the game!

Do-it-yourself

As-Seen-In-Room. These unique locks use a dial for a code. Think of how confused the older generation at your gym will be when they see it on your locker. 
These pens write in invisible ink and use a built in UV light in the cap to reveal the code. Now all you need is treasure and you can draw a map for it. 
Not thrilled to see this in escape rooms but a great way to talk about your boss without getting in trouble (maybe...).