01 · 🔍
The inventor’s lock
Triangle + triangle = 6. Triangle + square = 7. Square + circle = 11. Enter triangle, square, circle as a three-digit code.
THE DETECTIVE’S DESK · CHALLENGE 01
Small puzzles. Big “aha!” moments.
Crack 15 original codes, clues and logic puzzles, or take the fox and chicken across the river. Play at your own pace, then try to solve every desk puzzle against the clock.
Can you crack all 15?
Practice with hints, or start a timed attempt with no hints. Fastest correct finishes make the top 10.
Sign in for a timed challenge
Practice below without an account when we launch.
Practice mode · 0 of 15 solved
02 · 🔍
The misplaced message
Move every letter back one place in the alphabet: MJCSBSZ. Which room does it spell?
03 · 🔍🔍🔍
One truthful label
A key is in one box. Exactly one label is true. Gold: “The key is in silver.” Silver: “The key is not in silver.” Bronze: “The key is not in gold.” Which box holds it?
04 · 🔍
The numbered note
A=1, B=2, C=3, and so on. Decode 19–1–6–5.
05 · 🔍
Clockwork trail
Each number doubles, then adds 1. Complete the sequence: 2, 5, 11, 23, ?
06 · 🔍🔍
The courtyard route
Start at the fountain. Walk 3 squares north, 2 east, 1 south and 2 west. How many squares directly north of the fountain are you now?
07 · 🔍
The mirror cabinet
A word is written backwards: REWARD. Read it from right to left to discover where to search.
08 · 🔍🔍
The coloured keyring
Red, blue and green keys lie in a row. Green is immediately right of blue. Red is not in the middle. Blue is not at the left end. Which colour is in the middle?
09 · 🔍
The late appointment
Your briefing starts at 14:35 and lasts 20 minutes. The game starts immediately and lasts 60 minutes. What time does the game end? Use HH:MM.
10 · 🔍🔍
The brass balance
Two identical keys and one coin weigh 17 grams. One key and one coin weigh 11 grams. How many grams does one key weigh?
11 · 🔍
The gardener’s message
Read the first letter of each word: Gather All Tools Early. What word appears?
12 · 🔍🔍
The four switches
Four switches are worth 8, 4, 2 and 1 from left to right. ON adds its value; OFF adds zero. ON, OFF, ON, ON gives what total?
13 · 🔍🔍
The missing shelf
Shelf labels advance by 3 alphabet positions each time: B, E, H, K, ?. Give the next letter.
14 · 🔍🔍🔍
The missing ticket
Exactly one of Ada, Ben and Cora took a ticket. A camera proves Ada did not take it. Exactly one statement is true. Ada: “Ben took it.” Ben: “Cora took it.” Cora: “Ben is lying.” Who took it?
15 · 🔍🔍
The final combination
A three-digit code has no zeroes. The first digit is twice the last. The middle digit is one more than the last. The three digits add up to 13. What is the code?
Your real name and email are never shown. You can remove your score below.
THE DETECTIVE’S DESK · TOP 10
Fastest complete escapes
Challenge 01 · All 15 desk puzzles correct · Best finish per player
No times yet. Be the first to finish!
A friendly self-play challenge: repeat attempts are allowed. Answers and elapsed time are checked by our server, but this is not a cheat-proof competition. No prizes, booking rewards or venue escape-room rankings are affected. The river game is separate. Staging scores stay separate from live scores.
How does the timer work?
The timer starts when the server accepts your start request and ends when it receives all 15 correct answers. Time spent on other tabs, breaks and network delivery counts. Wrong answers keep the clock running. Attempts expire after two hours. Hints and answer reveals are for practice only.
Ready for a real escape room?
These original mini puzzles help you practise patterns, codes and teamwork thinking. Real escape rooms bring a whole story to life. Find your next room or read our beginner’s guide.
THE CLASSIC RIVER-CROSSING CHALLENGE
The fox, the chicken & the food.
Get yourself, a fox, a chicken and a sack of grain from Start Island to Finish Island. Your boat carries you and just one passenger or item. You can also cross alone.
You keep everyone safe while you are on their island. Leave them unsupervised and the fox eats the chicken, or the chicken eats the food. Can you solve it in seven crossings?
Start Island
Finish Island
Ready to set sail. You and everyone else are on Start Island.
0 crossings
Tap a button to cross immediately. Unavailable passengers are on the other island. Every journey, including returning alone, counts as a crossing.
Start by taking the chicken. You may need to bring a passenger back rather than always moving everyone forward.
Show the seven-crossing solution
- Take the chicken to Finish Island.
- Return alone.
- Take the fox to Finish Island.
- Bring the chicken back to Start Island.
- Take the food to Finish Island.
- Return alone.
- Take the chicken to Finish Island.
The fox and food can safely wait together.
Just for fun. This game has its own crossing counter and does not affect mini-puzzle progress, rewards or venue leaderboards. Refreshing starts a new game.
YOUR NEXT ESCAPE. ONE TAP AWAY.
Add Escape Rooms to your home screen.
Open your games, puzzles and escape log from an app icon. An internet connection is needed.
How to install on your phone or computer
iPhone or iPad: open this site in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. If shown, enable Open as Web App, then tap Add.
Android: open in Chrome and use Install app when available, or the browser menu’s Add to Home screen option.
Computer: use the install icon or app option in Chrome or Edge. On supported Macs, Safari offers File → Add to Dock.
If you are viewing this inside another app, open the site in your normal browser first. Installation options vary by browser. You may need to sign in again when opened as an app.
Nothing is booked or paid while offline. Notifications and offline puzzle play are not enabled.