Dungeon Riddles

Ten fantasy riddles to pose at the game table, each with a hint under the answer.

Dungeon Riddles

Carved on the wall: "I am a seat. Take off my head and I grow on yours. Take off my head again and you breathe me."
The fairy asks: "I comb the wheat and carry the seeds, and nobody has ever seen me. What am I?"
A voice in the room says: "Bring me the cup with a foot and no leg, a lip and no mouth."
Stamped on a lantern: "I eat oil and I breathe light."
The troll asks: "It hurries under my bridge all day and all night, and it has never once stopped to rest. What is it?"
Carved on a frozen wall: "I am water that has forgotten how to run."
The fairy asks: "I carry a lantern and I have no hands, and I blink it in the summer dark. What am I?"
The fairy asks: "I am a six-pointed star that falls without a sound and is gone on your warm hand. What am I?"
A voice in the room says: "Bring me the two brothers who stand with their mouths wide open and swallow your feet."
Engraved inside a band of gold: "I have no beginning and no end, and one finger fits through my middle."

Next step Puzzles that end in a lock code Mysteries solved by yes or no

How it works

These dungeon riddles are written for whoever runs a fantasy adventure: a sealed door speaks, a dragon or a troll asks, and each answer comes with one hint for a table that is stuck.

Read the full guide

Door riddles, dragon riddles and more

The menu under the button sorts the riddles by who asks. A sealed door speaks, and the answer opens it. Dragons and trolls ask on their own ground. Inscriptions are carved where the players find them. The answer is in the room names a thing the players can pick up. Fairies ask about small, quiet things.

Fantasy puzzles and riddles need a hint

Tap Show answer before the session: under the cover are the answer and one hint the door or the guardian may give. Choose More filters in the menu for Level. No riddle uses a creature, a rule or a place from a published game, book or film.

Tips

Decide beforehand what a wrong answer costs: a second riddle, a longer way around, a favor owed.
A guess that fits every clue may open the door, even when it is not the answer under the cover.

Questions and answers

What are good troll riddles for a bridge?

Ones about the troll's own world. What do you pay me to cross, and get nothing to carry home for it? A toll. Shout once under my arch and you hear it twice: an echo. The Dragons and trolls set holds what a troll asks.

Are there fairy riddles for a game too?

Yes, a whole set asked by a fairy, about dew, a wish, a firefly, a whisper. One of them: I hang a pearl on every blade of grass before dawn and take them all back by noon.

Do you have gold riddles for a treasure room?

A few. The dragon asks what its bed is made of: gold. In The answer is in the room, a gold coin has a head, a tail and no legs, and a crown is a gold ring too big for a finger.

How hard should a riddle in a dungeon be?

Easy enough that the table solves it in a few minutes. Start on the Easy level and keep the hint ready. Hard riddles, such as the threshold or the truth, suit a door the players may also pass another way.

All 100 riddles

Doors that speak 20

The door says: "Enemies shove me. Say what you are instead, and I will swing wide." Answer: A friend. Hint: It is the opposite of a foe.
The door says: "Everyone who enters steps over me, and nobody takes me along." Answer: The threshold. Hint: Look down, at the stone beneath the door.
The door says: "Fog my brass plate with the thing you have been holding ever since the stairs." Answer: Your breath. Hint: Lean close and breathe out.
The door says: "Give me the one gift that costs nothing, stings your knuckles and asks to come in." Answer: A knock. Hint: Use your fist, and be polite about it.
The door says: "I answer to one small word that children are taught and kings forget." Answer: Please. Hint: It comes before thank you.
The door says: "I have been shut by a thing you cannot see, cannot stop and are spending right now." Answer: Time. Hint: An hourglass measures it.
The door says: "I have teeth of brass and I bite no bread. Turn me once and I let you through." Answer: A key. Hint: It hangs on a ring at somebody's belt.
The door says: "I have two brass elbows and no arms. Oil them, and I will keep your coming and going a secret." Answer: Hinges. Hint: They squeal when they are dry.
The door says: "I open for the one who can do nothing at all for as long as it takes." Answer: Patience. Hint: Sit down, and do not push.
The door says: "I swing and I am no sword. I creak and I am no floor. And you are looking straight at me." Answer: A door. Hint: You are standing in front of the answer.
The door says: "I wear a gray coat that nobody wove. Write the password in it with one finger." Answer: Dust. Hint: It settles wherever nobody walks.
The door says: "Knock all you like. I open for the one thing every traveler carries and nobody can see, given on the first day of your life." Answer: Your name. Hint: Someone chose it for you before you could speak.
The door says: "Put out your torch and I am everywhere. Light it again and I hide behind you." Answer: Darkness. Hint: Blow out the flame and you will meet it.
The door says: "Say the word that is the opposite of what I am now." Answer: Open. Hint: At the moment the door is closed.
The door says: "Shake my hand, and then turn it." Answer: The doorknob. Hint: It is round and cold, at the height of your hip.
The door says: "Show me the companion who came in with you, eats nothing, and grows taller when the torch is set on the floor." Answer: Your shadow. Hint: Lift your torch and look behind you.
The door says: "Something slips under me all day without a key, and it makes your torch bow." Answer: A draft. Hint: Feel it on your ankles.
The door says: "Tell me what is in your hand when you open it empty. The same thing waits behind me." Answer: Nothing. Hint: The room beyond is bare.
The door says: "Two of you may lie to me. I open for the one thing that never has to be remembered." Answer: The truth. Hint: A liar has to remember the story. An honest speaker does not.
The door says: "You carry me into every room and you have never once put me in your pack. I sit above your neck." Answer: Your head. Hint: It is where your hat goes.

Dragons and trolls 20

The dragon asks: "Every knight carries it up my mountain, and most of them drop it at the mouth of my cave. What is it?" Answer: Courage. Hint: Fear takes its place.
The dragon asks: "I broke my first home to get out of it, and I have never gone back. What was it?" Answer: An egg. Hint: A hen gives you a small one every morning.
The dragon asks: "I have two of them, each wider than a barn door, and without them I would have to walk like you. What are they?" Answer: Wings. Hint: A sparrow has a small pair.
The dragon asks: "I keep one thing that weighs nothing. It is safe while one of us holds it and lost when three do. What is it?" Answer: A secret. Hint: Tell it to your friends and it is gone.
The dragon asks: "I sleep on it, I count it and I never spend it. What is my bed made of?" Answer: Gold. Hint: It glitters under the dragon's belly.
The dragon asks: "I wear hundreds of shields and carry none. What covers me from nose to tail?" Answer: Scales. Hint: A fish wears small ones.
The dragon asks: "It climbs out of my nose while I doze and writes on the sky with no hand. What is it?" Answer: Smoke. Hint: It rises wherever something burns.
The dragon asks: "It leaves my mouth and never comes back. It eats wood and runs from water. What do I breathe?" Answer: Fire. Hint: Do not stand in front of the answer.
The troll asks: "I am full of holes and I still hold a catch. Fish swim into me and do not swim out. What am I?" Answer: A net. Hint: A fisher throws it from the bank.
The troll asks: "I am heavier than you and older than this bridge, and I never get hungry. The arch above us is made of me. What am I?" Answer: Stone. Hint: Knock on the arch with your knuckles.
The troll asks: "I live under it and you walk over it. It has two ends and stands with its feet in the water. What is it?" Answer: A bridge. Hint: You are trying to cross it.
The troll asks: "In the old tale three brothers crossed over a troll's head, each one bigger than the last. What were they?" Answer: Billy goats. Hint: They have horns and beards.
The troll asks: "It hurries under my bridge all day and all night, and it has never once stopped to rest. What is it?" Answer: The river. Hint: Listen. You can hear it below the planks.
The troll asks: "Shout once under my arch and you hear it twice. What is the second voice?" Answer: An echo. Hint: It lives in caves and under arches.
The troll asks: "What begins every troll, every toll and every tooth?" Answer: The letter T. Hint: Listen to the first sound of each word.
The troll asks: "What comes up on one bank in the morning and goes down on the other at night, and never sets a foot on my bridge?" Answer: The sun. Hint: It wakes you every day.
The troll asks: "What crosses my bridge every clear night without paying, weighs nothing and lies down on the water?" Answer: Moonlight. Hint: Look up to see where it comes from.
The troll asks: "What do I have before every bowl of stew and lose with the last spoonful?" Answer: Hunger. Hint: It growls in the belly.
The troll asks: "What do you pay me to cross, and get nothing to carry home for it?" Answer: A toll. Hint: It is a coin, and it is the troll's.
The troll asks: "What sits on my river every cold morning, weighs nothing and hides the far bank?" Answer: Fog. Hint: The sun burns it away by noon.

Inscriptions 20

Carved beside two levers: "I am not left, and I am not wrong. Pull the hand that I am." Answer: Right. Hint: It is the opposite of left.
Carved on a block of iron: "I am struck all day and I never bruise, and every blade and horseshoe in this hall was born on my back." Answer: An anvil. Hint: A blacksmith stands over it with a hammer.
Carved on a chest lid: "I am made of rings that no finger wears, and I hold this lid shut." Answer: A chain. Hint: It rattles when you lift it.
Carved on a frozen wall: "I am water that has forgotten how to run." Answer: Ice. Hint: Warm it and it remembers.
Carved on the rim of a well: "Lower me empty and raise me full." Answer: A bucket. Hint: It hangs from the rope.
Carved on the wall: "I am a seat. Take off my head and I grow on yours. Take off my head again and you breathe me." Answer: A chair. Hint: Chair, hair, air: each time the first letter goes.
Carved on the wall: "I show the whole kingdom, and you can fold me in four." Answer: A map. Hint: Travelers unroll one at every crossroads.
Carved on the wall: "I weep while I work, and my tears are white and hard by morning. String is my heart." Answer: A candle. Hint: Look in the holder beside the words.
Carved on the wall: "Seven of us cross the sky in turn and then begin again. The first is named for the sun and the second for the moon." Answer: The days of the week. Hint: Sunday, Monday, and five more.
Carved on the wall: "Twelve brothers march in a circle, and the shortest of us wears twenty-eight." Answer: The months of the year. Hint: The shortest brother is February.
Carved over four doors: "Four sisters rule in turn. One wears flowers, one wears sunshine, one wears red leaves and one wears white." Answer: The four seasons. Hint: The sister in white is winter.
Cast into bronze: "I have one tongue and one word, and I say it louder than any herald." Answer: A bell. Hint: It hangs in a tower and calls the town.
Cut into a stone dial: "I tell the hour only while the sun is watching, and a shadow is my one hand." Answer: A sundial. Hint: It is no use at night.
Engraved inside a band of gold: "I have no beginning and no end, and one finger fits through my middle." Answer: A ring. Hint: It is worn on a hand.
Etched on a brass case: "I always point the same way, though I have never been there." Answer: A compass needle. Hint: It points north.
Etched on a glass with two bulbs: "I fall for a whole hour and I am never hurt. Turn my house over and I fall again." Answer: Sand. Hint: The glass is an hourglass.
Painted on a jar: "I am black water, and I remember every word you give me." Answer: Ink. Hint: A quill drinks it.
Painted on a round of oak and iron: "I take every blow, and I never strike back." Answer: A shield. Hint: A knight wears it on one arm.
Scratched above an arch: "I began as mud. Fire made me hard, and a thousand of my brothers hold up this ceiling." Answer: A brick. Hint: A mason lays them in rows.
Stamped on a lantern: "I eat oil and I breathe light." Answer: A lamp. Hint: You are probably carrying one.

The answer is in the room 20

A voice in the room says: "Bring me a silk net that no fisher cast and no weaver wove." Answer: A cobweb. Hint: Look up, into the corner of the ceiling.
A voice in the room says: "Bring me the cup with a foot and no leg, a lip and no mouth." Answer: The goblet. Hint: It stands on the table.
A voice in the room says: "Bring me the glass that shows every face and has none of its own." Answer: The mirror. Hint: Look for the thing that looks back at you.
A voice in the room says: "Bring me the gold ring that is far too big for a finger. Kings wear it higher up." Answer: The crown. Hint: It sits on a head.
A voice in the room says: "Bring me the iron hat that has kept a head dry and unhurt." Answer: The helmet. Hint: It is heavier than any other hat.
A voice in the room says: "Bring me the little bowl on a stick that feeds a king and never tastes the soup." Answer: The spoon. Hint: It lies beside the plate.
A voice in the room says: "Bring me the one with a hundred legs of straw and one of wood, who chases dust across the floor." Answer: The broom. Hint: It leans in the corner.
A voice in the room says: "Bring me the paper that sleeps rolled up and wakes when you pull its two ends apart." Answer: The scroll. Hint: It is tied with a ribbon.
A voice in the room says: "Bring me the thing that is all tail and no dog, and can tie a boat to a dock." Answer: The rope. Hint: It lies coiled in the corner.
A voice in the room says: "Bring me the thing that once flew and now writes." Answer: The quill. Hint: It is a feather with a cut tip.
A voice in the room says: "Bring me the two brothers who stand with their mouths wide open and swallow your feet." Answer: The boots. Hint: They wait side by side by the door.
A voice in the room says: "Bring me the wooden pear with a long neck and strings for a voice." Answer: The lute. Hint: Pluck it and it sings.
A voice in the room says: "Bring me what the fire leaves when it has eaten everything: gray, soft and cold by morning." Answer: The ashes. Hint: Look in the hearth.
A voice in the room says: "I have a head and a tail and no legs, and I am yellow all the way through. Drop me in the bowl." Answer: The gold coin. Hint: It rings when it lands.
A voice in the room says: "Lift the stick that wears a flame for a hat." Answer: The torch. Hint: It is the reason you can see at all.
A voice in the room says: "Lift the thing that a ram once wore and a herald now blows." Answer: The horn. Hint: Put it to your lips.
A voice in the room says: "Point to the one hole in this room that fits a metal tooth and keeps out a mouse." Answer: The keyhole. Hint: It is in the door, below the handle.
A voice in the room says: "Roll me the round wooden belly that wears iron belts." Answer: The barrel. Hint: It is too heavy to lift, so roll it.
A voice in the room says: "Stand me against the wall. I have rungs and no bell, and I lift you without wings." Answer: The ladder. Hint: You climb it one step at a time.
A voice in the room says: "Turn over the glass in which time is made of sand." Answer: The hourglass. Hint: It has two bulbs and a narrow waist.

Fairies and the fair folk 20

The fairy asks: "Bury me and I am not gone. I split, I climb, and I come back as hundreds. What am I?" Answer: A seed. Hint: A gardener plants it in spring.
The fairy asks: "First I am a small sun in the grass, then a white moon of fluff. One breath, and I am gone. What am I?" Answer: A dandelion. Hint: Children blow on it.
The fairy asks: "I am a bridge of seven colors with no planks, and nobody has ever walked across me. What am I?" Answer: A rainbow. Hint: It needs both rain and sun.
The fairy asks: "I am a candle that nobody lit, far too high to blow out. What am I?" Answer: A star. Hint: Wait for dark, then look up.
The fairy asks: "I am a silver coin that nobody can spend. Some nights I am whole, and some nights I am only a slice. What am I?" Answer: The moon. Hint: Look up after sunset.
The fairy asks: "I am a six-pointed star that falls without a sound and is gone on your warm hand. What am I?" Answer: A snowflake. Hint: It comes down in winter.
The fairy asks: "I am a table with one leg, and I spring up overnight after rain. What am I?" Answer: A toadstool. Hint: It grows in the grass, and nobody set it there.
The fairy asks: "I am catching, and nobody minds. One of you starts me, and soon the whole hall has me. What am I?" Answer: Laughter. Hint: A good joke sets it off.
The fairy asks: "I am the quietest thing you can say. Lean close, or you will lose me. What am I?" Answer: A whisper. Hint: It is how a secret travels.
The fairy asks: "I carry a lantern and I have no hands, and I blink it in the summer dark. What am I?" Answer: A firefly. Hint: It glows on warm evenings.
The fairy asks: "I comb the wheat and carry the seeds, and nobody has ever seen me. What am I?" Answer: The wind. Hint: You can feel it on your face.
The fairy asks: "I end every night and begin every day, and the birds announce me. What am I?" Answer: Dawn. Hint: The sky turns pink for it.
The fairy asks: "I hang a pearl on every blade of grass before dawn and take them all back by noon. What am I?" Answer: Dew. Hint: Walk across a lawn at sunrise and your feet will find it.
The fairy asks: "I have no body, and I can still make you dance. I live in a flute and stop when the piper does. What am I?" Answer: A tune. Hint: You can hum it.
The fairy asks: "I live in the pond and in the looking glass. I copy you exactly and never say a word. What am I?" Answer: Your reflection. Hint: Lean over still water.
The fairy asks: "I look like a flower that has learned to fly. What am I?" Answer: A butterfly. Hint: It was a caterpillar once.
The fairy asks: "I once rode the sky and I weigh almost nothing. A bird left me behind for you. What am I?" Answer: A feather. Hint: Look on the ground under a nest.
The fairy asks: "I visit only when your eyes are shut, and I slip away the moment you try to tell me. What am I?" Answer: A dream. Hint: You had one last night.
The fairy asks: "I wear a little cap and no coat, and a whole oak is folded up inside me. What am I?" Answer: An acorn. Hint: Squirrels bury it.
The fairy asks: "You make me on a star, on a candle or on a coin in a well, and you must not tell me to anyone. What am I?" Answer: A wish. Hint: Close your eyes first.

How this list was compiled

Written by the Game Night Generator editors on October 3, 2026: 100 riddles to pose inside a fantasy adventure, in five sets of 20 sorted by who or what asks. Every riddle is the editors' own wording. A few answers are as old as riddling itself (fire, a shadow, an echo), and each of those is told here with a turn of its own; where the sister site's riddle pages tell the same turn, the riddle was replaced; none was copied from a collection, and none is taken from a novel, a film or a game book. No creature, rule term, place or name of any published game, book or film is used: doors, dragons, trolls and fairies belong to folklore. The line under each answer is one hint the door or the guardian may give a table that is stuck. The three levels are the editors' judgment; nobody tested the riddles at a table. Licence: own work