by Sherlock Escape Rooms (website)
Shepherd's Bush
2-6 players
Languages: EN
60 minutes
Headed up by Mycroft Holmes, The Network is a covert branch of British Intelligence, on the hunt for new recruits. To join the ranks as an Agent, you’ll need to complete a routine training mission at headquarters. But not all is as it seems…
It’s time for you to play the detective with your team, as you travel through iconic sets from the show, working together to solve puzzles and crack clues. You’ll be helped along your journey with original content from the cast of the show featuring, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andrew Scott, Martin Freeman, Mark Gatiss, and more.
Crack this brand-new Sherlock case before time runs out and prove you have what it takes to step into the shoes of the great detective.
Overall rating
based on ratings from 30 users
combined with 7 pro reviews
Your review
Player reviews
This has so many surprises and is really great fun. We did it as 4 teams of 5 as a work party. It is fun being able to compete against other teams. We really enjoyed the feedback at the end which was so personalised. The theming is just brilliant both before and after!
A disappointment considering this is the same team who did the incredible Time Run original escape rooms. As you play, another group is playing in the previous room you were in, and you can hear them and the videos of that room very clearly, to the detriment of the immersiveness of the room. The Time Run original escape rooms had the same system but it was managed much better. Some of the puzzles felt disconnected and in general they weren't that clever. A group of 6 is way too much for this room - I think it would have worked much better with a group of 3. There are better escape rooms out there!
This is quite different from other escape rooms we've played. The immersion is amazing! There is a cool pre-experience to the game as well. The room itself is quite hi-tech and we all really enjoyed it. There is a high level of physical puzzles towards the end which I personally struggle with so thank goodness we had our full team of 6 to get through that bit. So many links to the Sherlock TV show as well which I enjoyed as an avid fan!
Definitely an experience and not so much an Escape Room. If you're a fan of the series, you will probably love it.
Overall: A bit dissapointing.
OK, so the positives are that the set-up is excellent from the Opticians reception onwards (no spoilers here) and some of the puzzles are great. It's also clearly designed for fans of the tv series, of which I'm one, with a few of the actors popping up at various stages.
However, there were two main issues: firstly, the hosting was so bad it was cringeworthy and the themepark trick of let me inisist on taking your photo so that I can then try and sell it back to you was misjudged. If you're going to involve the hosts in the story then at least get ones that can act and not make everyone feel uncomfortable.
Secondly, the puzzles were almost all in serial. We were in a team of only four and even we found multiple times that three of us were hanging around waiting for one person. This is just poor design.
We all came away a bit deflated. It had some good aspects but we definitely weren't buzzing afterwards as we have been with other escape rooms.
Poor hosting. Not a personable experience. Didn't open and let us in at the beginning for over 10minutes.
Almost no one going there anymore. Had high hopes, but it was overpriced. Bar was a wasted space, no one was even attending the bar. Can imagine that if they had customers in and out this would have been a thriving place, but felt dead. As a party of 2, we were being rushed through the game. No one was behind us to play, so could have allowed us an extra 5mins to finish the game. Even have the cheek to charge for photos. Nonsense... I understand they probably have high costs, but a real let down. I played their previous games for Time Run in East London. This place pales in comparison.
An experience rather than an escape room. There's a few puzzles scattered amongst various videos and audio clips featuring the cast of the BBC Sherlock show.
If you're expecting an escape room, you'll be disappointed and feeling overcharged. If you're a fan of Sherlock first and puzzles second, you'll probably enjoy it.
Really good fun from the time you arrive at the unusual location, a place to grab a drink beforehand on site and then you're inducted to the game and off you go. 3 areas of puzzles of nice variety and difficulty, handy hint system and video and audio interjections from the cast. Nice that you get your own route and pace and are not being herded through with another team hot on your tail. Nice merch to buy at the end. As a Sherlock fan I loved it but you don't need to have watched it to enjoy it.
Amazing set work, great immersion, and I quite enjoyed the integration of the Sherlock IP. It's not quite the brilliance of Time Run, but still fun.
A decent game (have loved the Time Run games in the past) marred by the packaging. It all felt a bit processed but I guess that's the deal with this sort of franchise based game. The puzzles were great, trying to sell us key rings and jumpers afterwards not so much.
Gave benefit of the doubt at the time, but it seems the same problems exist 6 months later.
Bad and non-nonsensical puzzles, confusing story, broken puzzles/tech. Staff that didn't care about these issues afterwards (frosty would be putting it politely), and haven't fixed anything I raised since. High price is final kick in the teeth for a game that didn't deserve half the cost. Has put a number of people I know off of escape rooms where this was one of their first games.
Reviews by escape room review sites
In the early years, as escape rooms spread throughout the U.K., one London venue quickly gained an international reputation for production values that were streets ahead of anywhere else, as well as a variety of then unheard of innovations such as a briefing performed in costume and in character. That venue was of course Time Run, who eventually closed due to the loss of their lease, but returned in a new location having scored the massive coup of an official licence for a Sherlock game - not Co...
In our briefing we were told we’d travel around London very fast. They weren’t wrong! What starts as a very unassuming opticians shop quickly becomes an exciting briefing at 221B Baker Street (the iconic residence of Sherlock Holmes). We then rushed off to a series of fantastic locations from the TV series such as St. Barts Hospital, Mycroft’s office, and a brilliant (if a little creepy!) museum of medical instruments.
