by Clue HQ Manchester (website)
4 Sheffield Street, M1 2ND
2-6 players
60 minutes
Overall rating
based on ratings from 17 users
combined with 7 pro reviews
Your review
Player reviews
Chasing Crooks
Another escape with family, and my mother's first, though she was only in it for the photo at the end!
Story
Having received intel on notorious criminal Danny Badd's current location, try to catch him...but don't get blown up. 'Danny Badd' seems to be a recurring character throughout Clue HQ's games.
Puzzles
Easy-peasy, though there was one physical challenge that was practically impossible. I was applying a lot of knowledge from my past escapes, and so none of the puzzles here felt all that original. A hint was needed for the final challenge, but it was a 'blink and you miss it' kind of moment.
Mise-en-scène
I'm not sure where we were actually supposed to be. 'Rooms with puzzles in' is accurate, so don't expect to be transported to a criminal mastermind's hideout.
Final Comments
Nothing to write home about. An ideal room for newbies.
It was okay - one of the locks hadn't been reset and so the game host had to come in mid way through which really broke the immersion of being locked in.
Reviews by escape room review sites
Many of Clue HQ's games share a recurring villain by the name of Danny Badd, and Detonation's premise is straightforward: you're trapped in a building that this scoundrel has rigged to blow up. Fortunately, he's a villain with a sense of sportsmanship, and has given you an hour to get out before the bomb goes off.
If the modern setting makes Detonation sound more dull than some of Clue HQ's other games, that's misleading: smoke and flashing lights amp up the drama, and of course there's little ...
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Not the most elegant of rooms you'll play, but looks OK, some good puzzles, but also some bits which were easily overlooked, the first half of the room definitely looked more impressive than the second half, user error with a pretty ancient tv/dvd player meant that one code couldn't be learned in the desired way. A quirky game that felt a bit dated now and could do with a revamp.
