Escape Live Southend: Room 13

To begin with, this room is locked with a key, the only way to exit in an emergency is by smashing a break glass key box to obtain a spare, however if the key had been left in the door on the other side (as it looked to have been), escape would be impossible in an emergency. 

Aside from the real danger, this room was disappointing, overpriced and a contender for worst escape room we've ever done.

The puzzles were plain and uninteresting. They mainly consisted of finding numbers and keys.

The room was covered in Green "do not touch" stickers, completely breaking any sense of immersion. I understand that some things are fragile but believe that a good escape room should be designed in a way that most things in the room can be touched/used. It was also very confusing as some items had stickers on one part but you had to use a different part of the same item.

We were "allowed" to take one phone in the room as a torch was needed but not provided. I don't like taking my phone into escape rooms, for it to be a requirement was extremely frustrating.

The timer was a modern TV screen which was paused at the start of the 1 hour video in Windows media player. Instant break of immersion and not in fitting with the theme of the room. The story was weak with a very unsatisfying ending.

Hints have to be requested via an intercom system. We pressed the button and were asked what we needed help with. I don't believe we were being watched and the host didn't know where in the game we were.

Our host spoke at us at length before and after the escape room. He asked us to each leave a review as he would receive a £5 commission for each one. He also spent a long time trying to sell their other escape rooms to us but failed to ask if we'd done any. He spent several minutes describing a room we have already played and it felt awkward to interrupt...

The lobby area was very small, crowded and unwelcoming, all of the escape rooms run at the same time meaning this area can become extremely busy. The space also included an open door to their store cupboard/staff kitchen.

Whilst something that would be easy to forgive if the rest of the experience was up to scratch, the toilet facilities were unsuitable for the number of people through the doors. There were two toilets available, one of which was out of order, the other was dirty and had a sink that didn't drain. 

For £68 (two players) the room was extremely overpriced for the level of experience that was provided. While I have yet to find a chain escape room that rivals most independents, I expected a basic level of customer experience and walked away very disappointed.