Author Archives: escapethereview

ThinkFun Escape The Room: Secret of Dr. Gravely’s Retreat

Room-in-a-box, Dec 2016

There are now several boxed escape games on the market, but this is the first one our group had tried, so we weren’t entirely sure what to expect. The first and most important question is: does it work as a substitute for an escape room? The answer, … (more)

Puzzlescape: The Diamond Hunt

Norfolk, Dec 2016

Based in Dereham, Norfolk, this room is somewhat off the beaten path, and turned out to have been set up by a father and son who discovered escape games and decided to build their own.

As you might guess it’s a relatively low-tech, low-budget build … (more)

Do Stuff Escape Games: Hostage Hideout

London, Dec 2016

Hostage Hideout is hosted in a room in a pub, which is a sensible arrangement for an escape room since it neatly provides a waiting area that’s more spacious and better served than most rooms can manage.

This is a game created and run by enthusiasts… (more)

Breakout Cardiff: Sabotage

Cardiff, Dec 2016

Sabotage is not a particularly showy game – the modern setting translates to a fairly stripped-down theme and mostly straightforward props. But it’s a well designed and satisfying room, and some nice touches give it an edge of understated humour that… (more)

Breakout Cardiff: Disturbed

Cardiff, Dec 2016

While Disturbed is a traditional, padlock-heavy escape room, it’s a good example of how that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It uses a horror theme but is definitely a puzzle room not a scare experience.

It’s not a huge space, though didn’t feel cra… (more)

Escape Reality: Fibonacci

Cardiff, Dec 2016

This was the second room we played from Escape Reality, and although it shares some of its flaws, overall we found it more enjoyable, even though we narrowly failed to escape within the 60 minute deadline.

It shares the same slightly flawed hint sys… (more)

Escape Reality: Alcatraz

Cardiff, Dec 2016

Alcatraz is a padlock-heavy, very linear game with a tendency towards fairly numeric puzzles. A good first impression was somewhat let down by some weaknesses of the game.

First of these was a puzzle where the clue for the answer was ambiguous, givi… (more)

Xitroom: Crack the Safe

Amsterdam, Aug 2016

The room starts in the dark with a hunt for the lightswitch – which I feel didn’t really add much to the game itself. However, we had that done after a minute or so, and could get stuck into the puzzles.

The puzzles were varied – and had very few lo… (more)

Escape Game Brighton: Laboratory of a Madman

Brighton, Apr 2016

This room felt a little crowded – there were 4 of us (and a mannequin on an operating trolley) squeezed into a smaller room than I’d expected. A part of me hoped we’d be opening a door to a second annex, but sadly that didn’t happen.

The puzzles wer… (more)

Puzzlair: The Secret Agent Room

Bristol, Nov 2016

This room seemed fairly traditional on the surface. The theme was very cold-war spy, and well implemented – without too many distractions. (But with a satisfying number of James Bonds watching you work!)

The puzzles suited the theme all the way thro… (more)