Category Archives: London

Agent November: Christmas Crisis

London, Dec 2017

Christmas is in trouble again, after a crash has left Santa lying in a snowdrift and you with the responsibility for sorting everything out. At least, I think that was the premise – if I didn’t catch all the details of the story, I blame that on the … (more)

Escape Plan: The Battle for Britain

London, Oct 2017

It’s always sad to see a high quality game close, but the blow is softened when the reason is to allow the venue to create a new game in its place. That was the case with Escape Plan, whose much-loved first game shut down last summer to make way for … (more)

Horuscape: Mind Horror

London, Oct 2017

The question here is, how to fairly review something which is a thoroughly different type of experience to everything else on this site? Mind Horror is a virtual reality escape game, so far a rare beast in the UK but gradually creeping into the escap… (more)

City Mazes: Bamboozled

London, Oct 2017

Bamboozled is one of City Mazes’s new stable of purchased game designs, currently available both at their London branch and in Cardiff. Unlike their earlier homegrown designs, the new ones have visible inspiration from TV or movie franchises, and Bam… (more)

City Mazes: The Lost Cabin

London, Oct 2017

My previous experience of City Mazes, with the four games at their Oxford branch, did not leave me with fond feelings for the company: each game we played seemed badly flawed in one way or another. However, some rumours suggested they’d been trying t… (more)

Room Lockdown: Vegas Nights

London, Sep 2017

Vegas Nights is that rare beast, a game designed for exactly two players. The industry could do with more of these, since there’s clear demand for it – I imagine it’s the economics of it that keeps them in scarce supply, since the work for a company … (more)

Room Lockdown: Escape the Curse of King Anum

London, Sep 2017

Our third Room Lockdown game was their Egyptian themed room, where the team is of course trapped inside an ancient pyramid with an hour to solve the pharaoh’s riddles or be trapped forever.

Different games make wildly differing attempts at creating … (more)

Room Lockdown: Prison Break

London, Sep 2017

Next up at Room Lockdown was Prison Break, which naturally involves you breaking out of gaol. Expect a split team start and some impressively authentic restraints.

As with their Doll game, this was a game that I enjoyed playing despite what sometime… (more)

Room Lockdown: Possessed Doll

London, Sep 2017

It’s taken me a long time to get out to the cluster of games at Room Lockdown in Hornchurch, partly because it’s a longer journey than some venues outside London, and partly because I had low expectations for the games. The company has five different… (more)

Do Stuff Escape Games: Pie & Mash Shop

London, Aug 2017

There are common escape game themes and uncommon ones, but I’d confidently predict that Do Stuff are the only company in the world with a game themed around a pie & mash shop. There is more to the plot than just the cheap diner theme though: the owne… (more)