Category Archives: UK

The Panic Room: North Pole Panic

Gravesend, Dec 2017

It’s December, and along with other signs of the season such as tinsel, fake snow and endless Wham replays, quite a number of escape room companies are offering Xmas-themed games. The Panic Room’s take on this gives you the task of helping Santa’s el… (more)

Safarka: The Research

Lisbon, Nov 2017

Safarka Escape’s The Research is a curious, surprising game that we booked into on last-minute impulse and that turned out to be something of a find. The backstory involves a request from a friend to break into his rival’s flat to recover a set of st… (more)

Escape Hunt: The Great Lisbon Earthquake

Lisbon, Nov 2017

Escape Hunt are a multinational escape room company, who have branches in cities on various different continents. Long ago I played a game at their now-closed London branch without being very impressed, but had heard rumours their latest games had im… (more)

Lisbon Escape Game: The Spy Room

Lisbon, Nov 2017

Lisbon’s oldest escape game draws for inspiration on the city’s long time reputation as a centre for espionage, with the game’s aim being to sneak into, and then escape from, the apartment of a famous spy. It was built at a time when escape rooms wer… (more)

The Panic Room: Ten Fathoms Deep

Gravesend, Nov 2017

I try not to visit new rooms too soon after they open in case they’re still affected by teething problems. The Panic Room seem to open rooms at such a rate though that it’s been hard to find a time to visit when there wasn’t a fairly recently … (more)

The Panic Room: Defective Detective

Gravesend, Nov 2017

A man is dead and it’s up to you to gather the evidence and solve the mystery, in the 60 minutes you have before the cops arrive and make a hash of things.

A murder investigation is a tried and tested escape room theme. Defective Detective mixes it… (more)

The Panic Room: Dino Land

Gravesend, Nov 2017

Dino Land is a tricky game to review. It’s huge and impressive and silly, and I had a great time playing it. Be warned though that the emphasis is more on the theming and experience than the puzzle content, and for that reason some enthusiasts may fi… (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)

iLocked: Alien

Nottingham, Oct 2017

iLocked’s first game was highly automated, and Alien takes the level of technology a step further. The setting and story here is of course a nod to the movie, with the players as the crew of a small spacecraft woken from stasis after an attack from a… (more)

Escapologic: Contraption

Nottingham, Oct 2017

Contraption is Escapologic’s original game, the first of what is now eight different escape rooms at their Nottingham location, and it’s clear why the venue made a splash from the outset. The game is a steampunk-y fest of cogs and pipes and machines … (more)