Category Archives: UK

mostly harmless…: Lifeboat

London, Feb 2018

Each winter the tunnels under Waterloo station host the VAULT festival with a huge array of fringe and alternative events, sometimes including shows that edge from immersive theatre to game experiences. This year one of the events is a 30 minute esca… (more)

Clue Adventures: 2 Tickets 2 Ride

London, Jan 2018

The name of Clue Adventures’ second game emphasises its distinctive feature: it’s a game for exactly two players. Despite apparent demand for two player games there are currently no other London games designed for this number, and the majority of Lon… (more)

ExCLUEsive Games: Lost Island Escape

Newbury, Jan 2018

Lost Island Escape places you at the mercy of island cannibals with a fetish for puzzles. The first task is to escape a darkened cage. Having completed that task, you can emerge onto the ‘island’. It’s not so much a recreation of an island as a theme… (more)

ExCLUEsive Games: The Swindler

Newbury, Jan 2018

The Swindler is loosely based around the idea of Lady Humbug, a 1950s con artist. The story talks a little about time-travelling to unravel her mystery. It’s probably better to think of it as an investigation that uncovers a room untouched since the … (more)

Deadlocked Escape Rooms: The Testing Chamber

Reading, Jan 2018

There are not many computer games I’ve played in the last eighteen years, but one of the few I have is Portal. If you’re also familiar with that, then you’ll recognise immediately the tongue-in-cheek dark humour of Testing Chamber. This game starts w… (more)

Deadlocked Escape Rooms: The Phoenix Research

Reading, Jan 2018

Located on the west side of Reading, Deadlocked currently have two games. Their first is Phoenix Research, named for the documents you’re trying to retrieve: the critical notes of a missing scientist employed by the dubious Wexell Corporation.

If yo… (more)

Exciting Escapes: Dark Deeds and Groceries

Basingstoke, Dec 2017

With three successful games under their belt at their Southampton branch, Exciting Escapes have expanded to a second branch in Basingstoke, with one copy of their original game plus two new ones. Dark Deeds is the first of those new games and has a 1… (more)

History Mystery: The Queenmaker

Norfolk, Dec 2017

With their first two games set in Norwich Guildhall, History Mystery had already set a high bar for their locations, but their third game takes that to a new level by being set in an actual church. The church in question is part of the Blickling esta… (more)

History Mystery: Archived Alive!

Norwich, Dec 2017

In Archived Alive! your mission is to rescue the local historian, who has managed to lock himself in the vaults. As he explains to you in the intro video, the poor fellow has been there three days without food or water, and since he’s also worried ab… (more)

Escape Colchester: 221B Baker Street

Colchester, Dec 2017

Many Sherlock-themed escape games need an excuse for why the great man himself isn’t present – perhaps he’s been kidnapped, or has died, or is simply too busy with more important cases. Escape’s version takes a novel approach: here you are in fact th… (more)