Category Archives: UK

Escapable: Outatime

Wakefield, Oct 2023

My knowledge of classic 80s movies is clearly lacking, because it took me quite a few months after hearing of Outatime before I realised it’s inspired by Back To The Future.

As you’d expect from a time travel theme, this is a game that spans differ… (more)

Cryptology Swindon: The Tortured Soul

Swindon, Jul 2023

The Tortured Soul is the newest room at Incarcerated (which is currently partway through turning into Cryptology Swindon). It’s a supernatural horror game involving the ghost of a child; for calibrating whether it’s a scare level you’re comfortable w… (more)

Cryptology Swindon: Conspiracy – Agenda 21

Swindon, Jul 2023

Six years ago (how time flies) we played the rooms at Incarcerated, and wrote some fairly critical reviews of them, which the owner at the time was good enough to not hold against us. So I was very pleased to find that the current two games were a bi… (more)

Co-Decode: Sub Terra

Swindon, Jul 2023

We may have been the very last team to play Sub Terra in its original location; Co-Decode will be relocating to a more central spot in Swindon, and it’s not yet certain whether Sub Terra will be rebuilt there in quite the same form, or at all. But if… (more)

Cryptic Escape: Magic School

Norwich, Jul 2023

Cryptic’s Rose Lane branch is on the third floor of a car park, which is a curious location and one that seems like it shouldn’t exist; finding an escape room venue instead of more cars seemed a little like finding a hidden platform at Kings Cross.

… (more)

Safarka: Expedition

Lisbon, Feb 2023

When I visited Lisbon five years earlier, Safarka provided the clear stand-out room of the trip: at the time a new company with a single game, they were innovative in play style and puzzles. So returning to try their latest was a priority.

Expeditio… (more)

Escape2Win: Dream

Lisbon, Feb 2023

Located in Algés out beyond the tourist hotspot of Belem, itself some way from Lisbon centre, Escape2Win is unlikely to be a venue you stumble across accidentally. However, they were one of the earliest pioneers of the remote avatar game format at th… (more)

Illuminati Escape Rossio: O Ritual

Lisbon, Feb 2023

O Ritual is now the oldest escape room available in Lisbon, being close to a decade old, and is located very centrally by the Rossio plaza. The company now also runs a sequel, but require you to have played the first game before trying the second; bo… (more)

Houdini’s Escape Room: Extinct

Southampton, Jan 2023

In a departure from normal, I played Extinct as part of a family group including two kids (9 and 12) who were more or less new to escape rooms, which meant a rather different dynamic to playing solely with adult enthusiasts. The venue was clearly set… (more)

Escape From The Room: Return of Old Maid Milly

Epsom, Jan 2023

Old Maid Milly was the ghost in Escape From The Room’s very first game, originally built in the upstairs bedroom of a suburban house. That game resolved the ghost’s tragic past and laid her spirit to rest, but here she’s back and has you trapped agai… (more)