Exciting Escapes Basingstoke

Amazing looking room with lots of details 

Was differently on the harder side of things with maybe couple things not making much sense but still a good room with loads to do 

Host Lauren was amazing and helpful 

Amazing looking room highly detailed and all the padlocks and stuff in there being as period correct as possible making it’s very immersive 

Great unique puzzles,everyone being different from the last 

Very fun and enjoyable to play 

Host Lauren was great, friendly and helpful 

After completing all of the other Basingtoke games at Exciting Escapes and whilst still waiting for Disappearing Duchess part 3 we took on the Christmas game Operation Naughty or Nice. As with all of this brands games, there are lots of padlocks; a mix of numerical and normal key locks. Most of these are signposted (also like in previous games) with little pictures to give you a clue where to get the number or key from. We managed to solve all the puzzles with only a few nudges on certain things from our games master. It was an enjoyable game with a festive twist on theming but no massively outstanding puzzles. This was my 80th game so getting a 5 star rating there has to be something really impressive - whether thats in a puzzle or how immersive the game is. None the less, I'm glad we played it befire it transforms back into the game 'a hidden past' which was our first ever game we played at the venue.

Wonderful theming, a fantastic GM (Savannah), and really fun puzzles! It was a bit small at times, so that's worth being aware of for larger groups.

Our ratings:

Theming: 9.5/10
Puzzles: 8.5/10
GM: 10/10
Value: 9/10
Fun: 8.5/10

Overall: 91%

Wonderful theming, a fantastic GM (Savannah), and really fun puzzles! It was a bit small at times, so that's worth being aware of for larger groups.

Our ratings:

Theming: 9.5/10
Puzzles: 9/10
GM: 10/10
Value: 9/10
Fun: 9/10

Overall: 93%

This is the second instalment of the same storyline, although a totally different setting and theme (which makes total sense within the context of the story). The theming is immersive, and has a great ending, as did the part 1 room. The gamemaster was excellent, clearly paying very close attention, and the clues were helpful without giving too much away. We felt the clues we did need still left a lot of working out to be done, so we didn't feel like we had cut any major corners by asking for clues once or twice. Apparently there will be a third part to the story available next year, and we will certainly be back. 

Absolutely fantastic room, flowed really well, clever theme with some challenging puzzles but nothing illogical. Really enjoyed.

Good fun room. There was one puzzle in the room which we were able to solve out of order, which caused a bit of confusion later on, but otherwise very clever.

I have not done anywhere near as many rooms as some of you guys have, so maybe my view of this is skewed, but I thought this room was really good. Its small, so teams of maybe 3 or more may struggle, but for our group of two of us, it was perfect. 

Probably the most developed storyline ive seen so far, and the whole part one and part two thing is really clever, I read on the website about that and thought, how can those two stories possibly link, but they've managed it. 

Theres a few moments where something didn't work as expected and the GM had to come into the room at one point to whack something for us to get it to work, which is a shame, but that really isn't the moment I remember most about this room. 

Very much looking forward to going back to do part 2. 

Another excellent addition to the Disappearing Duchess series! Storyline was fantastic and I can’t wait for the next instalment!

Excellent room. Really fun puzzles and the theming is fantastic!

This is a good room and worth playing but not sure it lives up to how amazing chapter 1 is. A couple of the puzzles felt a little too "off piste" and like they didn't naturally flow as part of the room. Really good scenery and setting though and the game hosts are really lovely.

Absolutely fantastic room, really clever puzzles, flowed really well, really immersive.

They say this is their most difficult room, I would say its not (but only by a slim margin) but there is a lot to do and some tricky searching to complete.

I would say this is the hardest game at this venue with some tricky puzzles, I think we had the most clues of any game we played here.  Mostly we had search fails as they are some tricky search puzzles to find the items you need to progress.  Once again, theming and scenography were on point and the puzzles were mostly relatively straight forward in execution.

Whilst not as strong as part 1, I would still definitely play this game, there are a couple of puzzles that are just there to slow you down by their physical nature but mostly there are very good and completely in keeping with the theme.  This game does end on a bit of a cliff hanger but apparently Part 3 is coming soon.

In my opinion the best game at this venue and the best game in Basingstoke!  Theming is very much on point with both the puzzles and the story.  The story does take an unexpected turn but this segues directly into the Part 2 (I would definitely play these back to back!)  It feels rare to get a triumphant end to a game but this one definitely did.

We are in another time zone here, looking to swap important documents for fake ones.  Once again the puzzles are mixture of logic and search based (including a couple that might defeat younger players as they have no concept of how it might work!).  Theming is good but there is a possibility of an insta-fail on the last puzzle so take care.

Relatively straight forward room with you infiltrating a police station (as opposed to breaking out of one!) and trying to find proof of treason.  Theming is relatively on point with the usual mix of puzzles, couple with a couple of physical ones where communication is essential to success.  This is good fun executed competently, nothing here will surprise you but neither will it infuriate you.

Well built, immersive room! We didn't need any clues and the room flowed well. Esme was a good host. We will be back to do part 2 and the other rooms! 

Really enjoyed this room. The set was really well designed - everything felt like it belonged there. The puzzles were fun and flowed very nicely and it had a great ending. I'm very much looking forward to the next chapter.

I'd rate this higher as it was a well themed game with a funny ending but it was a bit too cramped a space for our team of 4. I'd recommend 3 people max. 

Nice room, but very easy

Unfortunately chapter 2 didn't live up to chapter 1. Some parts were particularly hard and also in the first area the lighting was very poor so was very tricky to do the padlocks.

Great new room in Basingstoke. It’s part two of a storyline and the room is incredibly immersive. Looks amazing inside! Puzzles are hard in places. Great ending!!

Nice room with some unique puzzles

Very well themed. Great story too. Mix of puzzles - some easier than others 

Nice movie themed room. Played just before it closed down

Overall a great game, even though we struggled to finish in time.

Set design is always great from EE - love the way they design their spaces.

The final puzzle doesn't seem very covid safe, so we needed prompting to do what we needed to do and in the confusion messed it up a bit. Finished with a couple of minutes to spare.

We love this game - super stylish, clever puzzles, great hosting. All round ace.

A decent, fun game that worked well for our group of friends. We didn't find it too challenging, but enjoyed it all the same.

The newest offering from Exciting Escapes, we'd bought a voucher to try this room out some time ago pre-CV but only finally got the opportunity in the summer after a very delayed opening for them. Forms Part 1 of a planned Part 2 game with the second part being their Christmas offering this year if things go to plan. The decor is well done in terms of being "in a ship" although I have to say from the game description it is not what I expected (having thought there would be a little more opulence if a wealthy traveller was involved). I think they have done well given it is such a small space and we felt occupied most of the time - it is quite linear and consequently there was one part of the game where I had literally nothing to do as the task required one person to focus on working something out that was very small (this could have been done in a way that was more accessible to all so I'm not quite sure why decision was made to do it in the way they did).  Managed to bypass one part of a puzzle completely which led to a little later confusion (handled quickly by GM). Enjoyed the ending. Solid room and fun, but wouldn't recommend doing with more than 3 people (and 2 probably better) due to size and nature of game; difficulty ok but played Dark Deeds on the same day and would give that the edge in terms of puzzle quality and enjoyment.  

Good decor and volume of puzzles to keep us occupied for our first trip back into live ERs post lockdown. Well hosted by the GM who just gave us a couple of nudges at the end (which meant we finished on 59:59 exactly). Did manage to bypass part of the game having worked out the solution for a puzzle without having all the info, and missed a small part of the game entirely having seen what was required without finding the instructions. One puzzle didn't quite make sense INHO although we did work out what was required in the end. Solid ER fun and felt like a reasonable difficulty level for a pair. 

Theme came through better than other EE games. Puzzles better too, in general more logical, less frustrating (apart from 'X' logo that doesn't look like what it represents!!). Enjoyable experience.