One Way Out

Loved this. A well conceived room with humorous flourishes and a great host. 7 of us made it manageable, but could have been more of a challenge with 2 or 3. Will definitely be back for some of the other rooms.

We had such a fun time staying at Curious Cottage. As a family group, we decided to stay for a couple of nights and have a weekend away. 

The way the story is set up, with six different puzzle strands, means that you get a great mix of puzzles. You could work on multiple at once, but we wanted to take our time and do them all as a group. The teenagers wanted breaks after each completed puzzle strand, while I poked around the house finding things that I desperately wanted to solve. (“Mum, why are you like this?” from Teen One)

We didn’t need to use the hints system as it seemed to flow naturally. It’s not a hard room, but the joy often came from the clever use of the house which makes it a bit different. 

This is our first ‘escape house’ but we’ve done 50+ rooms. All four of us had a brilliant time and wanted to give it 4.5-5 stars. Teen Two decided it might be his favourite ever escape room within about half an hour! 

It’s also a comfortable (and quirky!) place to stay, in a very sweet and quiet village. I think it would have been a rush to get it done in one night as a family though - two nights meant we could relax. One night would be fine for groups of friends happy to stay up late though. 

We had such a good time in the cottage. 6 different paths of puzzles to follow and a small finale connecting everything together. Lots of fun puzzles and tricks throughout- we enjoyed how elements of this house felt particularly like a normal ish escape room too. Read everything carefully as it is possible to break a puzzle or two if you don’t! Only downside is that generative AI has been used for the posters throughout the experience - would look a lot better with something home-brewed instead!

A simply fantasic room. A proper escape room, so many puzzles, all really well themed. A linear flow which makes it great for small teams (and big teams also). Just non-stop, brain teasing fun. 

My first escape room - and a really nice one to start off with. Lovely theme, plenty for all of us to find and have a go at, and a great clue system. 

I think 4 was the right size team for this game - although it's non-linear, there's only so much you can do at once as you kind of need to know what everyone else has done in order to get the final escape. You really need to trust your gut - if you think it might be something, have a go! This room really made us think; there are so many puzzles and codes that everyone should get at least one thing.

I found this room quite overwhelming and think it's probably better suited to larger teams. We had a good go though and escaped with 5 extra minutes and some clues. This room contained some very clever puzzles and some surprises along the way. The hosting by Tessa was great again. Thank you.

A logical and linear room which made a lot of sense to my brain and fitted well with my way of thinking. An original concept and great hosting by Tessa. Both me (in my 30s) and my dad (in his 70s) had a lot of fun. I'd highly recommend this room. Thank you.

Good fun game will return for more 

The best intro to a game I think we've ever had, and a brilliantly themed room. Amazing just how many puzzles and tasks have been crammed into the space. Some really nice use of science tricks too for some puzzles which I've not seen before! Plus a wide variety of other puzzle types which was great. Heavily signposted room and very linear, great for families and newbies, which was fab as we were introducing friends to the hobby! Visually beautiful room which we all enjoyed.

We as enthusiasts introduced two friends to this as their first escape game! We all enjoyed it. Whilst essentially one large puzzle chest containing everything you need to work through, some clever touches have been added to make it more of an experience. Expect to be sat or stood, purely solving puzzles for the time. A great game for those with limited mobility. Brilliantly themed box and some very clever little tricks and techniques used to solve the puzzles. Would be super for families and first timers!

Wonderful game

Thoroughly enjoyable

Some original puzzle but the game lacked structure. Think, "lots of puzzles in a room... go!"

We played this game as a team building excersize. 2 newbies, 2 experienced players. We tried to sit back and allow the newbies to do the puzzles too. As with all Tessa's games there are some fabulous home made props and unique puzzles and it absolutely doesn't disappoint. We really enjoyed this game and hope it will be back this year too. 

Quite how so much has been packed into one room and how unique the puzzles are is simply mind boggling, we are still talking about it.

A very crammed room but for the good reasons. Non linear in its majority with plenty to do even with larger teams. Great little deduction puzzles interwoven throughout the main game. 

Very small space but used very well. Some great imagination used in the room design with some fun elements included. A very linear puzzle plan and a very good and original idea to help with a directional lock. Clue system was creative. A great room for families. I almost with they had a bigger space because a revels of a second room would be great. 

Good stor with well placed reveals and some lovely original ideas.

Fantastic game to do as a family

Lovely room, great for kids due to the theme and style of puzzles.

Unique briefing and clue system (at times- sometimes it was just a speaker system)

This is a fairly easy room. Heavily signposted and all situated in a very small space.  Enjoyable from start to finish, with a couple of really nice stand out puzzles. Just wish there was more of it!!! 

Murder mystery, Cluedo style game. 

Nice variety of padlocks. Some good signposting without being too obvious. 

There is plenty to do for a big team. We were all busy for the time we were in there. 

First section is very cramped and dark. Not too sure why it's dark. This just seemed like an unnecessary hindrance. 

Would recommend for families, friends,  beginners and experienced teams. 

This was the second room we've done here. The story and theme were very original and cute and we did not expect so many puzzles in such a small space. The hint system was clever, giving little nudges rather than obvious clues that can ruin the experience. This was a fun and enjoyable room and we would recommend this for families as well as teams of 2 who want a challenge. We will return, just like the robot. 

So much to do in one escape room, we definitely needed the 70 minutes. Lots of clever puzzles that linked in really well with the lab theme. With so much to do, it was a challenge as a 2 but for experienced escapers it is must do. We will return soon to do the other rooms. 

Gas Alert was our second visit to One Way Out after playing Framed earlier that afternoon. These were our 15th and 16th rooms so while not experts, we have played enough to know these were special. 

As with our first visit, the introduction was great. Character based, entertaining and very different to any intro we’ve had before. Once again we can only commend Tessa for her fantastic work with this room, which was as equally impressive as the last. The setting again was fantastic. The room had loads of space to accomodate a large team and very much felt like the science lab it was supposed to be. Having read from other reviews that the owner used to be a science teacher it really shows in this room. 

Once again there was plenty to do for the four of us, with less searching required than framed but the added element of science-based puzzles. We have not seen these unique, practical elements in any rooms before and doubt we will see them again any time soon. They were great fun and made for an incredibly immersive experience and made us all feel like kids again. We split in to 2 teams of 2 and swapped about if/when we were struggling and this proved a good tactic for this room. 

We escaped in 59.14 (70 minute room) so it was a good amount of things to do for the four members of Waltzing Matilda. I’m fairly confident the Mushy Peas could have attempted this as a two and successfully escaped, but may have still needed a hint or two. 

Clues were once again delivered in a timely manner via voiceover in the room but we didn’t need as many this time. Framed and Gas Alert both have a personalised and intimate feel beyond any we have experienced before. This room is also up there with the most enjoyable rooms any of us had played so far, for slightly different reasons. This one felt slightly more inclusive for the less experienced members of our team and made for a ton of fun! Thank you to One Way Out for a marvellous experience, well worth the trip to Oakham.

We visited One Way Out with 2 friends (to form team Waltzing Matilda) specifically to try our hand at Framed because of it’s excellent reviews and it did not disappoint. We enjoyed it so much that we immediately booked for Gas Alert later that evening. These were our 15th and 16th rooms so while not experts, we have played enough to know these were special. 

Firstly, the introduction was delivered with excellent humour and really got us in the spirit. You can tell that our host and writer of the rooms, Tessa takes great pride in her work and cares about the guest experience. Secondly we were pretty blown away by the beautiful room itself. Framed is set mainly in a large living room which looks exactly like…well, a large living room! This did not have the feel that you were in a purpose built/themed space. Instead it felt as though you had genuinely entered someone’s home. It was decorated brilliantly and almost everything in (and out of) sight was part of the game play. 

This room was fairly search heavy but also had a huge variety of other puzzles, too. There was plenty to do for the four of us. As usual with open rooms, it got more linear as time went on and we worked more closely together. We really enjoyed the added murder mystery element of the game and it helped keep the narrative continuously moving. There was one particular element that we were all impressed by as we hadn’t seen anything like it before in an escape room and it was so beautifully done. 

We escaped in 65.47 (70 minute room) so it was the perfect amount of things to do for us four. I think the Mushy Peas could have attempted this as a two and potentially gotten out, but it definitely would have been a close call! Due to having extra time, Tessa allowed us to go back in and look for the cake (a charming little side quest) which we found fairly quickly once pointed in the right direction!

Clues are delivered in a timely manner via voiceover in the room, addressing individuals by name - which sounds as if the host is right in the room with you! Framed and Gas Alert both have a personalised and intimate feel beyond any we have experienced before. It feels difficult to compare Framed with others of our favourite rooms because of its very original style but we all agreed it was up there with the most enjoyable rooms any of us had played so far. Thank you to One Way Out for a marvellous experience, well worth the trip to Oakham.