The Escapement Margate

Gorgeous pirate-themed set which was really immersive. There’s a moment where I thought for a second that we’d genuinely stepped outdoors! Great attention to detail and really nice puzzles. 

Ive tagged this as ‘overpriced’ for two reasons. Firstly, the website boasts a ‘limited time offer’ that all rooms cost a flat fee of £90 regardless of team size. Having checked my records, as a team of 2 I’m pretty sure this actually makes it the most expensive room we’ve ever done by a decent margin. Secondly, the advertised 90-minute duration is misleading. This is a standard length escape room but they allow up to 90 minutes to make sure all teams get to escape and experience the whole room. As a team of 2, we escaped in less than half that - teams of 3 or 4 could do it even more quickly. The room was excellent but we’ve done other excellent rooms elsewhere that were genuinely 90 minute experiences for a lot less money. 

The look and feel of this room is perfect, I can scarcely believe it’s 10 years old. Our host took the time to point out the various bits of maintenance he had done over the past few days. You can tell it’s a real priority to keep everything looking pristine, which is really appreciated. It’s very immersive. Some decent puzzles though the story takes priority for this room in particular. Some of the tech broke but I guess these things happen from time to time.

Ive tagged this as ‘overpriced’ for two reasons. Firstly, the website boasts a ‘limited time offer’ that all rooms cost a flat fee of £90 regardless of team size. Having checked my records, as a team of 2 I’m pretty sure this actually makes it the most expensive room we’ve ever done by a decent margin. Secondly, the advertised 90-minute duration is misleading. This is a standard length escape room but they allow up to 90 minutes to make sure all teams get to escape and experience the whole room. If you’re a team who usually comfortably escapes within 60 minutes, you will do so here too. 

Although apparently 10 years old, this is a very well constructed, and beautifully set escape room, starting even from the intro briefing room, where we felt the earth move beneath our feet (similar to London residents feeling the effect of the Underground). Barry (our man on the inside who bore a striking resemblance to Games-Master Matt), promoted us to the top team after the unfortunate demise of a previous team, owing to the dangerous, even treacherous hazards of descending to the centre of the earth. 

The Pit allowed us to rank our team members (most important=Boss, most dispensable and cutest), which itself was hilarious. The rule set: no red herrings,  single use clues  etc shows mature game design experience that was very appreciated. 

The team and in particular Matt’s passion for Escapement shone through : congrats and well done! Muchos Gracias!