Lucardo Manchester: Gem Runner

By | March 20, 2019

by Lucardo Manchester (website)

Virginia House, 5-7 Great Ancoats Street, M4 5AD

Manchester

2-6 players

Languages: EN

60 minutes

closed
Wheelchair suitable - contact the venue for details
The famous 190 carat Saratov diamond from Russia is being deposited at the central bank in Manchester. Lucardo has hacked the security system, buying your team a one hour window to steal the diamond. Can your team pull off Manchester's biggest ever heist?
show full description
Thank you for helping keep Escape the Review up to date!
Let us know what needs changing:




If you own or manage this company, you can also claim the listing and update it yourself

Overall rating

Rated between 3 and 3.5 out of 5

based on ratings from 29 users
combined with 7 pro reviews

Your review

Player reviews

nathgreen21 rated this:Rated between 40 and 40 out of 5
Arjay Henshall expert rated this:Rated between 35 and 35 out of 5
Played: 18 Sep 2021 Team size: 4 Time taken: 40 Outcome: Successful escape!
🌵Juliette B expert rated this:Rated between 35 and 35 out of 5
Played: 12/07/2019 Team size: 2 Time taken: 47:00 Outcome: Successful escape!

Very fun room, worked well as a 2, no clues required as all was logical and made sense. One particularly nice puzzle in terms of using the environment. 

Scotus0 expert rated this:Rated between 35 and 35 out of 5
Played: 18/12/2018 Team size: 3 Time taken: 59:57 Outcome: Successful escape!

Bank Burglary

As I’d enjoyed my previous visits to Lucardo, it was soon time for another!

Story

Steal a big shiny diamond from a bank. Heists may be like the most common escape room scenario ever, but hey, some have got to be them!

Puzzles

There were many visuals, and lots of things to be implemented. We all really liked one of the last tasks…just like a calculated criminal, be mindful of what could be of use around you!

Mise-en-scène

The big counter almost entirely contributed to making the surroundings feel like the inside of a bank. The other furniture and props were good and right, though.

Final Comments

Escaping with three seconds to spare meant for a very stressful final challenge, but we made it! A team of three to four is ideal for this one.

matt_keds expert rated this:Rated between 25 and 25 out of 5
Played: 20 Aug 2021 Team size: 2 Time taken: 56 Outcome: Successful escape!
great hostinguninspired

#19

The final of 3 games we played in a day at Lucardo, and easily the poorest. The set was a bit lacklustre, and uninspired puzzles, loads of padlocks and a disappointing/stressful finale puts this room towards the bottom of our rankings so far. It didn’t help that it as just an office building with windows to the outside world that broke the immersion. Try UoM or The Orphanage instead as they are both great.

Mark Greenhalgh expert rated this:Rated between 30 and 30 out of 5
Played: 06/08/17
🔐SpontaneousIllusion expert rated this:Rated between 25 and 25 out of 5
Anonymous experienced rated this:Rated between 25 and 25 out of 5
Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!
unoriginal
LoftusLady rated this:Rated between 40 and 40 out of 5
Played: 17 Jan 2022 Team size: 6 Time taken: 52 Outcome: Successful escape!
clevergreat hosting
Simon (The Overthinkers) expert rated this:Rated between 40 and 40 out of 5
Played: 21 Apr 2019 Team size: 2 Time taken: 42:28 Outcome: Successful escape!
Exotic Turtle experienced rated this:Rated between 30 and 30 out of 5
Played: 18 Sep 2021 Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!
Alice Lucy rated this:Rated between 40 and 40 out of 5
Played: 22 Apr 2022 Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
MerseyMarauders expert rated this:Rated between 35 and 35 out of 5
Played: 3 Oct 2020 Team size: 3

Clearly one of Lucardos older rooms - Still enjoyed the game and the few surprises along the way. 

Jordan Brown experienced rated this:Rated between 30 and 30 out of 5
Played: 6 Aug 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 52:35 Outcome: Successful escape!
plain
gimiabreakout experienced rated this:Rated between 35 and 35 out of 5
Played: 5 Mar 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 38:10 Outcome: Successful escape!
Jess_keds expert rated this:Rated between 20 and 20 out of 5
Outcome: Successful escape!
plainlow budget
Chris Metcalfe experienced rated this:Rated between 35 and 35 out of 5
Team size: 3 Outcome: Successful escape!
value for moneyimmersivegreat hostingquite difficult
flyingoctopus expert rated this:Rated between 30 and 30 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!

Worth a play but not one of their best. 

StaceyF expert rated this:Rated between 30 and 30 out of 5
Played: 03/01/2019 Team size: 4 Time taken: 45:58 Outcome: Successful escape!
PurpleB expert rated this:Rated between 40 and 40 out of 5
Played: Jan 2020 Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!

Another good room from Lucardo.  My least favourite of all their rooms but that's just because I enjoyed the others so much.  I wasn't a fan of a couple of the puzzles as I felt there were obvious ways to make them better. But still a lot of fun.

Gavin B rated this:Rated between 35 and 35 out of 5
imrahil experienced rated this:Rated between 40 and 40 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
magicalbacons expert rated this:Rated between 35 and 35 out of 5
🦡cipherdelic virtuoso rated this:Rated between 35 and 35 out of 5
Laura McGill expert rated this:Rated between 40 and 40 out of 5
Played: 28/09/2020 Team size: 2 Time taken: 47:00 Outcome: Successful escape!
Anonymous rated this:Rated between 30 and 30 out of 5
Played: 2018 Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!

Rawtenstall's bank theme is really well done, you do have the feeling to enter a town bank. The owners later told us that the props and decorations are coming from a real bank, which clearly explains why the room looks so authentic. The soundtrack was really good as well, really made us feel like bank thieves. 🙂   The puzzles are quite enjoyable and some of them I've never seen before. The escape though, felt a bit anticlimactic as two locks were left open by mistake when resetting the room. Our host had to send us the message "You have all you need, escape!" despite us still having two unfinished puzzles but holding the loot we were looking for. Overall, it's a very good room with one big surprise and loads of small interesting ones (that I don't want to mention to keep the surprise) that kept us laughing. Not to the same level as their two other current rooms in my opinion, but still one to not miss! 🙂

AdamEscapes rated this:Rated between 45 and 45 out of 5
Played: 3 Aug 2021 Team size: 5 Time taken: 34 Outcome: Successful escape!
hi-techgreat hostingfamily friendly

Although this room has now been closed at Lucardo Rawtenstall, we had a chance to play it a fee months back. Like all the games we have played at Lucardo Rawtenstall this didn't disappoint, very well thought out theme and puzzles, and the hosting as always was great.

We did get out with 26 minutes to spare, but that is mainly because we were a team of 5 pretty experienced escape enthusiasts. If it ever comes back I highly recommend!

Mark Greenhalgh expert rated this:Rated between 30 and 30 out of 5
Played: 06/11/18
Allie Abbott rated this:Rated between 50 and 50 out of 5
Played: 13/01/19 Team size: 4 Time taken: 53:40 Outcome: Successful escape!

Reviews by escape room review sites

A fun-filled adventure, packed full of puzzles and searching that kept the pair of us occupied for almost 40 minutes with barely a pause for breath. This isn't high brow escaping with complicated puzzles, amazing backdrop or deep narrative. This is easy-access with puzzles that aren't too daunting, a set that more than does its job and a flow that kept the adrenaline high right to the very end.
Gem Runner is heavy on the ‘traditional’ escape room puzzles, with plenty of padlocks, codes, and searching and is not a tech heavy room. I could easily see this being a favourite with family groups, or even two person enthusiast groups like us.

A well-themed room with a lot of varied and challenging puzzles. There were plenty of padlocks, but there were also plenty of clever subversions that meant that we were constantly being pushed to try things in a different way.

We enjoyed Gem Runner in Manchester, and we had the same feeling in Rawtenstall. A fun game that will remind you of all the things you first loved about escape rooms.
A well executed room with great hosting and some unique puzzles. We had great fun in this room and think it has something for beginners and enthusiasts alike.

See also

Other copies of this game in other locations:(Different copies of the same game sometimes have significant differences.)