by Escape Reality Manchester (website)
The Printworks, Withy Grove, M4 2BS
2-6 players
Languages: EN
60 minutes
Overall rating
based on ratings from 41 users
combined with 4 pro reviews
Your review
Player reviews
Good room but I hate the clue system!
Not our usual first choice of theme but we enjoyed this game; it has a split start and some really immersive elements. A good mixture of puzzles.
Absconding from Alcatraz
This was my third prison-themed room, but I'm always willing to see how different companies present them.
Story
As convicted criminals, your fellow inmates have created a distraction, giving you one hour to escape before the warden comes back.
Puzzles
Somewhat traditional: a bit of counting, some arithmetic, a dash of practical. Teamwork was important, but only at the very start. As three decent players, we worked well together and didn't struggle on much.
Mise-en-scène
The cells were credible...I wasn't particularly wowed by anything beyond that point.
Final Comments
This room doesn't deserve more than a three-star rating. When compared to Lucardo's The Prison, it shows there are definitely some missed opportunities!
My favourite room they have here at escape reality.
Love the start of the room and it really demonstrates teamwork. The first half of the room is truly a teamwork game and co operation.
I know the prison feel can be overdone as its a common theme, however this was executed very well and made it feel like a true escape.
A couple of the puzzles were a little ambiguous with very little signposting, however i would say that its certainly not the hardest room we have ever played by a long shot and i and that all the rooms at escape reality cater for beginner players rather than intermediate or advanced.
if you are ever in manchester, please make sure you stop by and give this game a go. a team of 4 is optimal
Reviews by escape room review sites
Alcatraz is a padlock-heavy, very linear game with a tendency towards fairly numeric puzzles. A good first impression was somewhat let down by some weaknesses of the game.
First of these was a puzzle where the clue for the answer was ambiguous, giving two possible answers only one of which would work. That's a design weakness, and was entirely avoidable here. It was compounded by the context, which involved a communication element that made the ambiguity harder to detect. (While discussing the ...
Alcatraz is a well-produced room with good puzzle diversity. The overall experience is ultimately let down by the sub-par hint system, but the room itself is good quality. I’d recommend this room for larger teams that have a few escape room victories under their belt – you’ll need every brain in the room!
Time penalties were given for each clue given which is the only downside for Escape Reality, however, we escaped within the 60 minutes we were given, so I'm taking it as a win.
A good looking room, with good puzzles, this was the last of 4 for us, I thoroughly enjoyed it, we could have, and probably should have made it easier for ourselves, but despite that we got through. The iPad with time penalties for clues is probably the only downside for me.
See also
- Escape Reality Cardiff: Alcatraz (Cardiff)
- Escape Reality Coventry: Alcatraz (Coventry)
- Escape Reality Edinburgh: Alcatraz (Edinburgh)
- Escape Reality Glasgow: Alcatraz (Glasgow)
- Escape Reality Leeds: Alcatraz (Leeds)
- Escape Reality Leicester: Alcatraz (Leicester) (closed)
- Escape Reality Birmingham: Alcatraz (Birmingham)
- Escape Reality Preston: Alcatraz (Preston)
- Escape Reality Newcastle: Alcatraz (Newcastle)