The Escapement: The Pit

By | March 20, 2019

by The Escapement Margate (website)

65 Northdown Rd, Cliftonville, Margate CT9 2RJ

Margate

2-7 players

Languages: EN

90 mins
🐶👶

The Earth is faced with a severe crisis, and you are mankind’s last hope.

As some of the best miners in the world, you’re being sent deep underground on an extremely critical mission.

Can you work as a team and save the world from utter destruction?

Do you have what it takes to save the planet in this journey to the centre of the earth?

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Overall rating

Rated between 4 and 5 out of 5

based on ratings from 63 users
combined with 7 pro reviews

Your review

Player reviews

maxcarnag3 rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
value for moneyimmersive

Great adventure! Really enjoyed the theming and clever well thought out puzzles

Peter Hoare experienced rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 4 Sep 2024 Team size: 2 Time taken: 72 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalclevergreat hosting

Great room, with some puzzles and ideas id never seen. 

Anonymous rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
Played: 1 Aug 2024 Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
beautifulimmersivestory-driven
essentialatom experienced rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 29 Jun 2024 Team size: 2 Time taken: 58:55 Outcome: Successful escape!
immersivegreat hosting

A very nicely designed room. There's a satisfying flow from one puzzle to another, some nice attention to detail (such as a communication device being provided for you at just the point you'll need it), and tasks that engage you both physically and mentally. And our host got involved to ramp up the intensity towards the end too! Great fun, highly recommended. 

🤘The Pick of Destiny expert rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 10 Jun 2024 Team size: 2
immersivegreat hostingintense

This experience was made all the better by our fantastic GM, Tom! The game stands on its own as an excellent room, however, the hosting really put the cherry on top of the cake! We loved it!

DypanicDuo experienced rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 28 Feb 2023 Team size: 4 Time taken: 43:00 Outcome: Successful escape!
AJ’s expert rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 22 Aug 2020 Team size: 2 Time taken: 43:34 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalimmersivestory-driven
A really immersive build and mix of puzzles we hadn’t seen before! Possibly the most immersed we had felt in any game as we played our way through! Even after 280 games this still sits firmly in our top 10! A must play if you’re in Margate! 
madhatter rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Played: 28 Apr 2024 Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!
immersivestory-drivengreat hostingquite difficult
We had high expectations for this but left feeling flat. The theming/set is fantastic. Hosting is really good, although the intro is perhaps longer than it needs to be and had lost us a bit. This wasn’t so much a game of finding and solving. Personally we felt it would be more suited to a team of 2 as often there was nothing for the rest to do. The first half of the game was better than the second. And the end we found a bit of an anti-climax
LouT rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalimmersivegreat hosting
Really enjoyable game. Our host was great, loads of enthusiasm.
escapeartist1212 expert rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
cleverimmersivestory-driven
A Blacksmith expert rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 10 May 2023 Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
immersivegreat hostingintensequite difficult
A well themed room both immersive and puzzles. Some nice surprises  and fantastic games master. Definitely worth a visit. 
browngate experienced rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
Ratchel experienced rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
HazelChester rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Dan Getliffe experienced rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 20 Aug 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 55 Outcome: Successful escape!
immersivegreat hosting

Possibly one of the most immersive sets we’ve seen, with a great atmosphere and great hosting. There’s also a brilliantly thematic surprise inside which is really clever! 

Unfortunately it’s let down a bit by it’s puzzles. There’s not a lot of them and they are a little basic. They fit the room and it’s theme well, but they just don’t really grab you like some other puzzles do in other rooms.

A great experience though and worth going for the theming and set alone. 

Joe Brown expert rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 20 Aug 2023 Team size: 4

Strong atmospheric start to an impressive set off puzzles well themed to the story. Some great mechanics and good team challenges.

puzzlebitch experienced rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Team size: 2 Time taken: 53:47 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalimmersivegreat hosting

The Pit was my favourite of the two games we played at The Escapement. The set is incredible, the experience was very immersive and it was also refreshing to have more physical tasks to complete than combination locks/padlocks. A lot of puzzles I've never seen before and very on-theme. I had so much fun playing this game!

Bethany was a brilliant GM, extremely funny and great in character. 

Same as with Pirates of Polaris, my only critique would be the 75 minute label on the game when there is not 75 minutes worth of tasks to complete. We got off to an extremely slow start (didn't solve anything for the first 10 minutes or so) and still managed to complete the game in less than an hour as a team of two. The lack of timer also detracts from it for me, as I like to know how much time has elapsed. 

I would still highly recommend this game though. It's extremely unique, immersive and fun, and leagues above other games I've played. 

StaceyF expert rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 29/06/2019 Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!
beautifuloriginalclever
Jen Wells (Get Wells Soon) expert rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 31 May 2023 Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalimmersivegreat hosting

Our experience in the mine was a lot of fun and the added theatrics of the game really enhanced our experience and elevated it from an escape game to an escape experience.

The puzzles were great and required good communication skills, which we always enjoy. A fabulous set that felt incredibly immersive and a hilarious host - Tom - who we really enjoyed.

Lighting and physicality can be a challenge in here, so something to bear in mind.

Overall, a fantastic game. This was my personal favourite at the venue, although my partner preferred Pirates of Polaris. Either way, you can't really go wrong!

benny1664 experienced rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 12 May 2023 Team size: 4 Time taken: 47 Outcome: Successful escape!
beautifulimmersivestory-driven

This was the 3rd game we played with Escapement and again as per the first 2 the set is truly fantastic.  Its a really interesting use of the space and has a wide variety of puzzles which flowed well with our style/brains.  I think the set is better than the gameplay with a slight sense of let down at starting the core again but its a really good fun game.

Jess_keds expert rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
Outcome: Successful escape!
beautifulhi-techimmersive

Excellent room! High tech and very immersive. Wonderful experience! 

EmmaSmiley rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 17 Feb 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 65 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalfunnygreat hostingquite easy

Loved the puzzles and immursian of this room. A couple of unique puzzles that we havent seen else where. One of my partners favourite games, for its uniqueness. But also the room could do with a few more puzzles as we completed it quickly for a 75 minute room.

Anna Baillie experienced rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 22 Nov 2022 Team size: 5 Time taken: 50:05 Outcome: Successful escape!
epic

I think I just didn't connect with the puzzles and theme of The Pit as much as the other Escapement games, but the set was as epic as expected and there were some really unique puzzles. Great GMing too!

Kelly Archer expert rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalimmersivegreat hosting

A truly great game with some things I have never seen before. We really loved this, very immersive and creative. I don't want to say more!

The only downside is the way that Escapement do a detailed run through of ALL of the puzzles after the game. Sure, I want to talk through things I didn't see or understand but a step by step analysis of a room that we successfully completed? No thanks. This is the only reason the game is listed as 90 minutes. 

Anonymous expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Team size: 5 Outcome: Successful escape!
original
flyingoctopus expert rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Team size: 5 Outcome: Successful escape!
beautifulstory-drivengreat hostingquite easy

A very immersive game with great use of natural features to fully submerge you in the theme. 

The game itself was on the easy side with some quite repetitive puzzles. As a larger team, we did spend a bit of time watching each other solve things. 

However, we also spent a lot of time admiring the use of the space and features. 

The host was great and really threw himself into the role. 

PurpleB expert rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 16 Aug 2022 Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
immersivegreat hostingepic

I really loved this room.  The puzzles fitted in really well with the theme and the set was amazing.  The only thing which let it down was a couple of the techy puzzles didn't work for us at first and we had instructions of the radio to "wiggle it around a bit".

imrahil experienced rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Team size: 2 Time taken: 45 min Outcome: Successful escape!
great hostingepicbroken tech
matt_keds expert rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
Played: 11 Aug 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 49 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalimmersiveepic
kman expert rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 03 Jul 2022 Team size: 4 Time taken: 50m40s Outcome: Successful escape!
originalgreat hostingepic

I was blown away at the scale of this room and the way it has been constructed to immerse you in this 'escape'. It's incredibly atmospheric the moment you start the game, and exciting and epic all the way until the end. 

The host was so in character and the Escapement team here are honestly one of the passionate hosts I've ever met. Super engaging and you can tell they love doing this.

The game stands out, the puzzles are wonderfully crafted, some things in this room I've never seen before in other escape games.

This was one of my favourite games I've played in Kent during our trip and a must-try if you've not played before

Mia Rabone experienced rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalclevergreat hostingquite difficult

Brilliant room. Highly recommend. Brilliant hosting, and you get a little token gift after escaping. Loved it. 

d.green26 expert rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
beautifulimmersivestory-driven
c2creviewer experienced rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Jon Sterling rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!
Mark Greenhalgh expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: 13/02/19
Simon (The Overthinkers) expert rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 24 Mar 2019 Team size: 2 Time taken: 58:12 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalimmersive
Adam Bravery expert rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 29 Dec 2021 Team size: 2 Time taken: 39 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalimmersiveintense

Our favourite game at the Escapement and one of the best games around. Theming is fantastic and host Adam was great! Puzzles flow really well and the tension ramps up as you near the end. 

🔐James Bloodworth expert rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 30/11/2021 Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
cleverimmersiveintense
Easily my favourite game at the venue!  Definitely a hands on type of game as there are a lot of physical puzzles as well as some clever logical ones as well.  A clever transition adds to the experience but (a bit like the ending of Exodus) there is a moment where you get to the overall goal of the room and how you solve it seems a little perfunctory after everything you've had to get through to get there.  The overall exit from the room is high energy and satisfying.
🦡cipherdelic virtuoso rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Outcome: Successful escape!
originalcleverimmersive
My favourite from Escapement and its a great adventure. The Pit has a focus on operational puzzles, its a lot of doing and not much solving, but this fits the game and narrative perfectly. The theming is excellent, from the posters on the walls to the smell and feel of the pit itself. But the most impressive thing for me was the room transitions, these were executed excellently and provided some real wow moments. 
A great adventure and another must play room. 
Anonymous rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
Played: 16 Nov 2019 Team size: 3 Outcome: Successful escape!
beautifulcleverimmersive

Definitely a must-play. Still at the top of my best games of all time list. Very immersive, really intuitive and nothing felt out of place.

Ronnie Meade experienced rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
immersivestory-driven

I know there is a lot of love for this room, but I came away a little deflated as we managed to solve the last puzzles simply by inserting a few things and not needing any logical deductions. So sadly the ending was abrupt. The set design and immersion are great and the Escapement are a lovely company and team who make great rooms. The room started great and there are clever puzzles and a nice transition from rooms. Had we earned the ending with logical solutions I feel we would have enjoyed this room more. 

Anonymous experienced rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Played: 10 Aug 2019 Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!

Didn't think there was much to solve in this room, feel its slightly overrated just because of the trolley. 

Kempshott_fox rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
originalclever
Shane Craig Gausden experienced rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!
immersivestory-drivenintense
Tim Cooper expert rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalimmersivestory-drivenquite difficult
Spanishfleas expert rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
Anonymous rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
Played: 3 Jun 2021 Team size: 4 Time taken: 58 minutes Outcome: Successful escape!
immersivestory-drivengreat hosting

Upon arrival we were greeted by Adam who from the start showed enthusiasm which got us excited for the game. We were offered drinks which was a nice touch and were given a quick safety briefing. Adam then left and returned in character and took us through to get our hard hats and briefed us on the story of the game all in character. The room itself was completely unique and showed great attention to detail using props and sounds which made the room the most immersive we have experienced. The puzzles were in keeping with the plot of the story and although acting as a clue giver, Adam remained in character throughout, constantly checking up on us. The room made great use of space including one particular feature which made the experience stand out for the rest. After we completed the room Adam debriefed us on each step which again showed his enthusiasm which we loved. We will definitely be back to try the other rooms. 

Moosehead expert rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalimmersivestory-driven

Such a fun room!  We've played a lot of games and this consistently stays in my top 3 of all time.  Staff were extremely friendly and actually made us feel welcome.  It had some puzzles and tech that I've never seen before (and probably never will).  Very original concept.  Cannot recommend enough!

Lisa Cregg rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 25/10/20 Team size: 4 Time taken: 15 minutes Outcome: Successful escape!

This was a really fun and interesting escape room run by real enthusiasts that clearly love the industry. We were offered a drink upon entry as well as a small token prize at the end which really added to the experience. 

The room itself focuses on an engaging narrative where you are miners trying to restart the Earths core, the miners hats were a lovely touch. The game master was in character throughout, guiding us through using walkie talkie; however there were times that this was a bit annoying as it stilted our flow. 

The props and setting were well thought through with some really nice surprises...I’m not going to spoil them. There was a nice moment near the end where the host created tension with the group through the narrative and we all liked this. 

We would have liked a few more puzzles , however, there were a good balance of logic and physical. 

We visited during the pandemic, we felt safe and the staff wore masks/visors the whole time. 

Anonymous rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
furiouslycurious experienced rated this:

Really enjoyable game and experience

Anonymous rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
🌵Juliette B expert rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
Played: 05/01/2020 Team size: 2 Time taken: 56:45 Outcome: Successful escape!

This game was absolutely outstanding, the most I have enjoyed a room for ages. Puzzles completely on theme and varied, great set dressing, hilarious GM (Adam) who played his role to perfection, so many clever touches in place. Intense theatrical ending. One puzzle looked slightly frustrating for a pair but there was an element of choice with what was needed for completion and we ended up bypassing it in the end. Totally deserving of its nomination in the TERPECAs. 

Anouska123 rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
Ben Bailey experienced rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 14/1/20 Team size: 2 Time taken: 50:47 Outcome: Successful escape!

I've been looking forward to doing The Pit since i've begun on my Escape Escapades and i was not disappointed. Exhilarating Adventure that manages to get your Adrenaline rushing by the End. A must do for anyone!

Mike S expert rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Matt C experienced rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 22/08/2018 Team size: 4 Time taken: 56:28 Outcome: Successful escape!

This was the first room I've done and now I have been addicted to escape room since

Story - the earth stopped spinning in 2012 and your goal is to go in the mine and make the earth spin again otherwise the world will ran out of oxygen.

Theming - one of the best theming I've ever seen in an escape room. The prop look so realistic, you felt like you're in a mine I was so impressed!

Puzzle - some of the puzzle was very creative and logical which I did enjoyed. A few padlock was in the room which was bonus. There was 2 puzzles that I found quite frustrating but it didn't ruin the experience. 

Clue system - via walkie talkie

Positive - the staff were really nice and very supportive throughout our experience. The theming was amazing, I wore a mining hats to make our experience alot better and some creative puzzles. There was mixture of non linear and linear puzzles. 

Negative - there was 2 stressful puzzle that made me a tiny bit frustrating and the room got quite hot but we did this in August so that might not be their fault. 

Overall experience - I absolutely enjoyed my time in the pit I was smiling throughout my time at escapement I recommend to anyone in Kent to do this room you won't be dissapointed.

Robin Harris & Michael Bailey experienced rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 26/8/2019 Team size: 2 Time taken: 43 minutes 16 seconds Outcome: Successful escape!
Escapetopus experienced rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
Played: 09/11/2018 Team size: 2 Time taken: 51:00 Outcome: Successful escape!

Great theming throughout, with everything you need to do feeling like something you’d actually do in a mine, not a puzzle. Very dramatic finale.

Not suitable for claustrophobic people, but highly recommended for everyone else!

Sabrina (The Overthinkers) expert rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
Played: 24/03/2019 Time taken: 58:12:00 Outcome: Successful escape!
Zoë Dudeney rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!

We got out of this really quickly but by pure fluke- we wiggled some things when we were trying to work them out and somehow got out within 40 minutes. This made it a bit underwhelming for us as we felt that there weren't enough tasks. I'd definitely like to go back and try the other rooms though.

Angela Styles rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Barry Hammond expert rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 02/09/2018 Team size: 4 Time taken: 48.12 Outcome: Successful escape!

Reviews by escape room review sites

While I guess by normal standards it's pretty weird to go to a seaside town and spend the whole day indoors, the quality of the five games I played across the two escape companies in Margate was so high that I had no qualms about missing the beach. Of those five, The Pit is the newest game from The Escapement and was the one I found most impressive of all, an ambitious subterranean adventure with a Hollywood disaster movie plot where you need to descend into the depths to restart the rotation of...

A truly impressive game that will immerse you in the world they've created. With a visually astounding set and a cool story concept, it was only the puzzles where this room showed its weakness.
Even when you're receiving the briefing for this room you know it is going to be something special. This isn't just a 60 minute experience, this is a game changer.

From the moment you descend below ground, the room provides complete immersion. We played this with four people, and there was plenty to keep the 4 of us busy and the puzzles were mostly very “hands-on”, which totally suited the scenario and also were a lot of fun! We always love it when a room has something we haven’t seen before and plenty of the puzzles here were completely new concepts to us, which we loved!

If you can overlook the fact that you'll be going "thousands of feet deep" through a short flight of stairs , the game area looks quite realistic (...) Even though there are plenty of old-fashioned puzzles to solve and locks to open, the overall series of tasks the team needs to complete will feel quite organic, and the game had a few surprises in store for us.

What a room The Pit is. Great immersion, great puzzles and great hosting. Loads of surprises and a great room!

An outstanding room with great puzzles, atmosphere, theming and game master makes The Pit an unmissable game. I’m delighted to give it a rare five star rating. You should travel to play this game.

Lists

This game is part of the following user-created game lists:
  • Best UK escape rooms 2022 by Escape the Review virtuoso
    These are the 100 highest rated escape rooms in the UK, as of 31st Dec 2022, based on combined ratings from enthusiasts, bloggers and experts - every game here comes highly recommended. 
  • Best UK escape rooms 2021 by Escape the Review virtuoso

    These are the 100 highest rated escape rooms (out of 1600) in the UK, as of 31st Dec 2021, based on combined ratings from enthusiasts, bloggers and experts - every game here comes highly recommended. 

  • Best UK escape rooms 2023 by Escape the Review virtuoso
    These are the 100 highest rated escape rooms in the UK, as of 31st Dec 2023, based on combined ratings from enthusiasts, bloggers and experts - every game here comes highly recommended. 

See also