Escape Reading: Blown Away

By | March 20, 2019

by Escape Reading (website)

Queens Walk Unit5, RG17QF

Reading

3-6 players

60 minutes

Reading town center is being evacuated.
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Overall rating

Rated between 3 and 4.5 out of 5

based on ratings from 23 users
combined with 2 pro reviews

Your review

Player reviews

Cheesehund rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 24 Aug 2023 Team size: 3 Time taken: 60:00 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalclevergreat hostingquite difficult

A very cool room, some really clever puzzles, lots of physical tasks, and not a single padlock to be found! Choice of a hard or easy version too (we played easy but were shown hard after hence the difficult rating!).

Only criticism is the last puzzle; the whole group thought it could do with a bit of a revamp as we easily spent 10 minutes on it.

DoctorPB experienced rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
2For1 experienced rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 8 Sep 2023 Team size: 3 Time taken: 54:52 Outcome: Successful escape!
cleverstory-drivengreat hostingquite difficult
Interesting puzzles not seen before. Stressful and immersive with the time/storyline. Great fun. 
StaceyF expert rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Played: 9 Mar 2024 Team size: 3 Time taken: 63:00 Outcome: Failed 🙁
quite difficult
Seldom fail to escape in 60 minutes these days but it was the end of a long day and a room we really didn’t gel with. We were playing the hard version with three players. Enjoyed some of the puzzles but hated others with passion. Different day it might have been a different result. Grateful our host gave us the three minutes we needed to escape.
JoeRaymond experienced rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Played: 23 Dec 2023 Team size: 4 Time taken: 59:10 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalgreat hostingfamily friendly

This room has two levels, one designed for 3-4 players, and the other designed for 5-6 players. We played the room as a team of 4, but on the level for 5-6. I think this level of difficulty was spot on for 4 people and we completed the room with just 50 seconds to spare.

In terms of set design, the room is nice, but not exceptional. It’s also clearly seen better days and is scuffed throughout. No major issues, though.

The puzzles are fairly unique for an escape room. There’s lots of teamwork required to do almost all of them. I enjoyed this, but some might not. The puzzles are also largely physical rather than logical. Again, some will like that and others won’t.

Overall, I enjoyed this room and would happily recommend it to others. Probably someone who is less into escape rooms and more into teamwork activities - which, to be fair, is pretty much how they advertise the room by saying that the puzzles are inspired by Crystal Maze.

kristinaescapes rated this:Rated between 2 and 2 out of 5
Played: 23/12/2023 Team size: 5 Time taken: 59:10 Outcome: Successful escape!
intenseillogicalplain

One good thing about Escape Reading is that most of their games have variable difficulty depending on team size/ability. We played the 5-6 version difficulty with 4 people and only just got out.

Overall, I was frustrated by this room. The puzzles don’t fit the theme, don’t follow logically and I found the clues to be ‘wishay washy’. Unfortunately, this is not helped by quite a plain set.

Peter Hoare experienced rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: 17 Dec 2023 Team size: 3 Time taken: 59 Outcome: Successful escape!
intensequite difficult

Quite hard, a lot of teamwork and communication required. Lots of yelling round corners and through walls. The music and effects ramped up as time ran out which was fun. Good hosting. 

TheCLAMS expert rated this:Rated between 2.5 and 2.5 out of 5
Played: 19 Aug 2023 Team size: 5 Time taken: ~49mins
too many cluesquite difficult

This was our third room of the day at Escape Reading and we completed the room on the highest difficulty. There was definitely a fair few puzzles to complete and some fun ones we'd not seen before but the experience was really ruined by an overactive GM who was cluing us every few minutes without us asking. 

At one point we were working on quite a complex puzzle and suddenly a clue came up on the screen for a different puzzle so we left the one we were working on to focus on that. We completed it and got a part of a screwdriver. We couldn't figure out what we needed it for and spent ages searching before going back to the original puzzle we had been working on before we were disturbed. Turns out we didn't need this screwdriver part until right at the end! This wasn't the only time we received an out of order clue for this room either. 

We are definitely a team who only like to be clued if we desperately need it and normally only when we ask for a clue. This room didn't feel very satisfying as most of it felt handed to us on a plate.

Mrs G expert rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 10 May 2023 Team size: 3 Outcome: Successful escape!

Brilliant game with some fantastic puzzles. Theming on point with a real emphasis on teamwork. Excellently hosted and very much enjoyed 

jakea256 expert rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
cleverquite difficult

Definitely the hardest of the games at Escape Reading with adjustable difficulty depending on team size and experience. This game relies heavily on communication and ensures that everyone in the team has something to do at the same time. 

There were some great ideas shown throughout and lots of tactile puzzles to keep all entertained. In places I felt a little more signposting and set dressing would have made the experience more immersive and flow slightly better. 

A really fun challenge for experienced teams!

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Reviews by escape room review sites

While there are a handful of hard-core enthusiasts who might attempt to play solo, for most players solving as a team is one of the joys of escape rooms. A disproportionate number of my most memorable moments in games have involved tasks that required players to work together in some clever way. And while Blown Away is an impressive game in many ways, what I really loved about it was that it's built around interesting, smart puzzles that can only be solved by a team working together.

Blown Away...

Despite not being ‘blown away’ by this room, it was an enjoyable experience and kept us engaged well. Take your communication ‘A-game’ with you and you’ll have a good time.

Lists

This game is part of the following user-created game lists:
  • 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. 

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