Escapologic: Curio

By | March 20, 2019
0 Comment

by Escapologic (website)

21 Castle Gate, NG1 7AQ

Nottingham

2-5 players

60 minutes

Be careful what you wish for
An Englishman's home is his castle. Or his curio if he's a treasure hunter who's spent a lifetime collecting trinkets from all four corners of the globe. Alexander Curio was a true eccentric. A legendary explorer who left no stone unturned in his search for gems and gimcracks. To him, life was a gamble, with fate to be decided on a whim or a flip of a coin. A mysterious loner who loved to raise the stakes until they could be raised no higher.
Alexander's life was one big puzzle. Only a select few ever got beyond his front door. You're about to join their exclusive ranks. At first glance, Curio looks like the home of an explorer whose passion for chasing treasures has taken him from the Thames to Timbuktu. But the clue lies in the name. Secrets lie within her seemingly innocent walls and trinkets hold the key to untold riches. Fortune favours the brave but riches come at a price.
Who is the man behind the enigma? Was his death the result of some cruel, cosmic irony? And does he really want to share the treasures hidden away within the labyrinth he calls home?
This is no ordinary home. Alexander is anything but an ordinary man. Now he's inviting you into his world. But once you enter, there's no going back
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Overall rating

Rated between 4 and 5 out of 5

based on ratings from 100 users
combined with 13 pro reviews

Your review

Player reviews

samsham experienced rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Played: 23 Oct 2024 Team size: 2 Outcome: Failed 🙁
originalcleverimmersive
ratsontour expert rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 28 Sep 2024 Team size: 2 Time taken: 62:31 Outcome: Successful escape!
cleverquite difficult
Anonymous rated this:Rated between 2.5 and 2.5 out of 5
Outcome: Successful escape!
originaloverpricedfar too hotquite difficult

Did a day in Nottingham and sadly the one we was looking forward to the most was the biggest let down. Swelteringly hot with very little air flow and a kind of musky quality to the whole room made the entire game uncomfortable and made it hard to focus. They told us before going in that is was their hardest room with lots of puzzles. This was true, but only due to lack of signposting, half the game being red herrings and poor lighting mixed with small worn out hard to read clues. This game does have a very unique 'twist' you probably haven't come across anywhere else but I think they expect this to make up for the rest of the flaws. 

roberts0502 expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: 16 Apr 2024 Team size: 56:47 Time taken: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
hi-techclevergreat hosting
Anonymous rated this:Rated between 2 and 2 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Failed 🙁
immersivepoor hostingoverpricedvery difficult

In an unfortunate situation where I find myself agreeing with every other review on here, the room is stunning, the puzzles are clever and on the whole it’s a great room! In fact we also played another room here which we enjoyed very much!

But we were severely let down by the hosting during our visit, we struggled to find where to start and were given a clue through an audio based system, we did not hear this correctly and asked for it to be repeated, it was not. Later after spending over 10 minutes on another puzzle having overlooked a small detail, we asked for another clue, waving and verbally asking. There was no response. It just felt like the host was not paying attention to us and  there was a lack of hints in general that when combined sadly ruined the experience. 

lishahirst experienced rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalimmersiveepicquite difficult
One of my favourite escape rooms, super fun with a twist! Would 100% recommend. One of the harder rooms I’ve done so maybe not ideal for a first room.
vickib93 rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
Team size: 2
spbc expert rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 21 Apr 2019 Team size: 3 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalepicneeding tlc
liam and rosie experienced rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Team size: 2 Time taken: 56 Outcome: Successful escape!
clevergreat hostingmagicalquite difficult
Awesome room 
browngate experienced rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Showing most recent only - see all ratings & reviews

Reviews by escape room review sites

One of the challenges of writing reviews of escape rooms is giving a clear impression of the experience while avoiding spoilers. There are some rooms where this is particularly difficult because that means I can't talk about a core element of the room, the most memorable and unique thing about it. Curio is one such game.

What I can say about it is that it's a high quality, original and satisfying game from start to finish. There's a particular style of decor you often see in escape rooms...

The single most impressive moment I've ever experienced in an escape room combined with obvious progress, good puzzles, a beautiful set and, that most intangible of things, "flow", made this one of my all time favourite escape rooms. "
This room delivers something that you probably won't have seen anywhere else. No spoilers - a fun room with some very impressive room design and definitely one you won't forget
see full review
  • A very quaint living room in a 1920s mansion is your first port of call. Vintage furniture, artwork and decorations are perfectly chosen to make this room seem of a bygone era.
  • This room has the most amazingly clever mechanisms and twists and turns. Literally!
  • The puzzles in here are physical manipulations, information hunting and communication. Very good communication is required between team members which adds to the feeling of co-operation.
  • There is a nice flow to the room and you can see what progress you have made via very obvious means.
  • Puzzles include some clever use of objects that I hadn’t come across before in a room. Think outside of the box!
    • 6.9 / 10
    We head to an eccentric treasure hunters house in Nottingham which is hiding quite a few secrets. Can we escape with the riches?
    see full review
    Curio has a gimmick. And at some point that gimmick was probably an amazing and exciting surprise. But as with most escape rooms, as more and more customers come through the doors, the game briefing gets longer and longer to cover all the stupid stuff customers sometimes do. I won’t give away the gimmick directly, but will tell you what was said before we even started the game: we were asked if anyone had severe motion sickness or vertigo, told that if we wanted to get out of the game it could take a little bit longer than in normal games, and there was a special door that we could only go through when a green light was on, under no circumstances try and open the door when the red light was on, and the door might go to different places at different times.
    see full review
    see full review
    A very special room – it has a completely unique element, lots of puzzles and so much variety. This is my favourite room I’ve played and it will take something very special to beat it.
    This is such a unique room and going into it now little about it just makes it all the more special. Escapologic have created a fully immersive experience that is full of twists and turns. It is their hardest game to date so expect to spend some time having to really think about what comes next but it’s worth it for the pay off of what you get to experience. To really stand a chance of completing the room, you really need a minimum of three people.
    see full review

    We hoped how special Curio would be and upon reflection, we wish had done another game first, to make this our 50th. However, it needed up being number 49 and what an experience it was. The hype of this room is most certainly warranted and it has left a lasting impression on all of us in being in our top 5 of rooms completed. If are visiting Nottingham to tackle one of the tens and tens of rooms on offer, you MUST include this in your bucket list. 

    see full review
    see full review

    Stop what you are doing right now, go to Nottingham, and play this room. Play it before you get spoilered about the special twist. Play it before you play any other escape rooms. And most importantly, play it before drinking – not afterwards!

    see full review

    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. 
    • Played by madteddy

    See also