Lucardo Manchester: The Prison

By | March 20, 2019
0 Comment

by Lucardo Manchester (website)

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

Manchester

2-6 players

60 minutes

Wheelchair suitable - contact the venue for details
You and your team of criminals are due to be checked into the Category A prison facility in Manchester after committing a series of crimes. As hardened criminals you have connections on the inside - they are staging a riot allowing you the opportunity to try and escape. Time will be limited. You will need to use deception, bribery and skill to attempt this escape. Get caught and you will never get to see the outside world again.
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Overall rating

Rated between 3 and 4.5 out of 5

based on ratings from 39 users
combined with 6 pro reviews

Your review

Player reviews

coupleofescapees experienced rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Team size: 3 Outcome: Successful escape!
immersivestory-drivenfamily friendly
caroline354 expert rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
unoriginal

We keep giving Lucardo a chance as they’re local and very accessible but if you were travelling any distance to attend it really wouldn’t be worth it. Sadly another fairly uninspired experience with nothing original or unique. Much better options outside the city.  

Wesley Mead expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: 3 Apr 2026 Team size: 2 Time taken: 47m31s Outcome: Successful escape!
story-driven
ratsontour expert rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 14 Nov 2025
CautionaryTale rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Team size: 3 Outcome: Successful escape!
great hostingintensevery easy

I would call this game one for families and newbies, not that thats a bad thing. 
We just had the feeling that we've already played this several times before because nothing really sets it apart from any other prison escape room. 

samsham expert rated this:Rated between 2.5 and 2.5 out of 5
Played: 22 Aug 2025 Team size: 4 Time taken: 40:57 Outcome: Successful escape!
great hostingvery easy
niceguycarl experienced rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 12 Apr 2019 Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!

The game was quite well designed and was fun.

shelby2003 rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 5 Mar 2022 Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!
funnystory-drivengreat hosting

We laughed our way through this one. Great game and fantastic hosting.

The puzzles were fun and the way that you get clues was brilliantly thought out. This was the first game that we did at Lucardo and we've been back a few times since as we enjoyed it so much.

The Gm's definitely have a sense of humour - I can say more or I risk spoiling it, but if  you think you'd be able to hack it on the inside then give this one a go.

Anthony95 host expert rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
LeveD_escape experienced rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
great hostingunoriginal

The clue system was integrated into the game very well. 

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Reviews by escape room review sites

Prison is one of the timeless escape room themes. It's been done so many times in many different styles that it's very difficult to build a prison game that feels original, doubly so because there's a very limited range of items you can plausibly put in a prison cell, and an obvious set of tropes to draw upon for puzzles. Nonetheless, Lucardo's take on the genre manages to take classic jailbreak ideas and turn them into a satisfyingly physical sequence of puzzles with something of an action-movi...

A prison break is nothing new theme-wise, but this game was immersive and realistic and on a completely different level to not only to other similarly themed games, but also everything else on offer at Lucardo.
Lucardo continues to improve, and The Prison probably ranks as the best of the Manchester experiences. I may have had more fun in their University of Magic game because of its theme but, objectively, I think this is a more impressive experience: the puzzles fit the theme, there’s a better-than-average overarching story, and the moments of theatre deliver a coherent game that’s well worth playing.
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A very unique and immersive experience that throws away some traditional escape room rules. A really excellent game.
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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. 

Escape Roomers DE - Ranked Playlist United Kingdom by Escape Roomers De expert

[Last Update: January 2026] I’ve visited the United Kingdom several times and played a total of 173 escape games from 61 different providers. As always, I’ve asked also other enthusiasts and bloggers for their opinions. The final table combines the individual rankings of 63 enthusiasts ...

See also