by Escape In The Towers (website)
1 Pound Lane,CT1 2BZ
2-5 players
60 minutes
Overall rating
based on ratings from 19 users
combined with 4 pro reviews
Your review
Player reviews
Sadly, this game arguably misses opportunities that its setting in a genuine former jail offers, with furniture and props mostly unrelated to the space, and fairly routine puzzles (although that isn't to say that we weren't stuck at times). Where codes are required for locks, for instance, it's more fun to have to work out the combination than it is simply to be given it upon completion of an otherwise unrelated puzzle; there's a little too much of the latter here. If this game had been built in an industrial unit or repurposed office space, as is common for escape rooms, you'd find nothing remarkable about it.
The room does make good use of its setting in one way: with the game set across several cells, there's a cute cluing system that allows the host to tell you that you're in the wrong cell for the puzzle you're working on. They can also give you more specific clues, as is typical, but as a player it was nice to be nudged away from irrelevant areas and given the chance to figure out what I needed to be focusing on, before being given more explicit clues.
Set in the old jail cells, this felt like a very authentic experience that is only possible in an historic building such as this.
Some super puzzles and a lovely host - with a visit to the museum between games - made this a delightful experience.
Very enthusiastic host, very friendly. The theme of the room suited the building and was well executed.
Fantastic setup in some of the original cells in the old gaol with authentic props. Sometimes I find prison rooms a bit dark and damp but they've done such a good job at converting the old building that it managed to feel authentic without being grungy.
It's a pretty linear game in a fairly small space so a good one for smaller teams.
We had Matt again to host us for this game, and he is a superb host.
Set in an actual prison tower and incorporating bits of history and historical props was amazing to see and experience in an escape game.
The puzzles do feel relatively similar, and you go from one padlock to another, but nonetheless I still enjoyed this room, and what it delivers.
Reviews by escape room review sites
Crime & Punishment Lab is built within the Westgate, Canterbury's medieval gatehouse, a local landmark and grade I listed building, among the most spectacularly authentic locations I've seen used for an escape game.
Although the towers date back to the 14th Century, the game is set in Victorian times, drawing on a more recent part of the building's history when the Westgate was used as a gaol. The game uses genuine old cells as well as plenty of historical equipment and curios. In the initial b...
