Make Your Escape: The Signal

By | March 20, 2019

by Make Your Escape (website)

First Floor, 4 Osmaston Road ('The Spot'), DE1 2HR

Derby

2-6 players

60 minutes

Following reports of strange lights in the skies over Derbyshire, your team intercepts a distress signal, which leads you to an abandoned military bunker.
Once the door closes behind you, you quickly realise the signal was not all that it seemed, the bunker was not abandoned and you are not alone.
Work together as a team to solve the puzzles and escape.
The truth is in there....
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Overall rating

Rated between 3 and 4 out of 5

based on ratings from 30 users
combined with 7 pro reviews

Your review

Player reviews

spbc expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: 18 Jan 2023 Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
great hostingfun
Wesley Mead expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: 10 May 2024 Team size: 2 Time taken: 46m Outcome: Successful escape!
great hosting
AJ’s expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: 31 Dec 2020 Team size: 2 Time taken: 56:37 Outcome: Successful escape!
story-drivenintense

Good good - nice spin on the end of the game with some added pressure! 

Elliott rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: 24 Dec 2022 Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!
cleverstory-drivenbroken techquite easy

One of the puzzles broke, but other than that this was a great room

arandzom experienced rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Jess_keds expert rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Outcome: Successful escape!
plainquite easy
AubreyB expert rated this:Rated between 2.5 and 2.5 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
Lucy (The Detol Crew) experienced rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: 4 Mar 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 44:44 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalstory-drivenepic
gimiabreakout experienced rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Outcome: Successful escape!
Jordan Brown experienced rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Played: 15 Jan 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 50:32 Outcome: Successful escape!
family friendlygoodno music

Marketed as a suitable game for entry-level players, The Signal is also good for more experienced players. Some interesting puzzles but overall nothing that will stump the pros. Very strange choice to have no ambient music playing during the game - other reviews have mentioned it so maybe the system was broken. Shame as immersion was broken as could hear outside noises, staff members talking in control room etc… Overall, worth a go!

🤘The Pick of Destiny expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Lotsa Locks experienced rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Played: 30 Oct 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 53:08 Outcome: Successful escape!
story-drivenpoor hosting

We played the halloween version of this room but apart from a few superfluous decorations and (I believe) the inclusion of a live actor there were no "scary" moments.

Our experience was also hampered by a few things:

  • A reset error where a key piece of information was missing and we had to be provided it via the clue system in order to continue, we had to prompt the GM multiple times to provide this information.
  • An employees personal phone left in the room, we believed this to be part of the game because the torch was left on, so we were looking for a code to access the phone which never came. Thinking we needed the phone, we carried it around and at some point the employee entered the initial room to try and find it, and broke the immersion as they tried to rush out of the room and not be noticed. At no point did the GM notice or intervene that we had an external device.

Anonymous expert rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!
BenMill experienced rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
Sophie Bertalan rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Team size: 3 Outcome: Successful escape!
Pagan Hollis expert rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 12 Jul 2016 Team size: 4 Time taken: 50:01 Outcome: Successful escape!
great hostingfamily friendlyquite easy
flyingoctopus expert rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!

Not the best.

One Maths puzzle was beyond ambiguous and left all four of us frustrated.

One puzzle was interpreted incorrectly, when we asked for this explaining, our GM said that their printer cartridge was low on ink so the colours on the 2 props didn't match up properly.

Disappointing.

matt_keds expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: 22 Feb 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 44 Outcome: Successful escape!
story-drivenfun theme

#42

We spent the day and did all 4 rooms at Make Your Escape, and had a brilliant time!

We started with The Signal, which is a really fun Area-51 themed room. Very original out of the 40+ rooms we have done, the story was quite linear and had a few very fun puzzles. Set decoration was on point and the fact you have to make a decision in this room that determines the story was brilliant! Don’t miss it!

abunai expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Simon (The Overthinkers) expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: 31 Oct 2020 Team size: 2 Time taken: 53:45 Outcome: Successful escape!
Mark Greenhalgh expert rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 17/10/17
Tim Cooper expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: 22 Jul 2021 Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
cleverstory-driven

Bonus points for the soundtrack played during this game, I was delighted to hear music from System Shock 2!

fraggle42 experienced rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: 11 Jul 2021 Team size: 2 Time taken: 52.38 Outcome: Successful escape!
🔐James Bloodworth expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: 31/07/2021 Team size: 2 Time taken: 52:35 Outcome: Successful escape!
great hosting
A great linear game that takes you on an interesting story inter-weaving real life events based on local history.
MissLoopyLou93 experienced rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: 8 Apr 2019 Team size: 6 Time taken: 51:06 Outcome: Successful escape!
immersive

A good game. I usually play as a 2 so 6 people was too many for the amount of things to do in my opinion. 

Moosehead expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Team size: 4
🦡cipherdelic virtuoso rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
PurpleB expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: Jun 2019 Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!

After playing Utopia and Dystopia this game seemed rather easy and not quite as good as the others.  A great game for escape room beginners.

imrahil experienced rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
Escapetopus experienced rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: 17/12/2016 Team size: 5 Outcome: Successful escape!

This was my second-ever escape room and it still bears up in comparison with many of the games I’ve played since, with a great dramatic moment and a crucial choice, giving greater depth and excitement than a simple escape objective.

Reviews by escape room review sites

My playthrough of The Signal went a little smoother than Chris's from the sound of it. I found it initially a solid but unspectacular room, with fairly standard office-style decor, one somewhat ambiguous maths puzzle but also plenty that I liked. However, it was a game that just kept improving as it went on, getting more creative and physical and impressive as it neared the end, with the conclusion being a memorable highlight.

Very few escape rooms give players a choice of ways to complete the ...

A fun game that took a little while to get going, with an interesting twist and a couple of real highlights. I wouldn't rave about the experience but if you're heading along to play Spellbound then it's a fun game to play alongside.
Dystopia and Utopia seem to get all the love at Make Your Escape, but The Signal is certainly worth a play, and ideal for those new to escaping. The Signal was also the first (I think) game in the country to present players with an existential dilemma that will directly impact the outcome of the game. What choice will you make?
The Signal has a twist, but it’s revealed during the briefing, so I’ll consider it fair game to explain here. At some point during The Signal, you’re going to have to make a choice, and that’s going to branch the game out in one of two different directions. On hearing that I was, at first, fairly cynical about it, picturing a computer RPG-esque “pick your ending” choice, but it’s actually a lot more subtle than that.
A fun game that features a fairly unique choice element that affects the ending of your game.

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