Escape Reality Glasgow: Alcatraz

By | March 20, 2019

by Escape Reality Glasgow (website)

Merchant Square, Basement Unit 1, G1 1LE

Glasgow

2-6 players

60 minutes

In 1934, Alcatraz transformed into a maximum high-security prison housing the most infamous and dangerous criminals. Situated in the chilly waters of San Francisco Bay, no prisoner has ever successfully escaped. Alcatraz has just reached its maximum capacity for the first time in history – because of you.
You are all masters of escaping and no prison has managed to contain you. As highly skilled individuals you have been plotting your escape plan and now the time has arrived. A diversion has been caused by other inmates and the warden has sprinted off to help, leaving you in your cells unguarded. This is your prime opportunity to make your escape attempt. Can you escape before he returns and catches you?
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Overall rating

Rated between 1.5 and 3 out of 5

based on ratings from 40 users
combined with 4 pro reviews

Your review

Player reviews

🦡cipherdelic virtuoso rated this:Rated between 30 and 30 out of 5
gimiabreakout experienced rated this:Rated between 30 and 30 out of 5
Time taken: 40 Outcome: Successful escape!
quite easy
Gavin B rated this:Rated between 20 and 20 out of 5
🌵Juliette B expert rated this:Rated between 15 and 15 out of 5
Played: 26/01/2019 Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!

Overused theme with cheap props and unusable tablet hint system. No GM interaction apart from actually having to come into the room to do something. Easy puzzles bar one incredibly frustrating supposedly obvious action. Do not recommend. 

Aaron M rated this:Rated between 45 and 45 out of 5
Played: 25/02/2019 Team size: 4 Time taken: 52 Outcome: Successful escape!

This was my first ever escape room and it was amazing - being separated at the start immediately makes you work as a team. There were some easy parts and some much more difficult parts. We made the rookie mistake of letting a door behind us lock, other than that we didn't need any help from GMs. Would 100% recommend!

Ceri Thomas rated this:Rated between 40 and 40 out of 5
Anonymous rated this:Rated between 20 and 20 out of 5
Team size: 3 Outcome: Failed 🙁
poor hostingunoriginal

Really didn't enjoy the clue system (via ipad) We didn't have an actual host/GM watching us so once we got stuck, we were stuck for the remainder of the hour and couldn't move forwards at all

robasmith rated this:Rated between 30 and 30 out of 5
Team size: 4 Time taken: 40 mins Outcome: Successful escape!
originalimmersivequite easy
Anonymous rated this:Rated between 30 and 30 out of 5
Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!
hi-techstory-drivenpoor hosting
magicalbacons expert rated this:Rated between 30 and 30 out of 5
Anonymous rated this:Rated between 20 and 20 out of 5
Scotus0 expert rated this:Rated between 30 and 30 out of 5
Played: 08/07/2019 Team size: 3 Time taken: ~50:00 Outcome: Successful escape!

Absconding from Alcatraz

This was my third prison-themed room, but I'm always willing to see how different companies present them.

Story

As convicted criminals, your fellow inmates have created a distraction, giving you one hour to escape before the warden comes back.

Puzzles

Somewhat traditional: a bit of counting, some arithmetic, a dash of practical. Teamwork was important, but only at the very start. As three decent players, we worked well together and didn't struggle on much.

Mise-en-scène

The cells were credible...I wasn't particularly wowed by anything beyond that point.

Final Comments

This room doesn't deserve more than a three-star rating. When compared to Lucardo's The Prison, it shows there are definitely some missed opportunities!

🦡cipherdelic virtuoso rated this:Rated between 35 and 35 out of 5
🔐James Bloodworth expert rated this:Rated between 35 and 35 out of 5
Played: 11/01/2020 Team size: 2 Outcome: Failed 🙁
Well themed with some fiendishly difficult puzzles coupled with some really easy ones, the prison environment looks good and this is a split start game.  
Anonymous experienced rated this:Rated between 25 and 25 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Failed 🙁
Arjay Henshall expert rated this:Rated between 45 and 45 out of 5
Played: 21.09.2019 Team size: 4 Time taken: 33 Outcome: Successful escape!

My favourite room they have here at escape reality. 

Love the start of the room and it really demonstrates teamwork. The first half of the room is truly a teamwork game and co operation. 

I know the prison feel can be overdone as its a common theme, however this was executed very well and made it feel like a true escape. 

A couple of the puzzles were a little ambiguous with very little signposting, however i would say that its certainly not the hardest room we have ever played by a long shot and i and that all the rooms at escape reality cater for beginner players rather than intermediate or advanced. 

if you are ever in manchester, please make sure you stop by and give this game a go. a team of 4 is optimal

Anonymous rated this:Rated between 35 and 35 out of 5
Played: Aug 2018 Team size: 4 Outcome: Failed 🙁

This is a tough game. We didn't get out, but it's a good type of tough.

Tim Cooper expert rated this:Rated between 10 and 10 out of 5
Team size: 2 Time taken: 52:00 Outcome: Successful escape!
poor hostingunoriginal
🔐James Bloodworth expert rated this:Rated between 30 and 30 out of 5
Played: 16/10/2021 Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
shadsu rated this:Rated between 30 and 30 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!

Alcatraz room was nothing special but still fun to play.

Jen Wells (Get Wells Soon) expert rated this:Rated between 30 and 30 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!

Not our usual first choice of theme but we enjoyed this game; it has a split start and some really immersive elements. A good mixture of puzzles.

Steph Norchi experienced rated this:Rated between 40 and 40 out of 5
Played: 16 Jul 2019 Team size: 4 Time taken: 34:48 Outcome: Successful escape!
elfgrunge experienced rated this:Rated between 35 and 35 out of 5
Outcome: Successful escape!
great hosting
👽benjed rated this:Rated between 40 and 40 out of 5
Team size: 3 Outcome: Successful escape!
cleverimmersive
🎲A Jones experienced rated this:Rated between 30 and 30 out of 5
Played: 14 Aug 2019 Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!
Zoë Myers rated this:Rated between 50 and 50 out of 5
MerseyMarauders expert rated this:Rated between 15 and 15 out of 5
Team size: 3 Outcome: Successful escape!
cleverplainquite easy
Siân O'Brien experienced rated this:Rated between 30 and 30 out of 5
Played: 9 Jul 2022 Team size: 5 Time taken: 55:07 Outcome: Successful escape!
immersivestory-drivenunoriginal

This game was fun, but I don't have much more to say, as it was unoriginal and fairly dull. As a first escape room I bet this is great. It's definitely immersive and I like the team elements, that require everyone to work together. I just don't have much to say outside of that. There was one massive red herring that had us lost for a while! But I don't necessarily ming that. It was just a bit dull of an experience. We were expecting a scary room too, but actually, this is just "Prison" themed and doesn't quite live up to the expectation set up by naming after the notoriously famous Alcatraz Prison.

bingerz08 rated this:Rated between 40 and 40 out of 5
Played: 28 Aug 2022 Team size: 4 Time taken: 39:20 Outcome: Successful escape!
value for moneyclevergreat hosting

Great use of space with excellent atmosphere. Very linear but puzzles (especially at the end) required more brain power than other rooms but with a satisfying conclusion. Great introduction from Stephen (GM) with a clunky help system (via tablet) that we didn't end up using at all

Edinburgh Escape reality's hardest room and we happily made it out with their 6th fastest time this season!

TheSinger expert rated this:Rated between 15 and 15 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
poor hostingunoriginal

Typical prison escape… could’ve been much more original especially when themed (I use that loosely) around the most famous prison in the world! 

Split into 2 cells (standard). I had actually completed the room from my own cell before my team mate had actually got out of their. Poor puzzle plan if that’s always the case. GM had to enter the room to explain a rather poor thought out puzzle and even after explanation, I still don’t get how it was supposed to be completed. Not a great venue…. Will not return 

Adrienne Ward rated this:Rated between 30 and 30 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Failed 🙁
very difficult

One player does all the work. The other just gets locked in the cell for more than half the time.

Anonymous rated this:Rated between 30 and 30 out of 5
Played: 22 Jun 2022 Team size: 4 Time taken: 29:48 Outcome: Successful escape!
hi-techstory-drivenunoriginalquite easy

Solved puzzles were not always telegraphed well, but still a fun enough room to play.

Jemileh experienced rated this:Rated between 45 and 45 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
abunai expert rated this:Rated between 40 and 40 out of 5

This game (in Cardiff at least) is huge, which really aids with the immersion. Game flow is linear so would suggest a smaller group. Please note the hint system is TERRIBLE.

Tom Alcock expert rated this:Rated between 40 and 40 out of 5
Played: 11 May 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 38:20 Outcome: Successful escape!
logical
Simon (The Overthinkers) expert rated this:Rated between 25 and 25 out of 5
Played: 15 Apr 2022 Team size: 3 Time taken: 36:13 Outcome: Successful escape!
Sabrina (The Overthinkers) expert rated this:Rated between 30 and 30 out of 5
Played: 15 Apr 2022 Team size: 3 Time taken: 36:13 Outcome: Successful escape!
Anonymous experienced rated this:Rated between 20 and 20 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!

Good room but I hate the clue system!

Mynameisntjeff rated this:Rated between 35 and 35 out of 5
Played: April 2019 Team size: 2 Time taken: Outcome: Failed 🙁

Got to the last puzzle in 35 mins.... last puzzle spoilt it. Even with the guy in the room explaining to us how to do it we were still a bit like ‘that makes no sense’ apart from that cannot fault the team or the place whatsoever. Brilliant!!

Reviews by escape room review sites

A round-up of a couple of trips through Glasgow. Mostly poor experiences with the one highlight being Escape the Past at Pollok House, a room that would stand up reasonably well even if it weren't in a heritage site.

Alcatraz is a padlock-heavy, very linear game with a tendency towards fairly numeric puzzles. A good first impression was somewhat let down by some weaknesses of the game.

First of these was a puzzle where the clue for the answer was ambiguous, giving two possible answers only one of which would work. That's a design weakness, and was entirely avoidable here. It was compounded by the context, which involved a communication element that made the ambiguity harder to detect. (While discussing the ...

A hard room for inexperienced teams who aren’t confident on their communication, and annoying for experienced teams who like good rooms

Alcatraz is a well-produced room with good puzzle diversity. The overall experience is ultimately let down by the sub-par hint system, but the room itself is good quality. I’d recommend this room for larger teams that have a few escape room victories under their belt – you’ll need every brain in the room!


Time penalties were given for each clue given which is the only downside for Escape Reality, however, we escaped within the 60 minutes we were given, so I'm taking it as a win. 

A good looking room, with good puzzles, this was the last of 4 for us, I thoroughly enjoyed it, we could have, and probably should have made it easier for ourselves, but despite that we got through. The iPad with time penalties for clues is probably the only downside for me. 

See also