Lord Barrington Smyth is being blackmailed, we've identified the culprit as dodgy Birmingham private investigator Doug Spade. We need a crack team to enter Spade's office in the heart of the Jewellery Quarter, locate the evidence he is using to blackmail Lord Barrington, and escape before Spade returns... Are you up for the challenge?
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This is the first game designed by this company and we played it as a fairly beginner team at the time. It was a neat experience that is designed to teach you the ropes of solving puzzles.
It’s great for those who want to learn some automatisms in rooms, especially as you get to work with a lot of code breaking strategies.
However, it can feel too easy for more experienced teams. It is also too tricky for completely inexperienced teams. So, it’s all about hitting the sweet spot here.
Played: 17 Jun 2023Time taken: 00:45:18Outcome: Successful escape!
great hostingfamily friendly
This was the first game at this venue and it does show to a degree. That's not to take anything away from the puzzles of the game! Normally I hate map puzzles but this was a clever idea and I think worked well. Theming is good and the puzzles, whilst old in concept can still trip you up and send you down the wrong path if yo are not paying attention. Recommend you play this first as a warmup game!
[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...