by The Escaporium Halifax (website)
Ground Floor, Berwick St Mills, 23 Square Rd, HX1 1QG
2-8 players
Languages: EN
60 minutes
Well known alien hunter and conspiracy theorist, Professor Ross Well lives at 51½ George Street. After years spent collecting, and hunting evidence of extra-terrestrial life, he got his lucky break and came across a crash site up on the moors, complete with a live alien! He brought the alien back to his house with the intention of keeping him, but the mothership has tracked their friend down and arrived to collect him!
You begin your mission outside Professor Ross Well's house - what you will find in there is anyone's guess! But what you do know is that you only have one hour to return the alien back to the mothership, or our planet will be destroyed!
Your excellent investigative observation skills will be put to the test in Area 51½!
Overall rating
based on ratings from 40 users
combined with 4 pro reviews
Your review
Player reviews
A stunning room which was very visually pleasing, the room is an excellent example of what an escape room can be! A lot of the references went over my head but my wife understood loads of them (all alien related) but we both really enjoyed this room. Lots of puzzles, great hosting and a thoroughly enjoyable experience. We were also glad of the extra time as we still had 7:30 left!
Genuinely the best room I’ve ever played. The puzzles are great and the set was magical. Brilliant hosting too. 10/10
An excellent and unique room. Did it as a team of 2 and needed the extra time, loads of brilliant and original puzzles.
An ambitious and immersive sci-fi themed room. There's an overwhelming amount of puzzles for a team of 2 to take on despite the extra 15 minutes given to smaller teams
Probably one of the best themed games we’ve played - the attention to detail is stunning and there are some great wow moments in this one. A few leaps in logic at times and yet another instruction booklet (we don’t like these) but still really really good!
A wonderful, beautifully designed escape room. Great hosting. We didn’t quite escape, but came very close! Probably would have been better with our team of 5 instead of 3. If you are around Halifax then it’s a must play escape room as are their other rooms. Highly recommended
All I can say is wow, what a game. Definitely the best game we have ever played.
A beautiful, immersive and high tech room.
Relies on cooperation between teammates almost no puzzle can be done by one person. Love the fact that teams of 2 get an extra 15 minutes as well.
Hosts were lovely and very accommodating when we turned up 1.5 hours late due to a flat tire on the M62
This is a difficult review. I think anticipation hurt this one. Hearing nothing but wonderful things. Some of the puzzles were clever and the design was top notch.
I think the GM was too trigger happy with prompts and clues - also the padlocks didn’t fit overly well with the theme. We like to take our time in rooms but it all felt a little too rushed. Such a shame. Of course everyone’s mileage will vary.
A fantastic game with a great theme and set, plus loads of brilliant puzzles too. This is crammed full of sci-fi references to keep you entertained if you ever pause to admire the scenary. Puzzles are enjoyable, challenging and logical - signposting in particular was excellent. A memorable finale rounds out the experience. Brilliant overall, and we had an awesome time
A lovely escape room from the guys at Escapeorium. I loved the ending, and felt fully immersed throughout. A good use of space and mixture of puzzles.
WOW what a room. Some great puzzles that really get you thinking so much to do but the set is worth paying the cost of the room to see alone. I absolutely loved this room from start to finish. The ending was certainly memorable but the level of detail in the set is incredible. They really are going to have to go to great lengths to try and match or beat this room in the future. As a group of 2 they allowed us an extra 15 minutes and we needed it but was happy to be in there for nearly 75 minutes. I would say this is a must do room for me if thinking of going do it.
First of all-if you haven’t visited The Escaporium in Halifax, you should put it high on your to-do list as they have some fab games (at the least Operation Moonshine is a must, as is this room!) & the hosts are super nice!
The words which came out of my mouth immediately after playing this game was ‘this takes escape rooms to another level’ and indeed it does! The decor, immersiveness and the puzzles were of high quality and kept 5 of us very busy right till the end.
We have successfully completed 30+ games and this was the first we felt we will be pushed for time which resulted in a frenzy towards the end with all of us shouting between our own sub teams to get the endless puzzles solved! But alas we managed to escape by the finest of margins!
There are loads of different types of puzzles to do & I have to make a special mention of the newer, hi-tech type puzzles incorporated which gives it an edge over other rooms for sure!
This was our first escape room after a short hiatus but what an introduction it was back into the game. On arrival, the host set the scene eloquently and really got us in the mood to save the planet. With bated breath we stepped forth into the room.
From the moment of entry you could tell this was going to be a special room. The initial room was small but packed with plenty of puzzles to allow entry into the main spectacle. The scenery was as good as any escape room we have ever played before. There was so much to do within the room that none of us had a second of rest. The puzzles were challenging but logical and thought-provoking. When successfully making it into the main room our jaws collectively dropped. It is exactly what you would want Area 51 to look like. You felt like you were really there. The immersion was second to none. There was plenty of Hi-Tech wizardry but nothing too difficult to manage, a novice would definitely be able to cope. We’ve always loved multi-room games and this did not disappoint us and it required excellent communication amongst the team whilst split apart from one another. Upon completion of the game we were treated to one of the greatest finishes ever seen in an escape room. No spoilers but you definitely need to check it out.
Absolutely loved it!!!! As a team of 6 it can be quite hard to find something for everyone to do but this room had us all sweating (in the best way). The boys loved it the most out of all of us as it was right up their ally and have rated it their favourite room from the puzzles all the way down to the decor.
The hosts as always were amazing!
What an amazing room and team. I was hooked from start to finish and our host was lovely, very smiley! Very highly recommend all rooms here, especially this one.
Amazing theme and attention to detail in the room. Lots to do to keep you entertained great for both small and larger teams. Immersive story line which flows well with an awesome wow factor. Highly recommend this room.
Beautiful scenery and well built. Puzzles are on theme and a good challenge. It’s a well written, logical room with lots of beautiful moments. Looking forward to their next room!
Beautiful. Value For Money. Funny. Clever. Story Driven. Great Hosting. Family Friendly. Intense. Epic. Magical. Logical. Great Signposting.
I had to add all of the tags and more! This room is truly one of the best rooms we have ever played! From start to finish we were impressed by the puzzles, the set, the props and the general attention to detail that the Escaporium is known for!
A fantastic mix of locks and tech which felt very much within the theme of the game. Escaporium is a must visit venue in any case, but if you were 'ummming' and 'ahhhing' about whether or not to take a trip up north, Area 51&1/2 is a reason to make that trip!
Lots to do; and lots of fun!!
Wow! We booked this for our 200th room, knowing that it would have the trademark attention to detail and quality puzzling that The Escaporium always deliver: we are so glad that we did.
The set is superbly put-together and crammed with incredible detail; the puzzles themselves are plentiful and beautifully thought-out; the hosting is - as always - friendly and welcoming; and the overall game experience is thoroughly enjoyable from start to finish.
What made this even more special was how our 200th room was celebrated... Such kindness and thoughtfulness.
This room is a real testament to the strength of independent escape room centres run by enthusiastic owners who know the value of an excellent puzzle. It is utterly delightful and exceptionally clever and we loved every moment.
Reviews by escape room review sites
We already played four rooms of Escaporium in Halifax in April 2022 and were very excited about the latest adventure Area 51 1/2, which we had already heard a lot of good things about. A 208th place in Terpeca’s first year (second best newcomer from the UK) also bodes well for a great experience.
What’s it about?
Professor Ross Wells is a conspiracy theorist and alien hunter. It is suspected that he discovered and abducted an alien. We are now standing in front of his house at 51½ George Street and have little time to get to the bottom of the matter. The mother ship is already approaching Earth to search for the missing friend. Will we succeed in freeing the alien from the professor’s clutches?
Area 51 1/2 is actually a 60-minute room. However, if you play with two people, you get 75 minutes of game time due to the quantity of puzzles and their mainly parallel structure. Some tasks require teamwork and good communication. We needed almost the entire time because there is really a lot to do. Puzzle lovers will get their money’s worth here.
Lists
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