Compendium Escape Rooms: Bedlam

By | June 30, 2019

by Compendium Escape Rooms (website)

1a Crompton St, BL9 0AD

Bury

2-6 players

Languages: EN

60 minutes

Bentham Asylum has been standing since the 1900's. In 1950 Bentham was given the nickname Bedlam because of the events that happened in those 50 years and in 1974 cell P23 was mysteriously locked without an explanation as to why. Bedlam has secrets that need to be uncovered. You and your team are top journalists and experts in your feild, you have been tasked with uncovering the secrets that are held behind cell P23's walls. Can you go undercover, get in the cell undetected and escape with the documents that will uncover the secrets of Bedlam?
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Overall rating

Rated between 3.5 and 4.5 out of 5

based on ratings from 35 users
combined with 4 pro reviews

Your review

Player reviews

knoh39 experienced rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 27 Jul 2024 Team size: 2 Time taken: 46.37 Outcome: Successful escape!
cleverimmersivegreat hostingquite easy

More on the easier side but still great fun for us. Requires lots of crawling. The room is only a small space so big groups might struggle. 

spbc expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: 21 Sep 2021 Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!
fun
Anonymous expert rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
great hosting
samsham experienced rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Played: 24 Feb 2024 Team size: 2 Time taken: 58:49 Outcome: Successful escape!
value for moneystory-drivengreat hosting
A Blacksmith expert rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 11 Feb 2024 Team size: 2 Time taken: 35:38 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalimmersivestory-drivenquite difficult
This was a tricky room, well themed with some good puzzles. A bit of crawling but not too bad, it got us scratching our heads a few times, but that's never a bad thing. Definitely worth a visit. 
browngate experienced rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
TheCLAMS expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: 29 Oct 2023 Team size: 4 Time taken: ~45 mins
😨creepy

I feel sad rating this so low but we just didn't vibe with this room like we did all the others at compendium. Again, the theming is excellent (you're in an actual padded cell!) but there were a lot of padlocks but no clue as to which one you should put the code in so there was a lot of trial and error which was frustrating at times. 

ashpf experienced rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Team size: 5 Outcome: Successful escape!
roberts0502 expert rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 20 Sep 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 57:00 Outcome: Successful escape!
cleverimmersiveintensequite difficult😨creepy
TheEscapeBoomers expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
original

Another great game from Compendium - An older room, but just hold up against their newest additions to the centre.

Speedy Sloth expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
originalimmersivegreat hosting
Jess_keds expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Outcome: Successful escape!
hi-techstory-driven
Anonymous experienced rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Outcome: Successful escape!
clevergreat hosting
AubreyB expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!
The Monkey expert rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Outcome: Successful escape!
originalimmersivestory-driven

Completely immersive room. Very good use of a small space. Story driven and it genuinely feels like you are locked up in a padded room. Another highly recommended room from compendium.

MerseyMarauders expert rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Team size: 3 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalclevergreat hosting
TheDreamTeam experienced rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 14 May 2022 Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
hi-techoriginal

A clever room for the size of the space, maybe a squeeze for larger groups but plenty for a couple. 

PurpleB expert rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
🌵Juliette B expert rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 19 Jun 2022 Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
cleverimmersivegreat hosting

Excellent use of a small space with fun puzzles and good set design. Suitably eerie but not scary. 

Scotus0 expert rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 30 Nov 2021 Team size: 2 Time taken: ~53:00 Outcome: Successful escape!

Asylum Secrets

Compendium were offering money off their Gift Vouchers, and so I brough a friend to do two rooms back-to-back.

Story

As journalists, step into Bentham Asylum and uncover the secret behind Cell P23, which was locked long ago with no explanation.

Puzzles

A mixed bag that you need to think logically for. Cooperation is also key!

Mise-en-scene

Very good! The obsolete, unassuming space delivered on ever so slightly eerie, abandoned asylum vibes.

Final Comments

We got out with around 7 minutes left on the clock.

lizratesrooms experienced rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 18 Jun 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 33 Outcome: Successful escape!
immersivegreat hostingintense
Adam S experienced rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 29 Feb 2020 Team size: 3 Outcome: Successful escape!
flyingoctopus expert rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
great hostingintense

Very immersive.

Great decor and theming. 

Lots of fun!

🤘The Pick of Destiny expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!

Great puzzles!

matt_keds expert rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 13 Feb 2022 Team size: 4 Time taken: 44 Outcome: Successful escape!
immersivestory-drivenintense

#40

Our third room at Compendium, and other fantastic one. The smallest room there but they really make the most of the space. Again, really cool set design, fun, logical puzzles and as always, fantastic hosting. All of Compendium’s rooms have original themes and set design, head there as soon as you can.

abooth expert rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
Team size: 2 Time taken: 47 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalimmersivegreat hosting

Absolutely loved this game - the smallest in the venue but still loads to do and lots of interesting twists.

Simon (The Overthinkers) expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: 30 Aug 2020 Team size: 2 Time taken: 34:00 Outcome: Successful escape!
Ronnie Meade experienced rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 4 Dec 2021 Team size: 2 Time taken: 48:00 Outcome: Successful escape!
immersivegreat hostingintense
Another great room from Compendium with immersive themeing and design. Starting in a padding room with the game expanding from there. A lot has been crammed in to a relatively small room which is clever and a testament to Alex and his partner for building a fun, challenging room in the space available. The puzzles may throw you off in terms of order but I felt that was part of the design and intensity to the escape. Will definitely be back to complete all the rooms
🦡cipherdelic virtuoso rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
immersive
🔐James Bloodworth expert rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 17/06/2021 Team size: 2
immersiveintense
Another well themed room from Compendium, this time investigating a mental asylum.  Be warned there is some crawling in this room with some surprises along the way.  The room is well done and a nice logical flow to it.
Lise expert rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Played: 29/10/2020 Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!

Really good room with a twist from the team at Compendium. We were put a bit off track by the order logic of the props and puzzles but felt completely immersed in another greatly decorated room! Definitely worth the visit to Bury, we're looking forward to try their other rooms. 🙂

Anonymous rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Brit Of An Escape Habit blogger rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Tom experienced rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: December 2019 Team size: 4 Time taken: 43.45 Outcome: Successful escape!

Return trip to Bury with the friends that recommended it to try their new room (although another one is already being built too .. exciting!)

Very cool room, everything inside was very authentic. Lots of clever puzzles with a lot of effort that has gone into the room. Good variety of things to see and do and a good story too. Loved it

Arjay Henshall expert rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 02112019 Team size: 2 Time taken: 48 Outcome: Successful escape!

What a fantastic room.

How they managed to keep the theme of an old padded cell throughout amazes me. 

Some ingenious puzzles, plenty of content and on theme. 

There's also a nice little twist to this game that can get some good competition going, but shhhhh, don't spill the secrets 😉

Reviews by escape room review sites

Visiting Compendium to binge all four of their games as part of a larger schedule, we started with the insane asylum theme, which I guess is rather suitable for anyone trying to do eight escape rooms in a day. All the rooms in the venue looked good, and Bedlam made an immediate good impression: rather than clinical bare white decor or being derelict and dirty, it uses padded walls to great effect, and lighting that’s low enough to be atmospheric without being a problem.

We got off to a slightly...

With excellent set design, fantastic game flow, and satisfying puzzles, Bedlam stands out amongst its peers as my favourite game at Compendium. (Okay, maybe it’s tied with UI-55, but that game is an entirely different beast, and not quite your traditional escape room.) 

I am really not a horror fan. I am a massive coward, so the idea of doing not just one, but two ‘scary’ rooms was a little daunting. However, we spoke to the Compendium team prior to booking who assured me there would be no live actors or jump scares, so we went ahead and booked. Bedlam definitely fits into the ‘creepy’ and suspenseful area of ‘scary’, with atmospheric background music/sounds that felt extremely immersive. I actually found myself really enjoying this! The combination of dingy lighting, a chair with handcuffs, and random screams in the background helped set the mood and get the adrenaline running before any puzzles have taken place.

Another excellent game from Compendium. Good puzzles, good theming and a nice humorous twist.

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