Escape The Past: The Anatomist

Escape rooms are my husband’s favorite thing to seek out whenever we travel, so over the years we’ve ended up playing them all over the world. The Deacon’s Cabinet was easily one of our absolute favorites!

It was unique, challenging, and SO much fun. Everything was incredibly well thought out, and the entire experience was very well run from start to finish. What really set it apart, though, was the atmosphere. It genuinely felt like stepping back in time rather than simply walking into an escape room.

After doing so many escape rooms in different places, it takes something special to really stand out, and this one absolutely did. If you enjoy escape rooms and are visiting Edinburgh, don’t miss this one!

We have played several escape rooms, and when travelling to Edinburgh we chose this one for the unique theme based in history of the area.  We were welcomed warmly by Edmond who gave us a a great in-character, costumed, introduction.  The puzzles were consistently on-theme and logical.  Edmund was an excellent judge of making appropriate "nudges" only when really needed.  We had a lovely experience.

We've done dozens of the escape rooms and The Anatomist stands out as one of the best best and most enjoyable ones. Our games master Edmund was truly fantastic, enthusiastic and very friendly. The room itself is very atmospheric and immersive, great attention to detail has been paid to create the ambiance and make you feel like you stepped into a different era. The puzzles were very well thought out and made sense, the story was great. We didn't want the experience to end, it was so great! Would 100% recommend!

A brilliant room. The theming is first class. Felt like we had been transported back to the days of Burke & Hare. Our GM Julia was great. The puzzles were very clever and had a great story to them. As a team of two we found it tricky but this didn't stop us really enjoying ourselves. Would highly recommend this room!

Beautifully designed room, very well themed and it does feel like you have indeed stepped into the past. Our games master was even in costume and in character for the entire brief. Clues were given over a speaker which breaks the illusion a little but i don't know how else they would do it. 

Games master (Charlotte) was very nice and the puzzels themselves are not too difficult, and tie in to the theme of the room.  Theres a good variety of puzzels and some fun little tech pieces, plus a fun suprise at the end.

One of our favourite rooms in Edinburgh

A brilliant game. Great theming, very clever use of everything on here room and some unique quirky puzzles, reveals, and combinations as you progress. Brilliant hosting by Oliver too. Excited to hear they have more in the pipeline so we can come back next time we're up that way!

Great theming, a nice backstory and some solid and satisfying puzzles made this a really fun experience. Looking forward to their new room! 

It was great, my very first escape game! It’s a very tricky and difficult one, which is really what we were looking for. Sandy was absolutely amazing and the set was great. We just think it’s better to be at least 3-4 people instead of 2. We really recommend it!! 😊

The introduction from a softly-spoken GM set the mood for this (ever so slightly) creepy room that tells a story inspired by Edinburgh's history (think Burke and Hare, grave robbing, anatomy experiments, etc.).

A nice set dressing that is entirely appropriate to the theme, props created with decent-quality materials (e.g. written clues on fabric or heavyweight paper, not nasty photocopies or laminates), and a decent variety of accessible puzzles make this a solid room all round.

Not much tech, but what was there worked, and the room was kept in good working order.

Fantastic escape room. Epic theming and great game master. Would highly recommend this escape room!

I went with family and friends all in their 60s. We had such a fun time with lots of laughs and squabbles! 

It had the correct amount of challenge, lots of fun and enough intrigue to keep us going! 

Had a great time! A good theme related to local history which was well introduced by our very knowledgeable host Oran, in character (but not excessively dramatically as I've seen in other rooms) as The Caretaker.

The room itself definitely pushed us but was very atmospheric with puzzles well integrated and hidden that you could either complete together or split off to try and move through it quicker. The hints were just enough to point us in the right direction but not spoil anything. Overall a fantastic room and after talking after, definitely excited to try another room from them when they open it in the future. Thanks again Oran!

Nice game, very well put together in an easy to get to part of Edinburgh. I wouldn't advise a team of more than 2 enthusiasts as otherwise you'll blast through this. 

This room was a recommendation from this very website as one not to miss if visiting Edinburgh, and boy you lot were right. 

Very immersive, 18th century Edinburgh. The GMs were in character from the moment they opened the door and welcomed us into the doctor's office. The room was beautifully designed and built and very realistic. The GMs worked well together and we were immersed in the story from the start. No spoilers, but the story leads you and there is plenty to get stuck into, it's not all locks and codes. We really enjoyed this room and there was a not-unexpected, but interesting twist at the end. Highly recommend this room. 3-4/5 for difficulty - not quite hard, but not easy either. 

I had been looking forward to this room as it’s had such good reviews, but personally I really didn’t understand the hype. Maybe it’s because we’ve done quite a few rooms with similar theming recently, maybe it’s because of the excessively over the top hosting (don’t get me wrong, she was lovely, and it was fun that she was “in character”, but I found her too full on - maybe other folks might like this!), but I just didn’t find this to have much that was original or had the “wow” factor. A nice wee effect at the end was a slight jump scare, and it was great that the room was historical and relevant to the area in Edinburgh (it’s round the corner from the Surgeon’s Hall and deals with the story of Burke and Hare). The room was by no means bad; it’s just that personally there wasn’t too much that really grabbed or excited me. I hope the venue will open another room as I’d love to go back and try them again and have a different experience as they seem like a lovely independent company in a good location (with some nice ideas about tying escapes into history) who deserve to do well. 

I played this room with my sister and we had a great time! There were lots of puzzles to solve but not so many that it seemed overwhelming for a group of 2. The room is the perfect level of spooky and the Gamesmaster, Oran, was fantastic! 10/10 would recommend! 

I played this game with a group of friends and we just about managed to get out! I thought the escape room was really atmospheric. This tied in nicely with the theme of the room and made the setting come alive. It felt a little creepy in there! There were a couple of nice surprises too (but I won’t spoil those!)  I feel the atmosphere really added something to the whole setting, and Iv been to other escape rooms that haven’t managed this aspect as well as it was done here. 

The puzzles themselves were fantastic. We found found we had to think hard but nothing felt too hard (or too easy or illogical). It felt really satisfying when we finally cracked a tricky riddle. I thought  the room walked the perfect line in terms of difficulty. 

I really enjoyed it! Absolutely to notch escape room where the puzzles, the setting and the room itself all came together perfectly! I couldn’t recommend this enough for anyone who enjoys escape rooms!

I really loved playing this room! There's some great attention to research connecting it to  Edinburgh's historic past. The GMs are all delightful and all dress in historical costumes which is a really nice touch! Story was fun and engaging and linked well to the puzzles. Definitely worth a visit!

Excellent experience, best escape room we've been to. Lots of thought has gone into crafting such a detailed and immersive story. Everything is connected and it gets better and better as the plot develops. The room feels fully authentic. 

Additionally, the game host was exceptional at setting the scene.

Absolutely first class. I'd highly recommend it.

The detail of the theme in this room is probably the best I've ever seen - so much attention has been put into making every part of the room as authentic as possible, and it really pays off with making you feel immersed in the setting. This is particularly nice given that the theme is based on Edinburgh's history - something which will appeal both to locals and visitors. 

The puzzles too are interesting, varied, and above all clever: it's a room that feels very satisfying to complete, and the puzzles tie together very well.

The atmosphere is also spot on. It's not so scary as to be off-putting, but a creepy atmosphere is built well, and there are some unexpected surprises to keep you on your toes!

Overall, I would highly recommend The Anatomist, it's the top rated room in Edinburgh for a reason!

Brilliant experience and the best escape room I’ve done so far.

Very thoughtful and original design, with enough twists and surprises to keep you on your toes. Clearly a lot of effort has gone into the design and the theming is really immersive.

Not to be missed - big recommend 

Really enjoyed this room.  It’s themed on local history so a great one for visitors to Edinburgh (and locals alike)!

 It was a good level of difficulty — the puzzles were challenging but not so hard that we kept getting stuck.  The host was good at not giving too much help.

The first game I ever played and still one of the best! It's clever, beautiful and incredibly immersive. It's an independent room and the care that went into it is clear, and it's the only room I've played where the GM's are in costume and in-character! 

Well put together room. Great to play. Well themed, and nicely decorated. 

Couple of points were a little too obvious, but didn't really spoil the enjoyment. Couple of tweaks and this would be a five star room. 

Great hosting and a great room

Amazingly themed to go with the history of Edinburgh. Clever puzzles. 

Superb set up! The puzzles were lovely and the room is just spot-on. There were some great things here I've not seen before and it felt incredibly well put together. One of my favourites!

Played a preview game (as the venue officially opens on Monday), this is the first room from Escape the Past and for those of you who have been playing rooms for years may remember Dr.Knox in Edinburgh, this has a similar theme of the anatomists and their dubious ways of getting dissection corpses.
The setting is perfect for the theme, the surgeons hall is just around the corner and you're in the basement of a church building, but what will immediately strike you is the attention to detail they have put in with the decor, everything fits the setting beautifully and some serious thought has gone into placement of the props and puzzles so signposting is intuitive and enhances the gameflow. Immersion is also excellent as all senses are employed to immerse players.
As with many great rooms it initially looks like theres not much to do, but you'll soon think differently as this room is packed with puzzles and it is a good challenge for enthusiast teams.
A final bonus is that they're only a few minutes walk from Locked in Edinbugh, so if you're heading to Locked in then you really should book this one too.

AMAZING what an incredible experience!

The whole thing is brilliant- the theme, the props, the sights, sounds and even the smells. Very authentic. The attention to detail is superb ,the great variety of puzzles are well thought out ,enjoyable and challenging. Would highly recommend to friends and family. Staff are  great too professional and engaging. A great way to spend an afternoon.