Trapped Escape Rooms: The Deeds

Trapped Escape Rooms: The Deeds

September 2023

Overview 

We had booked all 3 rooms at Trapped fully expecting the most difficult day we’ve had as escape room enthusiasts judging by other review sites and the apparent escape rate of their rooms being around 7%. The building itself is set on a small industrial estate on the outskirts of Okehampton but is easily found. There is plenty of parking onsite and when we pulled up there was a man dressed in costume at the top of the stairs outside of the main entrance. We were aware of having to arrive 10 minute before the start time and as we pulled up at 12:20 for a 12:30 start, I received a text message from the host stating we should have arrived at 12:20 and if we were going to be any later then he would to re-schedule, not the most friendly of welcomes in our opinion. 

None the less, we entered the small waiting area and filled out the relevant online form on a tablet. Again, emphasis was focused on the negative. The form was completed and handed back but it was re-affirmed to us that any breakages will be charged and made the assumption that I was singing something I wasn’t happy with. 

It seemed a strange introduction to Dan, whom we were told by other escape room owners that he will be in character from the second you knock on the door. We weren’t sure what the character was supposed to be and he appeared to break this character in and out of the introductions, making jokes towards us pointing out house rules. 

All in all, the first impression of Trapped was not what we expected and we all entered The Deeds a little flat.

Room impression

Putting the first few niggles from our point of view aside, it is clear that Dan has put an enormous amount of time and effort into designing the whole venue and the rooms. They were some of the best that we seen and you are completely immersed as soon as you enter. The Deeds is definitely supposed to be a spooky room. We weren’t given any real warning into this but as soon as you walk into the old creepy lounge, you know that this game will be a spooky game. There was some jumpy moments throughout that we wouldn’t class as a horror room but there were definitely elements that really made us jump. Like all the rooms here, there are no padlocks and this certainly helps you immerse yourself into the theme of trying to find the deeds in a haunted house. 

Puzzles

As mentioned, there are no padlocks in any rooms. Dan made it very clear throughout the day at Trapped that we had to follow the clues and do not deviate. Unlike a lot of escape rooms where you have to scramble around for clues, you are given the first one and we were told not to deviate away from that. This made the game completely linear. It seemed peculiar to us that to move on from the first puzzle, you do have to search for further aides after the apparent hints from the room, didn’t appear to highlight what we were supposed to do. This put further doubt into our heads that if we had continued to focus on what we were being told, we wouldn’t have got past the first puzzle. Again, putting our opinion aside, the puzzles were very good indeed. Some of the best immersive puzzles we have come across and it’s a credit to Dan for putting it all together.

Game Master Clues

There is a TV in the room where the timer is showing throughout. It’s important to mention that the GM will not give you any clues unless you ask for it. There was an old telephone in the corner of the room where you can ring and ask for help. Again, you can’t just pick up the phone and say you are stuck because you will not receive any help for this. You need to state what you are actually stuck on or what you would like. Dan will not give you an easy hint, the clue will be cryptic and it is up to you to work out. We had to ask a couple of times, especially the first puzzle where we just couldn’t get going. The way the clue system works wasn’t great for us. Not being able to have a GM give you a nudge in the right direction puts you in the position that you have to get to a point where you have kind of given up on the puzzle and you need to break away and ask for help. It ruined our flow in this game and the others that followed.

Round Up

The Deeds was the most enjoyable room of all of the rooms that we had completed on the day at trapped. Once we had escaped the room in time, it did appear strange that Dan walked us back through the room to show us what we didn’t do well and what we had missed. We were elated at escaping the first room in what was going to be a very challenging 3 rooms and being walked back through telling us what we didn’t do well made us feel like school children that weren’t get getting the subject. We weren’t given a time of completion, a congratulations for escaping or given a completion badge (that Dan was wearing) to add to our collection. These little things are certainly not the end of the world but it’s the little things you remember. 

Writing this reviews and others to follow for Trapped has proven really difficult because the design and puzzles of The Deeds was brilliant and is a must to try. We don’t think we gelled 100% with Dan throughout the day and there is more evidence of this over the next 2 rooms.