Bewilder Box: The Bewilder Box Initiative

By | October 27, 2022

by Bewilder Box (website)

1 Holland Road, BN3 1JF

Brighton

2-8 players

Languages: EN

60 minutes

You and your team are new recruits, tasked with completing the Bewilder Box assessment and locating the missing Dr Wilder Sr. Do you have what it takes to answer this unfathomable challenge with a hearty laugh and a self-assured thumbs up? Can you complete the various tasks, challenges and brain tickling puzzles before the time limit expires? Will you uncover the secret of Dr Wilder Sr’s mysterious disappearance back in 1989? You have 60 minutes to find out… Good luck.
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Overall rating

Rated between 3.5 and 4 out of 5

based on ratings from 30 users
combined with 7 pro reviews

Your review

Player reviews

d.green26 expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: 4 May 2024 Team size: 4 Time taken: 48 Outcome: Successful escape!
great hostingfamily friendlyquite easy
A Blacksmith expert rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Team size: 2
immersivestory-drivengreat hosting
🀘The Pick of Destiny expert rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Team size: 2
Ratchel experienced rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
essentialatom experienced rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 13 Oct 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 42:53 Outcome: Successful escape!
clevergreat hosting

A good variety of clever and satisfying puzzles, with a well-integrated method of delivering hints in the DAVE character. The intro speech did drag on a bit - as dedicated (and deeply, deeply in character) as our host was, it could have stood to have been rather shorter! But once we got into the room, we had a fantastic time. 

MightyMidds experienced rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 23 Aug 2023 Team size: 4 Time taken: 45 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalgreat hostingfamily friendly

Great room for our 75th, kids' 30th. Done with hubby and our 6 and 9 year olds. Plenty for the kids to do and some really clever puzzles. Brilliant GMing too πŸ™‚

benny1664 experienced rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Played: 4 Jun 2023 Team size: 4 Time taken: 45 Outcome: Successful escape!
story-drivenpoor hostingpoorly reset

We have waited years to play this game and finally the stars aligned. 

The GM was great on briefing and fully into character.  The room seemed good when we were inside and we were flying along but then we got completely stumped and could'nt for the life of us work out what to do.  We spent 5mins going around and around and nothing so we asked for some clues.  Nothing at all from the GM.. so we asked some more and some more and after 5mins we finally had a response from her!  It turns out the previous reset had'nt put something back into the room that we needed.  As soon as we got that missing part we flew along again but multiple times after that it as like the GM could'nt see properly as she asked us what was happening or what we had done and she should know surely?  Very frustrating in that we literally lost 10mins faffing around through no fault of our own and you really expect a GM to be on the ball.  There seemed a few other little tech hiccups later on as she asked us to do things multiple times.  Otherwise we really enjoyed the room, 2 puzzles (the 2 right hand silver box challenges) were definitely not our thing but all in all it was a good mix of types of task and nice theming.    Loved the GM character, just wish she had been more present when needed.

So all in all, a good room but just feel like it was let down by the poor reset/GM'ing. 

Jess_keds expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Outcome: Successful escape!
hi-techgreat hostingfamily friendly
jakea256 expert rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Adam Bravery expert rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 2 Nov 2022 Team size: 4 Time taken: 28:34 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalfunnyimmersive

Much like Judgement DAVE, this is an excellent, well themed and enjoyable escape room that is just great to play. Puzzles are unique and well signposted and the game flowed well. The set is excellent - this seems to be an improvement on the old venue based on reviews here - nothing felt out of place and it fit the story well. Our host Barry (the owner) was excellent and our interaction with AI system DAVE were a lot of fun. Well worth playing

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Reviews by escape room review sites

I am of course late to the party here - anyone with sufficient interest in escape games to read this site regularly is likely well aware that Bewilder Box in Brighton has a sterling reputation, frequently appearing in enthusiasts' lists of favourite games. But better late than never, and I was delighted to get a chance to finally try it out.

The Bewilder Box Initiative is hosted in a pub, and instead of a normal lobby area you sit down and wait to be collected. You'll have no trouble spotting t...

That rare gem - a room genuinely worth travelling for. Excellent introduction, games masters, puzzles and theming combined to make this a really enjoyable game.
If you’re like us, and putting off a visit to Bewilder Box, stop right now, and find the time to just do it! The Bewilder Box Initiative instantly became a favourite of ours
We have to complete the Bewilder Box assessment and locate the missing Dr Wilder Sr in this escape room above a pub in Brighton.
Attention to detail. It’s often what separates a good game from a great game. If you’ve seen any of the publicity around Bewilder Box, they make a point of featuring Hugo Myatt in the briefing videos for the game – Hugo played Treguard on 90s kids TV show Knightmare and so holds a special place in the hearts of those of us a certain age. It’s a good start already: niche nerd appeal plus the fact they’ve actually gone to the effort of hiring an actor rather than having the owner put on some cringe-worthy performance for the camera.

See also

Other versions of this game:(Different copies of the same game sometimes have significant differences.)