by Escape Reality Newcastle (website)
4 Crown St, Newcastle NSW 2300
2-6 players
Languages: EN
60 minutes
In 1934, Alcatraz transformed into a maximum high-security prison housing the most infamous and dangerous criminals. Situated in the chilly waters of San Francisco Bay, no prisoner has ever successfully escaped. Alcatraz has just reached its maximum capacity for the first time in history – because of you.
You are all masters of escaping and no prison has managed to contain you. As highly skilled individuals you have been plotting your escape plan and now the time has arrived. A diversion has been caused by other inmates and the warden has sprinted off to help, leaving you in your cells unguarded. This is your prime opportunity to make your escape attempt. Can you escape before he returns and catches you?
Overall rating
based on ratings from 41 users
combined with 4 pro reviews
Your review
Player reviews
One player does all the work. The other just gets locked in the cell for more than half the time.
This game was fun, but I don't have much more to say, as it was unoriginal and fairly dull. As a first escape room I bet this is great. It's definitely immersive and I like the team elements, that require everyone to work together. I just don't have much to say outside of that. There was one massive red herring that had us lost for a while! But I don't necessarily ming that. It was just a bit dull of an experience. We were expecting a scary room too, but actually, this is just "Prison" themed and doesn't quite live up to the expectation set up by naming after the notoriously famous Alcatraz Prison.
Great use of space with excellent atmosphere. Very linear but puzzles (especially at the end) required more brain power than other rooms but with a satisfying conclusion. Great introduction from Stephen (GM) with a clunky help system (via tablet) that we didn't end up using at all
Edinburgh Escape reality's hardest room and we happily made it out with their 6th fastest time this season!
Typical prison escape… could’ve been much more original especially when themed (I use that loosely) around the most famous prison in the world!
Split into 2 cells (standard). I had actually completed the room from my own cell before my team mate had actually got out of their. Poor puzzle plan if that’s always the case. GM had to enter the room to explain a rather poor thought out puzzle and even after explanation, I still don’t get how it was supposed to be completed. Not a great venue…. Will not return
Solved puzzles were not always telegraphed well, but still a fun enough room to play.
This game (in Cardiff at least) is huge, which really aids with the immersion. Game flow is linear so would suggest a smaller group. Please note the hint system is TERRIBLE.
Good room but I hate the clue system!
Alcatraz room was nothing special but still fun to play.
Not our usual first choice of theme but we enjoyed this game; it has a split start and some really immersive elements. A good mixture of puzzles.
Really didn't enjoy the clue system (via ipad) We didn't have an actual host/GM watching us so once we got stuck, we were stuck for the remainder of the hour and couldn't move forwards at all
Absconding from Alcatraz
This was my third prison-themed room, but I'm always willing to see how different companies present them.
Story
As convicted criminals, your fellow inmates have created a distraction, giving you one hour to escape before the warden comes back.
Puzzles
Somewhat traditional: a bit of counting, some arithmetic, a dash of practical. Teamwork was important, but only at the very start. As three decent players, we worked well together and didn't struggle on much.
Mise-en-scène
The cells were credible...I wasn't particularly wowed by anything beyond that point.
Final Comments
This room doesn't deserve more than a three-star rating. When compared to Lucardo's The Prison, it shows there are definitely some missed opportunities!
This was my first ever escape room and it was amazing - being separated at the start immediately makes you work as a team. There were some easy parts and some much more difficult parts. We made the rookie mistake of letting a door behind us lock, other than that we didn't need any help from GMs. Would 100% recommend!
My favourite room they have here at escape reality.
Love the start of the room and it really demonstrates teamwork. The first half of the room is truly a teamwork game and co operation.
I know the prison feel can be overdone as its a common theme, however this was executed very well and made it feel like a true escape.
A couple of the puzzles were a little ambiguous with very little signposting, however i would say that its certainly not the hardest room we have ever played by a long shot and i and that all the rooms at escape reality cater for beginner players rather than intermediate or advanced.
if you are ever in manchester, please make sure you stop by and give this game a go. a team of 4 is optimal
Overused theme with cheap props and unusable tablet hint system. No GM interaction apart from actually having to come into the room to do something. Easy puzzles bar one incredibly frustrating supposedly obvious action. Do not recommend.
This is a tough game. We didn't get out, but it's a good type of tough.
Got to the last puzzle in 35 mins.... last puzzle spoilt it. Even with the guy in the room explaining to us how to do it we were still a bit like ‘that makes no sense’ apart from that cannot fault the team or the place whatsoever. Brilliant!!
Reviews by escape room review sites
Alcatraz is a padlock-heavy, very linear game with a tendency towards fairly numeric puzzles. A good first impression was somewhat let down by some weaknesses of the game.
First of these was a puzzle where the clue for the answer was ambiguous, giving two possible answers only one of which would work. That's a design weakness, and was entirely avoidable here. It was compounded by the context, which involved a communication element that made the ambiguity harder to detect. (While discussing the ...
Alcatraz is a well-produced room with good puzzle diversity. The overall experience is ultimately let down by the sub-par hint system, but the room itself is good quality. I’d recommend this room for larger teams that have a few escape room victories under their belt – you’ll need every brain in the room!
Time penalties were given for each clue given which is the only downside for Escape Reality, however, we escaped within the 60 minutes we were given, so I'm taking it as a win.
A good looking room, with good puzzles, this was the last of 4 for us, I thoroughly enjoyed it, we could have, and probably should have made it easier for ourselves, but despite that we got through. The iPad with time penalties for clues is probably the only downside for me.
See also
- Escape Reality Cardiff: Alcatraz (Cardiff)
- Escape Reality Coventry: Alcatraz (Coventry)
- Escape Reality Edinburgh: Alcatraz (Edinburgh)
- Escape Reality Glasgow: Alcatraz (Glasgow)
- Escape Reality Leeds: Alcatraz (Leeds)
- Escape Reality Leicester: Alcatraz (Leicester) (closed)
- Escape Reality Manchester: Alcatraz (Manchester) (closed)
- Escape Reality Birmingham: Alcatraz (Birmingham)
- Escape Reality Preston: Alcatraz (Preston)