Summer’s ending, the nights are drawing in… so how better to spend those darkening evenings than solving puzzles in a room? And here’s this month’s list of new openings to add to your wishlists.
Greater London
🔒 Room Lockdown Hornchurch will run Trick Or Treat from mid-Sept; I’m not sure whether it shares any puzzles with their similarly named room from a few years back. They also appear to have closed their Romford branch, but are setting up new games at Hornchurch with as much energy as ever.
South East England
🔒 Next in line on Houdini’s roll-out plan is Chichester. The branch there is open from today, and offers Creepy Carnival, Escape from Alcatraz, and Room 13.
🔒 Here’s a long-awaited opening: Escape Kent have had Lara Croft inspired Raider of the Lost Tomb listed on their site for quite a while, and it’s now finally available. Initially there were only a handful of early slots listed, but it seems to be fully open on their booking calendar now.
🔒 I believe Scramm in Bambury has operated the same three rooms since 2018; but they’ve retired Virus Laboratory and now opened Twisted Reflections in its place, a 75 min room involving the mysterious disappearance of a child.
🔒 Comic Chaos opens tomorrow at The Lift in Brighton, involving a dastardly villain who plans to drain the colour from the world.
🔒 Back from the dead? – Sneaky Dog Escapes in Southampton seems to be back open again with the same physical and VR games.
🔒 Open in Hastings since last year, Captive Experiences added a fourth game to their lineup, with an unusual theme: The Fall of Saigon is set in the Vietnam War, and has you stealing intel from the US army on behalf of the North Vietnamese.
🎄 Giving early notice of Christmas rooms as they open for booking, Escape Plan Live in Chatham are taking bookings for The Naughty List.
🔒 And on the Isle of Wight, Random Rooms are due to open their new room The Mine in September (planned opening on the 14th, with bookings currently being taken from the 28th).
Also new, from last month’s update:
🔒 The Panic Room Dartford: Netherworld
🎄 Mythologic Escape Rooms (Gillingham): Sneaky Santa
🔒 Other World Escapes Portsmouth: Puzzle Pods (Dracula’s Coffin, Enchanted Tree, Sail With Kon-tiki, Simba Safari Hut, Wild West Saloon)
South West England
🔒 The Wizards of Wyvern is the latest at Prodigy Escapes in Exeter, a Wizarding World style room in which you must find a stolen wyvern egg.
🔒 Also in Exeter, Red House Mysteries (now part of Lock & Code) opened a casino heist game called The Queen of Diamonds Heist.
🔒 Locked In (Cambourne) have opened Puzzle Room 2.0, a stylistic follow-up to their original Puzzle Room, which aims to be a themeless brain workout.
Wales
🔒 There’s a new room for Cardiff too; The Great Escape opens tomorrow at Exitus, their fourth and largest room, set in a WW2 POW camp.
🔒 PanIQ Rooms in Porthmadog now offer Escape To Victory, which like their game The Doll’s House is a suitcase style game available for rent to play at home.
West Midlands
🔒 Escape Hunt also continue to expand. Their new location is Worcester, open from the 6th with five rooms including Dracula, a brand new design for the chain. The other four seem to be a roll-call of Escape Hunt’s latest: Aladdin & the Magic Vault, Curse of the Pharaoh, Eye of the Sun God, Journey to Atlantis.
🔒 Escape Nation in Stafford launched their much anticipated third game – Temple of Shadows is a temple romp with an ancient spirit to be banished.
🔒 School Daze opened at Kidderminster Escape Rooms, having moved there from the original Worcester branch of Top Escape Rooms.
🎄 And talking of Top Escape Rooms, they’ve now re-opened their Elf Who room.
Also new, from last month’s update:
🔒 Hatton Escape Rooms: Nottah Temple
East Midlands
🔒 Break Escape’s Nottingham branch opens its fourth room next week; Orbital is a space game involving a recovery job on board a derelict spaceship.
🎄 As well as their new room Witchful Thinking, Cryptology Nottingham have opened bookings for an Xmas game, Ho Ho Hurry Up.
Also new, from last month’s update:
🔒 Cryptology Nottingham: Witchful Thinking
East of England
🔒 Clued Up opened Carnival Collection, which seems to be a heavily parallel style circus-themed room. The description promises no clowns, and intriguingly lists player scores by number of ducks.
🔒 Riddle Me This opened at Escape Basildon, in which Gotham’s mayor has been murdered and it appears it’s up to you not Batman to solve it.
🎃 For October only, The Rise of the Body Snatchers will be available at Oliver Cromwell’s House in Ely.
🔒 Also in Ely, Principal Escape Rooms will open War of the Roses next week, a game of gardening skulduggery.
🎃 Keylock announced their Halloween room, which is called Trick Or Treat and will be open in October.
🎄 Bookings are also open for Cluetopia Ipswich’s Christmas room A Christmas Catastrophe, which in the past ran at their Clacton branch. Cluetopia also have a big announcement due tomorrow, but that’s going to have to wait for next month’s list!
🔒 The Real Brummie Boys moved to Locked Escapes Luton from their Dunstable branch.
Also new, from last month’s update:
🔒 The Escape House (St Neots): Spellbound
North West England
🔒 The Ice Cream Farm in Tatterhall already sounds like a great destination from the name alone, but they also offer three mini escape rooms, each just 10 mins long: Prison Escape, Sweet Success, and The Puzzle Lodge.
🔒 Breakout Chester are about to open two new rooms, Captured and The Vault – both are designs that are also available at other Breakout branches.
North East England
From last month’s update:
🔒 The Escapologist Gateshead (Newcastle upon Tyne): Chaos in the Cosmos, Incredible Creatures & How to Feed Them, Lost in Time!, The Infected – When the Dead Rise, The Vault
Yorkshire & the Humber
🔒 Escape Withernsea looks like a new enthusiast family-run company, located to the east of Hull. Their first room involves fixing a metaphysical rift, with a name that wins Pun of the Month: A Crackin’ Time.
🔒 And another new company! – A Place To Escape is now open in Redcar, with three rooms: The Pirates of Redcar, The Cursed Hollywood Dressing Room, and Prison Break.
🎄 Cryptology Sheffield will be running the same Christmas game as their Nottingham branch, Ho Ho Hurry Up; they’re now taking bookings for December.
Also new, from last month’s update:
🔒 Escape Rooms Beverley: Robbingham Blinders Race Day Robbery
🔒 Locked In Games Leeds: Sherlock Holmes in The Show Must Go On
🔒 Project Escape Middlesbrough: The Heir’s Fortune
Northern Ireland
🔒 In Belfast, Timescape open their fifth room tomorrow. Casino Heist: The Big Gamble is at their Royal Avenue location.