A couple of final calls, an unfortunate (?) name collision, and a whole bunch of new games to make your wallet squeal in pain – it must be the new escape rooms update for February!
Greater London
🔒 The ferociously industrious Room Lockdown have opened Hillybilly Livin’ at their Hornchurch venue, which I suspect is not sponsored by the Kentucky tourist board.
Southeast England
🔒 Starting with the sad news, Time Trap will close on 20th March. They’re a big part of why Reading is such a fantastic escape room destination, and have created some gorgeous experiences over the last eight years. You have three weeks to squeeze in a quick dash to Reading if you want to catch any of their rooms before they go.
🔒 On a similar note, the unique and very clever experience Loop will close on April 14th at The Panic Room Gravesend. It does something I’ve never seen in another escape room.
🔒 Happier news: Mythologic’s new room Raiders of the Lost Galleon sounds like it’s channeling pirates and Indiana Jones – which can only be a good thing, surely.
🔒 New from Major Mind Games in Horsham is The Show Must Go On, one of two games opening this month with that name (!). This one is set in a TV studio where all the performers have mysteriously vanished, leaving you to step in.
🔒 Paradox Parlours also have a new room, at their Woking branch. This one is Enchanted Relic: Wizard’s Enigma.
🔒 And High Wycombe Escape Rooms have an Easter room called Edna’s Easter Eggstravaganza; that’s Edna from the chain’s Crazy Cat Lady game.
Also new, from last month’s update:
🔒 Escape From The Room High Wycombe: The Ghost of Old Maid Milly
🔒 Mythologic Escape Rooms (Gillingham): Sneaky Santa
Southwest England
🔒 Dorchester’s The Great Big Escape will open Nebula Navigators next week, a space romp in a galaxy far far away (no, not that one – at least, not as far as I can tell).
🔒 Cheese Robbers will soon be back open at Escape Rooms Cheltenham.
Also new, from last month’s update:
🔒 Escape Room HQ (Swindon): Holy Grail and Subject Z
Wales
🔒 The scene in South Wales seems to be getting quite active – Gwent Escape Rooms is a new company for the region (as of a month ago), and in their first game Flat 97 you’re searching an abandoned home for a very particular will.
🔒 Just down the road from them, Escape Blackwood opened Debt Collector, which is set in a casino and sounds like it may be a ‘solve all you can’ style of game.
🔒 Mansion of Mystery announced they’ll be re-opening this month at a new location in Carmarthenshire – no details yet of whether it’ll be the same games or new ones.
West Midlands
🔒 Alderford Escape Islands announced their 2024 games, available from the 20th: Medieval Mystery, Shipwrecked, The Island Retreat, and Wanted in the Wild West.
🔒 Courtyard Escapes (Stourbridge) is the second company with a new room named The Show Must Go On; this one is set in a magical circus.
🔒 LevelUp Escapes in Shrewsbury opened new WW2 game Operation: Overload; they’ve also changed their Xmas game A Merry Mayhem into a permanent version, A Missing Mayhem.
🔒 The Puzzle Room Cannock also overhauled two of their rooms; The Tunnel 2 and Murder in NYC 2 have the same themes and stories as before but the puzzles have changed.
🔒 Hourglass Games: Escape the Pirate Ship is now at the Jinney Ring Craft Centre in Hanbury.
East Midlands
🔒 Thunderbowl in Kettering have replaced their two games with new themes, Estate Agents and Auto Shop – and the former is definitely the first escape room I’m aware of that’s themed after an estate agent.
Also new, from last month’s update:
🔒 Mission Classified (Grimsby): Operation Hercules
East of England
🔒 Not opening until April so I wouldn’t normally include it until next month, but since they have an early bird discount: Principal Escape Rooms will be a new venue in Ely. Their game is Mystery at the Museum, and is set in the British Museum.
🔒 Ipswich Escape Rooms opened long-awaited The Secret of the Tomb; I believe the underlying room design is one of the original games by TRAP Budapest (which makes it one of my first ten escape rooms ever!).
🔒 Hourglass Escapes in Downham Market are running an Easter game, The Great Egg Hunt.
Yorkshire & the Humber
🔒 Locked In Leeds opened The Dragon Throne, which is set in 18th Century China and has an unusually deep premise, being based on a historical fiction novel.
Also new, from last month’s update:
🔒 The Great Escape Game Leeds (Leeds): Soul Searchers: The Curse of Grimstone Lane
And also
The NERD escape room meetup will be in Manchester on Tuesday 12th – if you’re going, see you there! 👋