We’re in the summer lull, but you’ll still find some pretty exciting openings in this month’s list of new UK escape rooms. 🥳
Greater London
🔒 Long-established bring-the-game-to-you escape company Aftermath The Game have two new games available from next week: Operation Stormwatch and Operation Codebreaker, where the latter is aimed at younger players.
🔒 Gourmaze, who blend city puzzle trails with food tasting experiences, added The Rickshaw Race to their line-up. Sadly (?) it doesn’t appear to involve an actual rickshaw.
🔒 Urban Missions is another outdoor puzzle trail company, and their new experience is Street Toxin.
Also new, from last month’s update:
🔒 Clue HQ Kingston-upon-Thames: A-I-9
🔒 Room Lockdown Hornchurch: The Room In The Basement
South East England
🔒 Breaking news: The Panic Room have announced an entirely new branch in Dartford, as a franchise location. The first game there will be Netherworld, open from 22nd Aug. Meanwhile, they’re about to open a new game in Gravesend too: Break The Bank is a heist story, available at the St Georges Centre.
🔒 In Portsmouth, Other World Escapes are about to open their Sip & Solve puzzle bar. This offers a set of ‘puzzle pods’ (five so far), each of which is a 15 minute mini escape room; and those are all available within a full cocktail bar.
🔒 Hell of a Dinner is a new game now open at Eastbourne Escape Rooms, with an unusual premise.
🔒 Escape Room Sussex switched their active game back from The Antarctic Expedition to their original room Myth-a-logical.
Also new, from last month’s update:
🔒 Escape Plan LIVE (Chatham): CSI: Killer Twist, CSI: Murder Underground, CSI: Roger That, Kidnapped: Captive Audience
🔒 Mythologic Escape Rooms (Gillingham): Sneaky Santa
West Midlands
🔒 Bookings are now open at Hatton Escape Rooms for Nottah Temple. This is the first room at the venue that isn’t a copy of one of the ones at Tulleys – I’ll be very interested to hear if it follows the same style of lush decor and overwhelming quantity of puzzles.
🔒 Mscape in Stoke-on-Trent refreshed their Science Mishap room – I believe all puzzles have been updated, meaning it’s an entirely new room under a familiar name.
🔒 Puzzle Room Cannock have also updated some of their games: both Murder in NYC 3 and The Tunnel 3 are now on their third iterations on their respective themes.
Also new, from last month’s update:
🔒 Escape Time Burton-upon-Trent: Freak Show Circus
🔒 Kidderminster Escape Rooms: The Mystic Temple
East Midlands
🔒 Cryptology Nottingham’s newest game opens tomorrow – Witchful Thinking is a 90 minute fantasy theme, and given the venue’s track record I suspect trying this one will be high on lots of enthusiasts’ lists.
🔒 Chesterfield Escape Rooms opened Rob The Bank 2; previously this sequel was only available at the Sudbury location.
East of England
🔒 The Escape House is a new company in St Neots, opening its doors mid-August. Their first game is Spellbound (with some lovely artwork), and there are two more rooms under construction.
🔒 New at Escape Ipswich is Framed and Forgotten, which is not about helping an unjustly neglected portrait, but is in fact a prison escape.
Also new, from last month’s update:
🔒 Oliver Cromwell’s House (Ely): Experiment: Vita-Datum
🔒 Sudbury Escape Rooms: Exposed
North West England
🔒 Red Herring Escape Rooms in Carlisle appears to have now replaced The Asylum with a new game called Virus Lab.
Also new, from last month’s update:
🔒 Escapism Chester: Conservation Crisis
🔒 Houdini’s Escape Room Experience Manchester: Captain Blackheart’s Curse, Creepy Carnival, Escape From Alcatraz, Escape From R.M.S. Titanic
Yorkshire & the Humber
🔒 Escape Rooms Beverley have a new game opening tomorrow; Robbingham Blinders Race Day Robbery, which sounds like a solve-all-you-can style of heist room.
🔒 The Leeds branch of Escape Hunt opened a copy of Excalibur, one of the chain’s latest designs, previously only available in Woking.
🔒 Project Escape Middlesbrough will now offer Captain Blackbeard’s Fortune and The Heir’s Fortune, a pair of 30 minute rooms aimed at younger players.
Also new, from last month’s update:
🔒 Locked In Games Leeds: Sherlock Holmes in The Show Must Go On
Play from home
📹 Last call for Headlock’s live remote games, The Keeper & the Fungus Among Us and Rise of the Fungi! These wildly original games are some of the very best experiences to come out of the pandemic-era innovations in play from home escape rooms. They’re closing at the end of August, so if you haven’t played them, don’t miss out.
And also…
📢 There are rumours there might be another ERIC industry conference, for the first time since the pandemic. Watch this space, or keep an eye on the official group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/174317319811597!