A sprinkling of treats in the run up to Easter – it’s the list of new UK escape rooms. Got anything booked for that long weekend yet?
Greater London
🔒 The Tides of Fate is a short-term popup escape from the team that made Endeavour II a couple of years ago, running at the Hays Galleria. There are still some slots left for next weekend if you’re quick.
🔒 Operation Escape is back open, having moved from Bromham to West Wick. They have two new games, Feline Fiasco and The Curse of Curawood’s Garden, with two more due to follow; and if those names sound familiar, it’s because they appear to be from Maidstone’s Escape Hub. Which is excellent news, since that venue had some lovely games that I was sad to see close.
🔒 And Gourmaze have a new trail called Shadows of the Crown. Their games are a combination of puzzle trail plus dining experience, and this one is Indian-themed.
Southeast England
🔒 Pier Pressure are about to open The Lucky Escape, not in their main Brighton venue(s) but at Newhaven Fort just along the coast. It’s a 70s-themed room where you’re trying to get away with a suitcase of cash.
🔒 Locked In A Room’s Southampton branch opened a copy of the chain’s (officially licensed) Wallace and Gromit room.
🔒 The latest room at the ever-busy The Panic Room Gravesend is another in their CSI series: CSI – Death at the Disco.
Also new, from last month’s update:
🔒 CTRL ALT ESC (Margate): Escaping Neverland
🔒 Immersion Escape Rooms (Alton): Portal
🔒 The Panic Room Gravesend: Time Raiders: Blackbeard’s Missing Map
Last call for:
❗️ Pressure Point Escape Rooms (Ashford): The Mayflower Dagger (closing 25th May)
Channel Islands
🔒 On Easter Saturday, MTG Escapes are running an ‘island wide escape day’ on Guernsey, with The Sorcerer’s Final Spell, a one day only adventure.
Also new, from last month’s update:
🔒 MTG Escapes (Guernsey): Chloe’s Camping CATastrophe!
Southwest England
🔒 In Weston-super-mare, All Stars Escape Room will shortly open WW2 game The Bletchley Project, which sounds like it blends bomb defusal with finding the correct suspect.
🐣 A seasonal room from Dreadlock in Bodmin, with The Great EGGscape – the name speaks for itself, and it’s running until the end of September.
Also new, from last month’s update:
🔒 Housetrap Escape Rooms (Bodmin): Killjoy
Wales
🔒 After some delays, Mansion of Mystery is back open, now in Carmarthenshire, with their game The Time Machine – this got strong reviews in its previous location.
West Midlands
🔒 Exciting Game in Birmingham are due to open a new room mid-April, with another scary theme; but in Jigsaw’s Trial you can choose whether to play it with or without a live actor.
🔒 LevelUp Escapes (Shrewsbury) have adjusting the theming of Snowbound Express to turn it into Shrewsbury Express.
🔒 And XscapeNow in Telford have a new room too. Battleships is a submarine theme with two copies, to allow for head to head play.
East Midlands
🔒 Break Escape’s Loughborough branch will shortly open their take on the Oz theme, with Wickedly Oz, in which you’re in search of the Ruby Slippers.
🔒 The National Justice Museum’s pop up game Guilty? is back open on selected evenings.
🔒 Tension Twisted Realities in Lincoln will soon open their new room The Last Appointment. Story details are scarce but the picture looks a lot like a dentist’s chair…
Also new, from last month’s update:
🔒 Escape Leicester: Submarine
East of England
From last month’s update:
🔒 Escape Rooms Suffolk (Bury St Edmunds): The Golden Egg Heist
🔒 Keylock Games (Wickford): Madame Costello’s Fortune Telling Parlour
Last call for:
❗️ EO Escape Rooms (Sudbury): The Great Eggscape (closing 20th April)
❗️ Escape Rooms Suffolk (Bury St Edmunds): The Golden Egg Heist (closing 4th May)
Northwest England
🔒 Exciting news for Crewe, with a new venue opening its doors in a couple of weeks. Mystery Quests will launch with Antidote and Hillbilly Livin’ – I believe the latter is based on the room previously available at Room Lockdown Romford.
🔒 Breakout Manchester are consolidating their games at their Newton St location. That means the Church St venue has closed, with those rooms moving across to Newton St, which will have a remarkable 15 games in one location. (Hey, with Lucardo and Escape Hunt nearby, perhaps that makes Manchester a decent option for anyone wanting to aim at that ‘most escape rooms in 24 hours’ Guinness record? Maybe not, the record currently stands at 32 rooms.)
🔒 Lakes Escapes opened No Place Like Gnome, which was much loved at Top Escape Rooms and will no doubt win new fans in its new location.
Yorkshire & the Humber
🐣 Another Easter game popping up, this one in Grimsby from Mission Classified: Easter High School has you training to fill in for the Easter Bunny.
🔒 This month’s new branch of Houdini’s is in Leeds, though not until the end of the month; they’ll open with Titanic, Houdini’s Last Secret and Space Break.
Northeast England
🔒 Recently opened company The Escape Lounge in Ashington will soon open a third game – Egyptian Tomb Raider sounds like it’s going for archaeological adventure theming.
Scotland
🔒 Locked In Glasgow opened new room Frankenstein, or perhaps I should say brought it to life?
Play from home
🎧 You may have noticed that Swamp Motel have brought back their Isklander trilogy of mixed media online team games, for a limited period. I enjoyed playing them in lockdown and they’re now cheaper to play than they were originally.