James Bloodworth

A relatively standard theme with ok theming throughout.  The room does feel tired and could do a with a refresh but the puzzles are are still good.  Nothing is going to blow your socks off but the puzzles are solid and this would be a good warmup if you were planning a day of escaping.

Once more, great theming but this room features some quite fiendish puzzles that we initially struggled with (the clue system is fantastic!).  I wouldn’t say you need to think outside of the box but you do need to identify links in the early stages or you will struggle throughout.  The room looks beautiful and has some great ideas throughout.

Great theming and in interesting story.  Despite its age, this room still compares really well to its more modern compatriots.  This room features a lot of physical puzzles but all in keeping with the theming of the room.  

The latest game from Headlock is a delightfully whimsical fairy tale of good vs evil.  Every now and again a game comes up that subverts all of your expectations of it.  To reveal much more would be to spoil it, but if I was to say to you "Fingerbobs" then those of you reading this of a certain age might get a wistful gleam in their eyes.

There are puzzles but that's not the point of this game (alhough one tricky one in the middle took us a little while to get through until we realised what we were doing).  If you're looking for some hard core puzzling action then this is not that game, in some ways its like playing a Zelda game in real life without explicitly stealing the IP.  You won't break a sweat, but you should come out the other end with a smile on your face.

A lot of fun as you try and find your errant childs school report, good variety of puzzles.

A fun magical journey that brings a smile to your face, lots of lovely moments with some great puzzles told in a linear fashion.  

My favourite room at this venue, some attempt at theatre never goes amiss but sadly this isn't capitalised upon (I've seen another venue try a similar trick but with much more gusto).  Room has a good flow and puzzles but nothing should trip you up.

A brilliant time infused with an awful lot of fun.  A wide variance of puzzles in a game of two halves.  There's a lot to do but you will probably do it with a smile on your face as you do.  Couple of red herrings may make you wonder but nothing should divert you.  Definitely one of Clue HQ's better offerings.

One of their older games but can still hold its own.  A non-linear format allows multiple puzzles to be tackled, indeed when one of us was stuck we would switch and move to a different puzzle.  There is one puzzle that has the potential to be as infuriating at the 'drip' puzzle (if you know, you know) but they have mitigated the listening phase of the puzzle.

Is this worthy of all of the praise heaped upon it, yes it is!  If you've the portal series of online escape game then the first couple of rooms will look familiar but the game extends so much more than that.  Gameplay and puzzles are good and the flow of the game works well.  Possibly my favourite Clue HQ game.

This is the easier of the two rooms at this venue and (as I mention elsewhere) there is something of a novelty factor in escaping from a genuine prison cell.  We had Officer Taylor once more as our Jailer and once more she stayed wonderfully in character throughout.  You can expect more usual ER tropes with this room and its relatively straight forward (it's advertised as good for beginners) and I would mostly agree.  I had an issue with how you solve the final puzzle (we completely overthought it and were looking for a much more complicated solution) but it's hard to elaborate on without giving away the solution.  This is a good room but could do with some tweaking I think.  

As I've said before I do love a bit of theatre prior to getting into a room and this does deliver with your Jailer (we had Officer Jess Taylor) staying in character throughout.  As described, you start the game in the actual cell hooded and handcuffed but you end up playing in near total darkness with only one torch.  The puzzles are mostly straightforward but it's the darkness that is the problem and we misread something that would prove to be our downfall even though we had the right answer on the very final puzzle.  The Prison itself is worth a visit and we did then have a walk around (you get the option of a self guided tour included with the Escape Room) and there is a novelty value in escaping from a genuine prison cell but I wouldn't go just for the Escape Rooms/

Spellbound has earned a bit of a reputation and its easy to see why, it's one of the better themed rooms I've seen, I'm not offering any spoilers by saying it's a split start but to get back with your teammates is a puzzle I've never before seen implemented.  When you do start on the room proper, it can be intimidating as there is a lot to look at, deduce and then try and solve.  This is a non-linear room that can be tackled in any order but you need to complete all of it in order to achieve the win condition.  Heed the warnings about taking a decent sized team in there, I would estimate we were about 50% through the puzzles when the timer went, I think 10 is too many people, I would say the best number is hovering around 4-6 depending on experience.  This is a fantastic room though with lots of great ideas and one I would consider having another crack at.

The other half of the game from Dystopia (although both can be played stand alone).  This is very different and involves a lot of high tech puzzles and games as you try and find the way to escape.  Its easy to overthink some puzzles, as the GM told us afterwards, we tore our way through the hard puzzles and completely over thought the easier ones.  I'd say this is slightly harder than Dystopia as the pressure can build at one stage but would also be good for larger groups.

One flip side of a coin, you can play this back to back with it's sister room, Utopia, and if you do its a great experience.  This room is very 'analogue' as in padlocks, observational puzzles and some deduction required.

A great linear game that takes you on an interesting story inter-weaving real life events based on local history.

Easily one of the harder games from YouEscape but, as always, highly original puzzles and the execution of those puzzles.  Nik is a great host and can be as helpful as you want.  This game is very science based (to the extent I asked him afterwards if was or had been a teacher) and does involve a lot of theory, you don't need to understand the science to solve the game but would help.

I do love a bit of theatre when starting a room and this does deliver that, as stated on the website you are blindfolded and handcuffed whilst the spooke voice of the "Governor" plays out, but don't worry you are out of your handcuffs nearly immediately.  This is a fairly creepy game where the GM was happy to tone the creepiness/shocks up or down (we toned them down for my ER partner) but (like Crazy Cat Lady) there are clever but fiendish puzzles and again (like Crazy Cat) we seemed to run out of steam in a few places after tearing through the early part of the room.  We failed to escape and when the GM walked us through we were further away than I thought but there is still a lot to like in this room.

It may look like it's going to be a hilarity filled ride into the mind of someone obsessed with cats but what lurks is a bit of a fiendish puzzles.  I think the flow breaks in a couple of places as at times we were standing around trying to figure out the next move and we failed right on the last puzzle in a similar way to a room from a couple of years ago where I think it was a potentially ambiguous answer to the final puzzle and that cost us the last few seconds.

It's rare for an Escape room to have a great beginning, great gameplay and a thrilling end.  This does, perfectly on theme briefing, couple with some clever puzzles and some interaction with an actor (but not in a Butcher/Edith kind of way, very family friendly).  I've robbed a few banks in my time (as games!) but this was one of the most fun I've taken part in.  

Disappointed after all the positive reviews I had from the first one, could be good but it needs work.

Starting a room with a bit of theatre is always a winner for me, maybe its the LARPer in me.  This game starts with a great sequence and the GM amped it up and added to the role.  you are prisoners sent to an orbital prison but you are innocent and you have help from the inside.  Theming isn't as strong as their other games in the early parts but there's an awful lot to like here and was my favourite game from the ones they offered.  It achieves a great beginning, great gameplay and a great finale.  My favourite room at the venue!

This game starts with a bit of theatre which always is a winner for me.  You are police officers on the trail of a killer and you think you know where he is.  There are some great, great moments and some moments when you look at something and then have to look back to confirm what you've just seen.  There is also a bonus mission if you have time at the end.  Brilliant.

Time Travel is not to be messed with, but this room is very much worth your time.  A game of two halves, both rooms involve puzzles but there's a couple of hi-tech elements I've never seen before and were used to great effect.  Great fun.

Wonderfully themed, great set design and a good mix of puzzles.  We had a couple of hints from "Zeus" and some great banter/interaction.  Set design is good with some spins on some classic puzzles.  As some reviewers have commented, it starts slow but momentum does build to a great finale.

Creepy cabins in the woods, I swear I will never go backpacking again!  Theming was on point, hell I'd stay here for a break!  Good mix of puzzles but again, the story and ending didn't really come together which was a shame, but still worth your while..

I would need all of my particular set of skills as I was taken prisoner by the nicest possible GM.  Needless to say this is a split start where one you starts locked up but you need to work together in order to escape.  Nothing here will amaze you and (like most rooms here) there's one search puzzle I feel is a little harsh but the rest flows well and we had a great time.