Philip & Gemma

We played this room when it relatively new and didn't really know what to expect. It is a very physical room with theming that really makes you believe you are in a reactor. Mix this with impressive special effects and you are immersed in a panic to fix the reactor in the middle of Russia.

There are some elements of darkness in this game but it is short and very much part of the story, so we didn't mind this too much. 

This was the type of game that you feel you've taken forever and lost all concept of time, so we were very surprised to find that we had topped the leaderboard for our time (albeit this was towards the opening so hadn't been played hundreds of times). We felt challenged as a 2 and had lots to do. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and the phsyical elements, even though we are not usually fans.

This is an example of Escapologic building a room around a unique space that they have and using it to their advantage. This WW2 room has different sections that will get your step count up for the day, especially with the amazing staircase! 

We hindered ourselves by misplacing a key object in a silly place (we were young and naive, okay?) but solved it without assistance with quick thinking and use of a hair clip that Gemma luckily had.

Overall, a great room with an impressive ending and an on theme clue system that you shouldn't miss.

This is a room that we wish we could forget and play again. We made the mistake of this being the first ever Escapologic room we ever played and we found it very difficult. We know that if we played it now as more experienced players, we would do much better.

It is a physical puzzle room with contraptions and machinery. The set pieces and puzzles are amazingly themed and the clue system is great. 

As with all the Escapologic rooms, the game host was fantastic and tried to help us out. Alas, until we suffer with amnesia, we will have to accept our defeat to this great room.

We played this room when it first came out. The set for both sections of the game was fantastic. I was particuarly impressed with where you start out, with well themed puzzles. The second room has the impressive set piece that you want from the game. We had a few issues with this, mostly because we are not physical puzzle type people and it took us a little while to navigate what we were supposed to do. However, with some well given clues and help, we escaped with time left and had a good time overall.

The sheer amount of padlocks in this room is what makes it challenging, not necessarily the actual puzzles themselves. However as a 2, we loved being kept on our toes for the whole game and felt pretty tired once we had finished!

It has a nice balance of horror theming without being scary. We really enjoyed ourselves and as they listed it as 5* star difficulty, we were really chuffed when we finished.

This was our first cowboy themed room and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

The start of the game was slightly ruined by the fact that the door to the second room of the game had been accidentally left open, which meant our host had to come in and close it. This happened very early in the game and so didn't completely ruin the immersion, accidents happen!

We were offered two different styles of game, Cowboys or Indians, and we chose Cowboys. There were some puzzles that we didn't have to complete as they were for the other game. The main game was the same however.

The scenery and setting is strong with lots to look at and you could believe you are standing in a Western saloon. We enjoyed our time and happily worked our way through the puzzles without too much difficulty. 

This room has a great carnival theme, with a slighty creepy undertone (mostly having to carry a creepy doll around with you). 

The space seems big as you are constantly moving into new sections of the game. The puzzles aren't particuarly hard but are mostly themed well to the room. 

The room was enjoyable and had enough to do that it was satisfying to work through and complete. It is definitely suitable to beginner players.

The set for this escape room was impressive, with a cabin theming.

There were a variety of puzzles to complete and going between different sections of the cabin to complete them (although it's not a very big space).

Our main issue with the game was that we had completed 99% of the puzzles and were stuck on the last element for the last 10 minutes of our time. We were so close to the end but were not given clues to help us finish. We think this is because of the building that Breakout Chester is in, where the games master has to climb multiple floors/steps between the game and where they are observing. Out host was standing outside the door at 60 minutes whilst we stood like lemons not knowing what to do next for a long time. It was a rather frustrating end when we had one element left of the whole game. 

Looking back, we left feeling very bitter as it was our first ever loss and felt unjustified but we have since recovered from the saltiness (just about...).

This is a traditional escape room but with a slightly more unique concept of solving the different elements of the crime. With multiple rooms and integrating Chester's setting into the game, this was a fun, sleuthy game which was enjoyable but not particularly challenging.

A Christmassy room full of festive fun. Not particularly challenging but fun nonetheless!

The setting of this game is decent. The lighting, sounds and scenery make you feel that you're in a creepy cabin. That same lighting however can be too dim for intricate, visual puzzles and the small torches don't always give enough light.

The game teeters on the line of creepy and scary, with a couple of jump scares to keep you on your toes. It is not an extreme horror or very scary game as a whole however.

It is a traditional escape room game with padlocks and locked furniture with enough to keep our team of 2 busy throughout.

We won't waste your time rewording something that already exists, as Toby in the EtR pro review below has hit the nail on the head.
Puzzles made sense, theming nothing to write home about, enthusiastic hosts.

This room has been well described by the pro reviews. A unique briefing followed by a fairly standard trapped-in-a-cell start (sad that all of the references to cinema stopped at the briefing, as that would've been a truly unique theme). 

There was obvious intention to make the puzzle solves more 'realistic' but equally compromises had to be made to incorporate typical escape room progress, so it wasn't as 'different' as it may have hoped to be.
That said, a good jump-scare got Gemma's sister's heart going, and the finish was a satisfying one. The lovely coin we received at the end is still one of the nicest escape room souvenirs we own, alongside various fridge magnets etc. A solid game.

This room is themed around the idea of the Saw franchise. You are "captured" and have to solve puzzles to avoid your death (naturally!).

The build up to the room is intense with the theming outside of the room and entering blindfolded. However, the actual room is more creepy than scary. There are some body parts and blood on the walls, but that's just a standard night in Manchester...

There is a variety of puzzles, including sensory elements which is always a winner for Gemma. It is a padlock heavy room but gives you lots of satisfaction for opening them all.

The room is logical and has no major flaws, but if you're looking for a super horror-y room, you'll be left disappointed. This would be a good first room for dipping your toes into the immersive horror escape style game, but not for thrill seekers.

This room has the interesting concept that you are training to be a spy and have to complete multiple tasks using different skills to pass your final exam.

The puzzles have big variety, covering mental and physical type challenges. 

This room is a competitive room, with a copy next door so that two teams can race. You can see into the other room, although we only did it as a 2 so no one was in the other room. The room is pretty bare except for the puzzles so don't expect to be blown away with immersion, but that is because the concept is based within the puzzles, not the location.

A different kind of escape room overall, which is very fun and emulates the theme well but don't expect much story.

Solid theming set in a hotel/motel room. Has a creepy feel throughout that is well delivered. A mixture of puzzles and searching push this linear room along.

We played this room as an unexperienced 2, and got out just in time. We literally swiped the exit key card at 59.59!

A very traditional style escape room with a couple of small rooms but good theming.

This room had a pretty basic concept in a small space - funnily enough a cube! 

The puzzles had variety and there was enough for 4 of us to be doing something most of the time, although they were rather primitive in their nature. This was the first room Gemma had ever done and was a good introduction into the world of escaping, however it wouldn't be a top pick for enthusiasts.

The room was (as is often the case) in a random industrial estate but we found it easily enough. The host was in costume, friendly and fun! 

In summary, this room isn't going to blow your mind but fits a decent amount of puzzles into a pretty small cube and will keep you busy.