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Played: 25 Feb 2024 Team size: 2 Time taken: 44:39 and all items obtained Outcome: Successful escape!
originalcleverimmersive
Easily one of our favourite rooms. This isn't a case of a badly lit room where you're annoyed that the torch isn't powerful enough and you have a bad time because there's no reason not to light it better. You really are in true, complete darkness in there, there's nothing to help you out, your eyes won't adjust, and the puzzles are cleverly designed with that in mind. More than 3 people would probably be hard to handle - there's not a vast amount of room in there and communication is so vital that I can imagine too many cooks spoiling the broth. 
Just a marvellous concept. I don't know why this kind of thing hasn't been done elsewhere (according to the GM it's the only pitch black room in the country). It's really immersive and hands-on, you have to think differently and buy into it and it's massive fun to do so. 
Played: 28 Jan 2024 Team size: 2 Time taken: 54:16 and 14 keys
immersivemagicalcluttered
Despite the interesting structure - individual puzzle rooms that you take in turn - this game wasn't to our taste. One of the rooms in particular was extremely disappointing, with a lot to try to work through and not much fun to be had doing it (maybe larger teams would suit the volume of information better but I don't see it getting any more entertaining to play through). The set design is really nice and there are lots of good elements and individual puzzles throughout, but for us it didn't cohere into a satisfying experience. 
Played: 28 Jan 2024 Team size: 2 Time taken: 54:00 + all items obtained Outcome: Successful escape!
immersive
Played: 12 Nov 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 58:20 and all loot Outcome: Successful escape!
value for moneyclever

I always like a heist room, as they encourage you to make the most of your time instead of escape as quickly as possible, and make the most of our time we certainly did. One puzzle was genuinely unfair - it involves using a function of an item that you're not told that it has - but the rest were clever, inventive, and satisfying. Hopefully that one puzzle will be altered, but with that caveat, a terrific room. 

Played: 14 Oct 2023 Team size: 4 Time taken: 45:15 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalcleverintense

A nice start that splits your team in two, forcing you to communicate, and an intense rush to the finish. If only the music had been quieter - it made it so hard to concentrate. Turning the volume down would have been worth half a star! 

Played: 14 Oct 2023 Team size: 4 Time taken: 45:43 Outcome: Successful escape!
cleverimmersivegreat hosting

One of the escape rooms everybody tells you you have to play, and understandably so. A fabulously immersive setting and wide variety of puzzles, giving each of our team of four a chance to contribute. Unsurprisingly, we recommend it unreservedly. 

Played: 13 Oct 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 42:53 Outcome: Successful escape!
clevergreat hosting

A good variety of clever and satisfying puzzles, with a well-integrated method of delivering hints in the DAVE character. The intro speech did drag on a bit - as dedicated (and deeply, deeply in character) as our host was, it could have stood to have been rather shorter! But once we got into the room, we had a fantastic time. 

Played: 13 Oct 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 45:15 Outcome: Successful escape!
hi-techoriginalgreat hosting

Immersive, original nightclub setting, with ridiculously enthusiastic hosting and good use of space and tech. 

Played: 3 Sep 2023 Team size: 3 Time taken: 45:35 Outcome: Successful escape!
😨creepy

Great fun to run around this creepy carnival setting and try not to upset the ghosts. Good theming and some clever puzzle design. Plump for the live actor! 

Played: 6 Aug 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 45:43 Outcome: Successful escape!

Great theming and use of space - it's a little claustrophobic, but you're supposed to be on a submarine, it fits. Reasonably satisfying puzzles, some of which have Crystal Maze-like physical components. But a word of advice - have at least three people in your team! Our team of two struggled badly with a couple of puzzles that are just too demanding, and we needed help from the GM. We had the solutions, but they weren't possible to execute between two people. 

Played: 6 Aug 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 56:52 Outcome: Successful escape!
😨creepy

Nice scene setting and tech, but some unsatisfying puzzles, some of which required imaginative or logical leaps that felt unwarranted, or which were along the lines of "notice a thing and copy it somewhere else". A shame because the whole setup was promising and entertainingly creepy. 

Played: 9 Jul 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 27 mins Outcome: Successful escape!
great hostingquite easy
As our speed suggests, one of the easier rooms we've played (though we still got stuck by missing something!) , but enjoyable and with the nice hook that you're finding five diamonds along the way. This would make a good room for novices, there's a decent variety of puzzles and the setting isn't likely to throw you off with red herrings. (A nice way of saying it's a little sparse, perhaps, but it works.) 
Played: 9 Jul 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 56:10, all 15 bars Outcome: Successful escape!
value for moneygreat hosting

A lovely heist game that has you solving a set of puzzles to crack into safe deposit boxes for gold bars. As with the other rooms here, economical set design and decor that isn't overloaded with detail - but you'll find yourself running all over the place to investigate it. Really good fun. I can imagine with a larger group it would be total chaos too. 

Played: 9 Jul 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 42 mins Outcome: Successful escape!
great hosting

Lots to do and a wide variety of puzzle types in this room. Love the use of a glass wall to tease you about things you can't access. 

Played: 1 Jul 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 55ish? Outcome: Successful escape!
clevergreat hosting😨creepy
Played: 1 Jul 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: Scored 29 Outcome: Successful escape!
value for moneyoriginalclever

Loads to do and some extremely clever puzzles, some damn near impossible to get but none unfair. As with most collection rooms, frustrating when you finish and find out what you missed, but thoroughly enjoyable and you'll fill an hour in there easily. 

Played: 18 Jun 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 52ish Outcome: Successful escape!
clever

A satisfying, efficient room with some clever puzzles, tech that works well, and plenty to do in quite a concise area. 

Played: 19 Mar 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 47:03 Outcome: Successful escape!
hi-techfamily friendlycharming

A delightful place to be, in a garden full of gnomes and a talking dog. Loads of puzzles of many different types, with some really lovely physical components, things to move and play with. Kids would love this room. 

Played: 19 Mar 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 42:13 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalstory-driven

An unusual and effective setting inside a rock star's dressing room, trying to figure out where he's gone before he's due to go on stage. A wide range of puzzles including one or two concepts I hadn't seen before, and a nice story to follow throughout. Recommended! 

Played: 19 Feb 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 38:31 Outcome: Successful escape!
immersive

Good setting as I'm used to from Clue HQ. The puzzles are to some extent on the simple side, or at least they're unlikely to engage the lateral thinking of an experienced team, but there are a lot of them to work through and I think it would be a good room for beginners. 

Played: 19 Feb 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 32:04 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalcleverimmersive

Terrific, immersive set design and great use made of a small space. 

Played: 12 Feb 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 50:32 Outcome: Successful escape!
hi-techcleverimmersive

A couple of puzzles might be unintuitive if you're not mathematically inclined. Fortunately, I was, and enjoyed getting stuck into them. The room as a whole is an immersive place to be, and the tech it employs works well and makes for a satisfying experience. Might be a bit of a squeeze for larger groups, but it suited my team of two perfectly. 

Played: 12 Feb 2023 Team size: 2 Time taken: 46:19 Outcome: Successful escape!
hi-techimmersive

Great use of space and technology, and just lovely to play a very high quality room that doesn't muck about and has plenty of nice puzzles. Similar feeling to Hellavator in Birmingham, but without the horror. 

Played: 11 Dec 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 80:23 Outcome: Successful escape!
hi-techimmersivestory-driven😨creepy

Clever puzzles that make you proud of yourself for figuring out, and excellent use of technology to make everything work. 

Played: 11 Dec 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 59:43 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalimmersivestory-driven😨creepy
Played: 5 Nov 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 47 mins Outcome: Successful escape!
poor hostingoverpriced

The good parts: Good build quality and nice visual design. It sells the Mayan, Indiana Jones feel nicely. And a couple of puzzles were decent and imaginative.

The bad parts: While the room is themed nicely, the puzzles are kind of assorted, not as integrated into the theming as they could be, and mostly don't require much insight to solve. Two puzzles in particular really did our heads in. One could use subtly better cluing in order to give you the push in the right direction - I'm not saying it's impossible to make the leap you need to without that, but what you were supposed to notice was pretty slight. The other was easy to work out, but because the technology involved is either glitchy or far too hard to activate, we were left wandering around for some five to ten minutes wondering what else could have been involved. Eventually a hint confirmed that we were right but the tech was a nightmare, and we were able to move forwards. 

A couple of torches we were given were lovely to have - nothing worse than an unnecessarily dark room, and it's fun to have torches to play with. Sadly one of them was underpowered to the point of uselessness, and the other kept turning itself off for apparently no reason. Perhaps it was low on battery? Either way, it was a big frustration, and our vocal complaints were met by silence. You get the feeling that the reason they ask you to do a silly pose to ask for hints is because they're not paying you any attention otherwise. 

There's potential here, because the room has real plus points. But it could use some significant finessing to say the least, as could the hosting. 

Played: 13 Mar 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: Scored 230 Outcome: Successful escape!
value for moneyimmersivefamily friendly

This room was new when we played it and we were determined to get the highest score available, top the leaderboard, and ruin the dreams of all children yet to play it. And we did. Great fun and I think kids would love this room. 

Played: 13 Mar 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 44:40 Outcome: Successful escape!
immersivegreat hosting
Played: 20 Aug 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 50 mins Outcome: Successful escape!
broken tech

We suffered tech problems with this game in addition to a long wait for it to start, and we weren't crazy about the game design either. A shame because the other games at ClueHQ Birmingham have been great. But these things happen and we were offered a free game to make up for it. 

Played: 18 Jun 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 50:09 Outcome: Successful escape!
Played: 13 Aug 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 52:31 Outcome: Successful escape!
clevergreat hosting
Played: 2 Jul 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 53:55 Outcome: Successful escape!
immersive

Got mega stuck on pretty much the first puzzle of the game, but things went fairly smoothly after that. 

Played: 2 Jul 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 49 mins Outcome: Successful escape!
immersive
Played: 27 Aug 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 43:53 Outcome: Successful escape!

Creative puzzles and a lovely endgame. 

Played: 27 Aug 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: £580,000 Outcome: Successful escape!
value for moneyintensequite difficult

Loads to do! 

Played: 2 Oct 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 53 maybe? Can't remember Outcome: Successful escape!

Not a great experience, unfortunately, with one physical puzzle that was so fiddly to complete that the GM essentially let us give up on it after ten minutes of having known what the solution was with no success in executing it. Some of the other puzzles are also on the tedious side, but it's not a room devoid of enjoyment, as the production values are decent and there's a variety of things to play with, lots more than just locks and keys. Might make a reasonable room for beginners and people with young children. If they make the fiddly puzzle a bit less fiddly. 

Played: 2 Oct 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 56 mins Outcome: Successful escape!
immersiveintense🧟terrifying

Very scary and immersive! Not too tricky although the GM did tell us we'd had little trouble considering how scared we were. Had no real trouble with any puzzles, we just refused to execute solutions once we'd worked them out because we knew something scary would happen once we did

Played: 14 May 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 47 mins or so Outcome: Successful escape!
👻scary
Played: 11 Jun 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 46:33 Outcome: Successful escape!
Played: 21 May 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 52:08 Outcome: Successful escape!
Played: 18 Jun 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 38 mins Outcome: Successful escape!