David Jones

9/10 (first out of six in Franconia) 

First of all what I will say is that, as far as I can see, Finest Escape is a serious company. 

A company I would definitely return to. 

This was a game of two halves. The first section you're in a theatre for a magic show 

(It's a similar feel to  The Great Loudini in Wakey if anyone's done that room) 

And this section alone is up there as one of my favourite escape experience, although it's much more immersive theatre. 

It felt like entering a real story of magical possibilities. 

And I must give a very special mention to the actress, or should I say both actresses? We saw that day. Sorry don't remember the names? But what an amazing performance. We were talking to the host afterwards, and I think that was their fifth or sixth performance that day, so even more impressive. 

So you're in this theatre watching this magic show, and interacting with characters and everything was wunderbar 

the second half which is more akin to a traditional escape room, unfortunately was not up to the same standard. I honestly felt like some of the puzzles, (I think a fuses one?) were quite weak, and to match the first half I think this section needs some work, with a bit more oomph and drama. Although the end had more of that, and was the better for it. 

Also the hosting was really good, from a bloke who was a professional magician. We loved the outdoor seating area and the reception. They also have a car park. 

Anyway this was my favourite room of the trip, and I can't really say much more than that. 

I will be very interested to see where this room lands in this year's TERPECA awards. 

8/10 (fourth out of six in Franconia) 

This room started off incredibly strong, in part because of the amazing hosting from Katherine. I mean the best start we've ever experienced. 

The ending was also pretty cool, and intense. 

One thing I will say up front is that this was the most expensive escape room I have ever done. Although as some rooms globally are heading now into the 300s,  is 200 even that expensive anymore? 

But with the cost in mind I think I was expecting more from it, in the middle stages. Maybe a more expansive set, maybe more impressive puzzles. Maybe multiple characters? 

Because the host is so involved in the game, you could argue that she is also a character in the game. Although I wouldn't really class that as a in-room character. 

There were some aspects that turned out to be a "side quest" 

I suppose in a way like a collection aspect. This didn't really go anywhere. 

But then at the end you're supposed to get a print out showing what you've accomplished, but ours was showing zero due to a technical error, so that was a bit deflating 

Before we booked there weren't that many reviews of this room. And some of the reviews that were out there struck me as kind of weird, like this were some kind of contemporary art installation. Like people were a bit lost for words, or the spirit was lost in translation. 

But in reality it's a fairly straightforward escape experience.  

I thought the "Monster" which started off so, so strong. Was actually a bit generic, it didn't fit the theme as well as it could. It would have been much better also having a middle character or fellow traveler with a story to tell, that plays a middle role. And so the interactions are with the fellow traveler, and the monster is more distant and so you maintain the tension, until the denouement. 

Which I felt did work well , or better. In the chaos confusion and cacophony of the conclusion 

All this of course depends on the nature of the character/entity, it depends on the scenario. 

In terms specifically of this creature in this world. Less would be more. 

Because they did an amazing job of building the tension. And that tension just dissipated at points when you're up close with the monster. There's also a section aimed I think at humour where the monster is supposed to be asleep, it just fell a bit flat for us. The part where me and my colleague got separated, also fell flat. 

This is still an incredible and intense experience, that I would highly recommend. The set is also very impressive. 

One thing I will say is that, take the advice to wear old clothes seriously, it could be a bit of an ordeal. 

We both came out with minor injuries. Although we did set all the parameters of the lucid dream to absolute maximum. 

7/10 (fifth out of six in Franconia) 

So Toby's review of this escape room is responsible, to a large extent, for the formation of this entire trip, and of us being dazed and confused in the middle of the Franconia countryside.  He always seems to me very measured in his reviews, but this one had a different quality to it. 

We are also fans of both Blade Runner films. 

One interesting thing about booking this place was that we wanted to do this room first in the morning and then Pirat later, in the evening. 

I thought my colleague might be a bit worse for wear later in the day, and we were looking forward to this room the most, and thought Pirat was maybe a more suitable evening experience. Particularly being set partly in a bar. However in spite of us booking it that way, they changed it, without asking us , so that Pirat was first. 

This obviously is their preference. 

And whilst I'm critiquing their booking system it's maybe also worth mentioning that (at my time of booking) you can't book these rooms , on their website, very far in advance, they claim it's three months, but if you're at the end of a month, it's more like two and a bit. Also weirdly they have no contact details on their website 

So as much as they band about the word "Premium" I'm not sure contacting someone over an Instagram conversation is a particularly "Premium" booking experience. Just saying. 

Anyway to the point - we went into this room with incredibly high expectations, (never a good thing) and especially  after doing the Pirat room, and if I could sum the experience up it would be: "Style over substance"

 I thought the aesthetic of this room was incredible and I love the theme and there is obviously a hell of a lot of tech that has gone into it, it is brain-blowingly impressive in that sense.  

It started very strongly and I thought we were trying to find a missing woman? 

But then it felt like watching a film, but you go to the bog, and miss a crucial juncture. 

There just wasn't the emotional investment, climax, or payoff for us. 

I'm still not sure what happened to that missing woman? 

And so when we were asked if we wanted to save the entirely of humanity and all human accomplishment, (or something similar) we just sort of shrugged. 

I'm willing to accept that this is a great room, and we just didn't appreciate its full magnitude and magnificence 

I just somehow had a lot more fun and more satisfaction larking around in a Pirat bar. 

8.5/10 (third out of six in Franconia) 

No matter how your mileage varies, it's a long way to Bad Steben 

So the first escape room I ever did, around 2018, was Shipwrecked at Breakout in Liverpool, which as far as I'm aware somehow still staggers, wooden-leggedly on. 

In short I didn't think anything much of the room, it was vaguely underwhelming and disappointing and I never imagined returning nor did I make any attempt to do another escape room, for several years following. 

Jump forward 8 years and here we are, doing another Pirate escape room. 

And I have to say the word "Premium" hardly does justice to the vast ocean of difference between then and now, or here and there. 

As I mentioned in another review it was Toby's review of Metropolis that was the catalyst for us ending up in Bad Steben.  

In contrast he seemed somewhat less impressed with Pirat. 

I also have to say I personally haven't got all that much interest in Pirates, and let's be honest it's a cliched,  lazy, past-it theme.

So... controversial opinion, and I'm sorry to jump ship on this, but Pirat was my favourite room here at Dream Labs in Bad Steben. 

Having the actor in the room with you could feel a bit weird and awkward, especially when they're just stood there, and you're trying to get rid of them.

 I do get it.

 I personally have never experienced anything like this, I don't think there's anything like this in England. It's very rare to have people in the room, and certainly not in this fashion. 

But for me, I loved the novelty factor, and I thought it worked really well. 

Even though the actor wasn't particularly convincing as a Pirat. 

Also, and I hope I'm not speaking out of turn here, but from reading other reviews, I thought there was supposed to be two pirates? 

I did question this at the end, but I was told there was only ever one? 

This room had so much going for it, the set design, the genuine humour, incredible puzzles, and I thought it was heartwarming; it genuinely had emotion. 

In the midst of all the bizarreness of the scenario. There was a sense of "Why", which is so often missing from these kinds of experiences. 

The story made sense and had a satisfying conclusion. 

Also the bit where we were separated worked really well. The way they did it, was perfect and our communication during the separation was brilliant! There was a really good use of tech. For me they hit every marker of a great escape room experience. 

My hard-hearted colleague took somewhat less joy from this room. But for me it was a very strong third out of six. 

9/10 (second out of six in Franconia) 

This booking was a bit of an afterthought. We could have well overlooked this place, had it not been for the fact that we ended up actually staying in Kramersfeld, in easy walking distance of the venue. 

The first thing I will say about this room is that it cost us 184 Euro. 

In the same week we did two very similar 90min rooms with Finest escapes (Bamberg und Nuremberg) that both cost us 145 Euro. 

So the first question I would ask is - was this room worth almost 40 Euro more? 

Well extremely unexpectedly, this turned out to be my colleague's favourite room of the trip, and my (close) second; so second out of six. 

So I can certainly say it's expensive, (it's a dear hobby) but I can't really say it's overpriced. 

It's quite difficult for me to put into words quite why this was such a good room, but I'm going to try... 

The initial vibe of the welcome here felt pretty cold, from the 'too cool for school' goth girl on reception, but once we got in the room, Sebastian who did everything else, was absolutely amazing, and goodness knows how he even managed to do what he did. 

But the introduction was brilliant, and we were immediately immersed. 

And that is what really made this room for us, the immersion. 

Was this the most immersive room I've ever been in?

 It was certainly up there.

So much of this experience hinges on his performance,  and character which is so often the case with these things. 

There's possibly something about going into an industrial looking environment and being able to believe, it's an abandoned industrial unit. 

Another thing about this room, it was nice to see a room that wasn't an obvious horror cliche, it was something a bit different, for us. 

There were two distinct levels here, which worked well, because you have the dread of going upstairs, and feeling (relatively) safe downstairs. 

However the overall space wasn't all that big. Or that impressive in terms of set-design. Nothing like that. For the money I would perhaps have expected more from the set. But, regardless, it worked really well. 

It was all very coherent, I think that's the key word here. 

So there's the thing of going into an industrial unit and then trying to pretend it's say a jungle. But there's also the thing where you get into said "jungle" and start doing puzzles that have absolutely no relation to an actual jungle. 

Here everything seemed on point. I didn't feel that anything was a stretch, or broke immersion. 

I think they say something in the blurb about doing tasks rather than puzzles. 

 I'm not  sure I understood what that meant when booking. 

 I'm not sure I quite understand the difference between a puzzle and a task?

But maybe it makes a bit more sense now, than it did. 

The tasks we did all very much fit the theme and it felt very realistic. It really did feel like we were in an industrial until, dealing with the challenges we were faced with. 

When you've done a lot of escape rooms and a puzzle you've done before comes up in a different context, it could potentially feel a bit tired, a bit like "oh this again" But that wasn't an issue here. 

Also the room was liner, which I'm not usually a fan off, but it suited this room perfectly. And we were always clear with what came next. 

And with one exception everything flowed very well. 

That exception was the separation technique. It seems de rigueur in rooms such as this that there is a period of separation or isolation for one or more participants. I didn't feel it worked particularly well with this room, they really need to come up with a better way of doing it. Not a huge criticism, just a minor gripe. 

I'm concerned that this room could get overlooked, in terms of both punters and awards, but I sincerely hope it gets the recognition and credit that it so richly deserves. 

We walked to this venue. But even though this venue is outside of the town, it's accessible by bus. There is also a car park. 

7/10 (sixth out of six in Franconia) 

As I set off on this German road trip, I couldn't help but think that according to Bloodworth's theorem of GPM value, this ought to be one of my more financially ruinous escape room escapades. 

So armed with nothing but a very drunk Italian man, I headed deep into Franconia. 

But first a bit of backstory... 

Before I got into this hobby, this first stop in Bamberg is basically what I thought an Escape Room was. 

And like so many others my only real reference point had been watching the original version of the Crystal Maze on television.  

How I ever stuck with this hobby is another story entirely, given the number of bitter disappointments between then and now. 

But this, I'm pleased and relieved to say, is a proper escape room. Just how I'd imagined it. With, first of all, a very impressive reception area. 

I couldn't help but think "if only this had been the first escape room I ever did".

But then I don't think I would have appreciated it, to quite the same exalted level, if it had of been.  

Given that they are in central Bamberg, they send you several emails, imploring you to try and stay sober, obviously all in vain. 

So anyway the set and the size is incredible. The initial stages of actually getting to the Temple were the strongest parts, and incredibly impressive and immersive. 

However I have to say up-front this was our least favourite room of the trip. So sixth out of six in Franconia. 

And that is in no way a harsh criticism, someone has to come last. 

And all the rooms in Franconia were of a very high standard, and certainly better than almost anything currently on offer in England. 

Two areas where this room fell down, was firstly the hint system, it's supposed to be a parrot squawking at you, it just didn't work for us. 

Secondly an audio puzzle in a kind of office setting segment. 

That really fell flat for us and took the wind out of our sails. In fact the office segment wasn't for us. 

Ok third and final gripe. Two actors appeared mid-game, and I'm really sorry to say it, but honestly it was just lame. I think one of the girls was training, and everyone needs to train, and so I feel even more terrible about saying it, but I'm just telling you what happened. 

Either be mildly convincing, or lose that segment. 

Although I must say the hosting here was very good, and we received a nice welcome. 

I would definitely recommend this company and this room. Especially if you're a fan of the Crystal Maze and that kind of vibe. Definitely worth doing, as part of trip. 

Also the wider Bamberg area is definitely worth a visit, especially if you enjoy a beer or two. 

7.5/10 

There was nothing especially special about this room. 

But for us it was pretty much the perfect escape room experience.  And what more can you ask for? 

First off we had a warm welcome and the  reception area and the themed toilets were impressive.

 I think it's a fairly new location. 

Even though it was a reasonably hi-tech room everything worked perfectly.

There were good signposts we were never short of things to do, never standing around agait "what do we do now?"

It was very immersive and engaging with a good range of puzzles, that all fit the theme. 

Including some low-level robotics which I feel could potentially be a growth area in escape rooms generally. 

I will say it was a surprisingly small space. 

I would recommend 3-4 people, any more it could  be tight but some of the puzzles seemed to need more than 2, although I'm sure they have a work-around. 

There was a kind of electronic video map which was the way we tracked our progress. 

One of the members of our group was worried about getting dirty because it was a mine, but there was no need to worry on that score, it was very clean, and thankfully it was well lit. 

So this particular group of 4 had recently done a room at Pier Pressure (Brighton) and Mindworks (Worthing) this escape room was a full £20 cheaper, for the same standard of room, which I think is noteworthy. 

I can totally understand why this room has been around the top of the Southwest list for as long as it has. There is not a great deal to get excited about around (or to the Southwest) of this area. 

Nothing that I can think of, certainly nothing in or around  Bristol. 

Which I always find surprising and disappointing in equal measure. 

It's in the city centre there's a car park right outside the venue. 

Overall I would definitely recommend this room. 

And I look longingly to companies such as this, to lead the way to a brighter future, for the UK Escape room scene. 

7/10 

At the time of writing this was the lowest rated of their rooms on this website. However this was my favourite of the three rooms I did, I really love anything Sherlock and the general Steampunk aesthetic. 

On top of that it was the solid wrought iron "crunchy" or clunky (in a good way) workshop nature of the puzzles. 

It felt very satisfying turning nuts and cogs with wrenches etc 

I felt I gelled with this room most of all. 

There was also a puzzle where you clear some sort of mist or gas, that was quite novel, and impressive; at least to me. 

There was one puzzle where two people were needed, but I was ably assisted by the great host Elee. 

In common with the other rooms, it kind of had a sparse feel, but it somehow worked better in this room. 

I did have some noise overspill from the reception area, which slightly broke emersion. 

There wasn't much of a story or an overarching mission, and so the ending felt slightly anti-climactic. 

Overall though I would definitely recommend this room, for anyone in the area. 

 If I'd of been in Tenerife longer I would definitely have gone through all their rooms. 

6.5/10 

The gist I got from their advertising hoardings is that this was their premiere room. 

But that could just be that Harry Potteresque anything is the biggest draw of our times  

Also at the time of writing this room was their highest rated room on this website. 

However this was my least favourite of the three rooms I did, although they are all up to a similar standard. 

I felt it was going through pattens and then puzzles where you were placing bits of stuff in certain places, tapping on symbols with wands. 

I know that will probably really appeal to some people, and I do like Harry Potter. But for me this room just didn't flow as well. 

Also it was a bit dark for my liking.  

There was an interesting "senses" based puzzle which I'd never seen before. (A different sense from the Hobbit room) Also I needed an extra couple of minutes with this room. 

Which I was very grateful for. 

Elee the host, was really good and spoke perfect English 

7/10 

 N.B. At the time of writing they were cash only. There are plenty of ATMs in the area. I used CaixaBank on nearby C. Venezuela. 

They do have a toilet, which was a relief, but there's plenty of cafes roundabout. 

This place has very mixed reviews, so I was a bit dubious. 

It's in a run down shopping centre, where most of the shops were closed up, and it's raining in; which TBF isn't much of an issue in usually dry Tenerife. 

But once you get inside their shop it looks quite professional.  

The room itself has a nice front, as it's done up like a Hobbit Hole; albeit a social-housing (budget) Hobbit hole, if such a thing existed. 

Upon entering the room, I was underwhelmed as it seemed quite plain, and fairly rudimentary, however it turns into a surprisingly large area, that probably a lot more could be done with. 

It's LotR/Hobbit themed and all of the puzzles fit the theme. 

As a fan of the LotR films I personally really appreciated this theme and enjoyed this room. There were puzzles I've never experienced before, for example a smell based puzzle, and I really liked some of the more tactile puzzles, handling weapons and slotting pieces into place. 

And old furniture style puzzles. 

There were a few key padlocks, but no combination padlocks, which made a refreshing change, and again fit the theme. 

You could say that there were some red-herrings but for me, even though I needed several clues, everything flowed fairly well. 

It might actually be on the easy side for a larger group, and they could definitely do more with it. But then I wouldn't have gotten out and I would guess they probably get a lot of passing trade, so possibly it's about right for this venue. 

They have an advertising hoarding claiming they are #1 in Tenerife which is absolutely fair enough, and then bizarrely inferring they are #2 in Spain?

They are clearly somewhat adrift from top market trends in Madrid, Barcelona etc However if these rooms were in England I think they'd be considered as really good rooms. 

One criticism is that I think the pricing is rather unfair. Basically it 's 75 Euro for 1-4 people, meaning for 1-2 it's possibly overpriced. 

But given that I went back for two more rooms I can't cry too much about that.

Arthur the host was really good and spoke perfect English. 

They have been criticised for running more than one room at a time, and that could be the case, but it didn't affect me in this room. 

It's in a good accessible spot for a lot of people on holiday in the south of the island, as it's in easy walking distance of the bus station in Costa Adeje.  

This obviously isn't a place I would specifically travel to, but if you're in the area, and you're sun-drenched holiday has been rained-off then it's definitely worth a look