Houdini’s Escape Room Experience Swindon: Escape From Alcatraz

By | June 27, 2023

by Houdini's Escape Room Experience Swindon (website)

Whitehill Way, Shaw Ridge Leisure Park, Swindon SN5 7DN

Swindon

2-8 players

Languages: EN

60 minutes

The year is 1952, you have been convicted of multiple murders that you claim you're innocent of. With only an hour to go before your execution, surely it's too late for your brother to finally prove your innocence and save your life?

​Can you escape your prison cell in the infamous Alcatraz before the guards come to take you to the electric chair?

show full description
Thank you for helping keep Escape the Review up to date!
Let us know what needs changing:





If you own or manage this company, you can also claim the listing and update it yourself

Promotional offer

50% off with code PRICECUT
You'd be crazy to miss out on our price cut offer!

Get a whopping 50% off when you come and play a Houdini's room on a Tuesday with a team of four or more.

Just enter code: PRICECUT when booking online.

Overall rating

Rated between 1 and 2 out of 5

based on ratings from 65 users
combined with 5 pro reviews

Your review

Player reviews

LR experienced rated this:Rated between 2 and 2 out of 5
Played: 24 Aug 2023 Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!
broken tech😨creepy

We made an evening out of playing two games at Houdini's Swindon. Despite only having been open a few weeks a number of puzzles were broken or missing. Both rooms were disappointing

SupertrampEcho experienced rated this:Rated between 1 and 1 out of 5
Outcome: Successful escape!
buzzywuzzy experienced rated this:Rated between 2 and 2 out of 5
Played: 24 Aug 2023 Team size: 4 Time taken: 42 Outcome: Successful escape!
broken techpoor hosting😨creepy

Newly opened but lots of puzzles damaged, GM had to come in to the room to correct a few things and bring missing items/fix broken items

TheCLAMS expert rated this:Rated between 1.5 and 1.5 out of 5
Played: 20 Aug 2023 Team size: 4 Time taken: ~45mins Outcome: Successful escape!
broken techpoor hostingdangerous

We booked 3 Houdini's rooms for one day and gosh was it disappointing! 

The second worst escape room (out of 88 so far) we have ever done (second only to the Titanic room at Houdini's).

This room has been open for a month and a half and already half the puzzles were completely broken. It was very frustrating - we would complete the puzzle, it wouldn't work, so we would go off and try something else thinking we didn't have everything for the puzzle yet and the 5 minutes later the GM would appear to tell us it was broken. There was also a hole in the wall which we rummaged around in (pulling out insulation and a loose screw) only to be told once we had finished the room that it wasnt part of the room and that someone had damaged the wall the week previous and they hadn't been able to fix it yet. Why on earth wouldn't they tell us before we went into the room?

The end to the room was so anti-climatic we didn't even realise we had completed the room until the GM appeared (for the 9th time in the game) and told us it was over. 

And be warned - the clue system for Houdini games (at least in the Swindon branch) is the GM just appearing in the room to give you hints. It's very disconcerting and completely ruins the immersion. 

We'll never do a Houdini's room again!

Anonymous rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Outcome: Successful escape!
maynardescapes experienced rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Team size: 3 Time taken: 57.12 Outcome: Successful escape!
great hostingfamily friendly
NovemberGolf21 expert rated this:Rated between 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5
Anonymous expert rated this:Rated between 2.5 and 2.5 out of 5
Played: 7 Feb 2025 Team size: 2 Time taken: 49:00 Outcome: Successful escape!
great hostingneeds tlc
RedPandaPepper expert rated this:Rated between 2.5 and 2.5 out of 5
broken tech
heatherwright rated this:Rated between 3 and 3 out of 5
Played: 06/11/2024 Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
great hostingplain
Showing most recent only - see all ratings & reviews

Reviews by escape room review sites

When reviewing games I rarely say much about the venue outside the game itself. A polished intro or an enthusiastic welcome from the host can get the experience off to a good start, but for me at least is rarely a large factor in how I feel about a game afterwards. Houdini Escapes put so much effort into their hosting that it would be a crime not to mention it. Not only is their reception very nicely decorated with a first-rate selection of free drinks on offer, the briefing then takes place in ...

An well rounded experience from the moment you enter the shop to the moment you walk out the door. A tough start for novices but good plenty of good puzzles. Let down a bit by a couple of awkward moments in the game.
Prison break rooms are probably one of the most common themed rooms out there, but this is one of the better ones. Quite a search heavy room at times, but the puzzles were fair and the signposting was decent.
The theming of this room is absolutely excellent with twists and turns which we have not experienced in other rooms.

See also

Other copies of this game in other locations:(Different copies of the same game sometimes have significant differences.)