Author Archives: escapethereview

Escape Rooms: Project D.I.V.A.

London, May 2017

I went into Project D.I.V.A. thinking, wow! – but came out thinking, what a shame. This game has cool technology and stagecraft, let down by too many game weaknesses.

There’s a huge contrast between Escape Rooms’ new Angel games and their original, … (more)

Puzzlair: The Lab of Dr. Lev Pasted

Bristol, Jun 2017

Puzzlair is closely related to Hint Hunt, and as such was one of the first escape venues in the UK. They also share the John Monroe game design, and of the many locations across Europe that also offer that game, a good proportion of them also have Le… (more)

Puzzlair: The Poltergeist Room

Bristol, Jun 2017

Given a choice of games I tend to choose the one that doesn’t have a horror theme, not so much because I object to a gory or scary room but because after a while the bloodied plastic body parts and other staples start to get a bit tired. But Polterge… (more)

Puzzlair: The Prison Van

Bristol, Jun 2017

Puzzlair is split across two venues, and strictly speaking Prison Van isn’t in either of them – it’s played in an actual prison van parked outside their Barton Road. If that sounds cramped – well, it’s a pretty big van, and there were only three of u… (more)

Escape Rooms Plymouth: H.M.P. The Clink

Plymouth, Jun 2017

The Clink comes with a warning on the website that it’s the venue’s hardest room and that teams should play one or two others before attempting it. The description also explains how the team will be separated into four separate jail cells, then parti… (more)

Escape Rooms Plymouth: Germ

Plymouth, Jun 2017

Escape Rooms Plymouth have been around for a while – they claim to have been the fifth escape venue in the country. Germ is one of their original two games; they currently have four, after moving to new and larger premises. These premises include a s… (more)

Mission Escape: Maioc Crisis

Exeter, Jun 2017

The newest game at Mission Escape’s Exeter branch, Maioc Crisis is also advertised as their most high tech. Where the backstory in their other rooms is just a figleaf, this game makes more of an effort to build it into the game.

The plot involves a … (more)

Mission Escape: Bacterium

Exeter, Jun 2017

Of the three games at this venue, Bacterium uses the largest physical space. The website description of the game talks about being imprisoned in a chemical factory, the entrance door had a zombies banner across it and I’m sure the briefing mentioned … (more)

Mission Escape: Pharaoh’s Anger

Exeter, Jun 2017

Pharaoh’s Anger is the first of the three Mission Escape games in Exeter we played. Their take on the common Egyptian tomb theme is a game structured as a sequential series of chambers with chunky wooden puzzles.

The decor is very much the MDF style… (more)

Enigma Escape: The Breakout

London, May 2017

The Breakout is Enigma Escape’s second room, which in their narrative continuity occurs before their other room, which I guess makes it a prequel. Despite the very different types of story (‘escape from a psycho’ versus ‘break someone out of jail’, t… (more)