Tulleys Escape Rooms & Games: Nethercott Manor

There is so much hype about this game, I just don't understand how our experience was so terrible.

After our amazing experience  playing 'Dodge' we then hit an all time low. 

We spent over 20 minutes in the dark with 2 torches between 4 of us. After asking for help and for more torches numerous times and not receiving any response, one of our team members left the room to get our GMs attention. He wasn't anywhere to be found. Another GM in Reception told us they would pass on the message to our GM.

After a few more minutes we received a clue instructing us to pull something more firmly  (trying to give no spoilers). As enthusiasts, we are conditioned into thinking nothing requires any force, well this did! As did other things in the room.

25 minutes in, morale was low. The second half of the game passed by very slowly. Some of the puzzles just seemed illogically difficult for the sake of it. One team member was left to spend 20 minutes on a 'puzzle', when we came out we were told we didn't need to do it.

Another team member had to leave the room during the second half of the game to get the GMs attention again as there was no response when waving and calling out to the cameras.

At the end of the game, we asked the GM about 2 specific puzzles and how to solve them, he couldn't tell us as he didn't know.

It was an absolute farce. I have tried to contact Tulleys twice to give them personal  feedback but haven't received a response.

Maybe an attentive and helpful GM would have made for a better experience. 

An amazing room.  A couple of the items were a bit worse for wear when we played and broke during play which stops this getting the full 5*.  I also wish there wasn't quite so much content in the room.  Although we did escape, we had to parallelise a lot in order to do so and it meant there were large chunks of the room I never saw!

Challenging, as there is a lot to do! 

Really hard to know how to review this game: as a couple I would say we had quite different experiences of the game. Pretty similar theme  and look to playing a Mystery Case Files computer game. I got to do more of the smaller puzzles individually while the other half of the duo concentrated on some more physical skill puzzles. The game - if it had worked and had been well hosted - would have been absolutely great, I am sure. 

The good: it is HUGE and there is plenty to do. We apparently had one room to go at the end and hadn't quite finished the room we were in. There are some fun puzzles. The set looks fantastic - one of the best I have seen. There were some great a-ha moments and some mild jump scares. 

The bad: ultimately a frustrating experience - more so for Mr B who got stuck with a broken puzzle having been trying to do it for at least 10 minutes. We had 3 separate occurrences in the rooms where drawers or doors should have opened having put in the correct solution where nothing happened. I am not sure if this was down to mechanical issues with the puzzles or a failure to pay attention to manual release moments on the part of the GM  - but compounded by failing to get a response from the GM when asking for help or to confirm that the solution entered was correct on multiple occasions, it felt like we wasted a lot of time standing around not understanding why nothing had happened and why we couldn't progress. Given these faults, being ceremoniously shepherded out of the room exactly on the 60:00 mark - when we had starting playing around 10 minutes in advance of our listed game time - meant that we felt like we had not really got the full experience, and I can't say that the GM was particularly bothered about it. A real shame, given the potential the room clearly has to be one of the best in the UK. 

Update: we did return in Nov 21, and completed it this time. No issues with broken tech this time around, and the hosting was significantly better. Finished in 75 minutes, recalling very little of what we saw the first time. It is a beautifully designed set, but something about this game just doesn't spark joy in me - definitely prefer some of the other Tulley's games over this one. It is still a very good game though, just competing against some other very high quality games. Agree it works better as a 90 minute game as a 2 player so it's nice they have made that change. 

It was the very first escape room we played and I now know it was the wrong choice for the complete novice...! lol. It’s so involved and full of puzzles to solve. We managed to get to the last room but unfortunately ran out of time.  Still, we think we did well!  Very good room with a lot to work on.

Oh my wow, this is a doozy of an escape room, not for the faint hearted. 

Like all of Tully’s escape rooms, the setting and props were outstanding; so well thought through and perfectly in keeping with the theme of the room. If you have never done a Tully’s room, I strongly recommend leaving this one until last as it is the biggest and hardest of the lot, the other rooms will help you to understand the puzzle style of Tully’s  which will really help. 

There is so much content in this room it is unreal, it just keeps going and going! Top tip, split off if you want to beat this one. 

Our Game Master was excellent at supporting us when we were stuck, leaving just the right amount of time to drop helpful hints, always in character as a ghostly voice. 

Tully’s is not so much a narrative based escape room, but more focussed on theme based puzzles. however this is not a negative, there is an excellent range of puzzles that really get the cogs working. There are so many excellent surprises in this room, as well as clever puzzles I have not seen before in an escape room. The non-linear structure meant that everyone always had something to do and escaping this one felt like a real achievement!

This room is very good but I left feeling bad as I just cannot see how its a 60min room.  We have done 50 rooms and never failed one other than Nethercott and Dodge at Tulleys as theres just so much to do in the time.  We never got stuck on anything and yet after 60mins she said we were only 60% of the way through it!  I get the impression they want people to come back for 2nd visits.  Just left me feeling disappointed and put me off trying their new rooms as they seem impossible to finish..

I’m clearly in the minority here, but we did not enjoy this game.  We think it all came down to the gm not paying attention, but even without that, it seems to be WAY too hard to do in an hour.  Then if you are frustrated at the end they give you a 50% off coupon to come back and do it again 😒

A really strong addition to Tulleys, although well deserving of its difficult reputation. This is mainly due to sheer puzzle density, although there are some really challenging puzzles requiring multiple steps to solve. A couple of frustrating skill based puzzles vexxed us although  the puzzle quality is great and flow works well. Splitting up is essential, and a large team is recommended. The theming and design is outstanding, plus our GM was great. 

I have mixed emotions about this room, personally I liked it as I like logic puzzles and those which require some "sideways thinking", but one sensory puzzle had me on the verge of a rage quit...  Now don't get me wrong, sensory puzzles can be wonderful... but this one was too many and too similar and we solved the puzzle by other means that the sensory route as none of the team could agree. So frustrating and is now my lasting memory of the room.
The rest of the adventure was great, lots of variety in the puzzles, great transitions and torches (how I love a torch when there's low light, my old eyes need one!). The narrative is detailed and progresses nicely through the adventure too. 
We had another great host from Tulleys, who nudged at the right points and didn't leave us too long before sending clues. Great room (except for the sensory nightmare).

We paid for 2hrs knowing as a pair we'd never complete. It took us all of those 2hrs.  Very pleased they've upped it to 90mins as felt it was unfair before as just impossible to complete in 60 min

We went into Nethercott with some trepidation about the difficulty, even though we had booked a 90 minute slot and were a large-ish team of mostly experienced players.

The theming and set design were great, on par with Tulleys' usual quality - with some small jump scares. Atmospheric music and sound effects help keep the spooky feeling. There are some sections with lots of flashing lights, so be aware if you're sensitive to that (I don't think they mention it before booking!).

We felt that the main reason for longer game times seems to be the sheer volume of things going on. A larger team is definitely better if you want to complete it first time. Aside from the amount of puzzles, only a couple of puzzles were particularly difficult to work out. 

The GM was great, offering us the option of hints at the perfect time, when needed.

A solid room, though not my personal favourite at Tulleys.

So much to do, so little time! Amazing how much they've managed to fit into the space they have. I loved the mixture of the physical and traditional style puzzles as you explored the manor. Some elements of the room were a little stiff which led us to believe we couldn't use them / need them until hinted. We were also a little annoyed that only 2 torches were provided for the whole team. However, the rest was superb and easily made up for these small gripes! We played this game as 90 minutes and definitely needed the extra half hour. If you can complete in under an hour, hats off to you!

5 star despite being petrified throughout!