Escape Reality Cardiff: Alcatraz

By | March 20, 2019

by Escape Reality Cardiff (website)

2nd and 3rd Floor, 6-7 St. John Street, CF10 1GJ

Cardiff

2-6 players

60 minutes

In 1934, Alcatraz transformed into a maximum high-security prison housing the most infamous and dangerous criminals. Situated in the chilly waters of San Francisco Bay, no prisoner has ever successfully escaped. Alcatraz has just reached its maximum capacity for the first time in history – because of you.
You are all masters of escaping and no prison has managed to contain you. As highly skilled individuals you have been plotting your escape plan and now the time has arrived. A diversion has been caused by other inmates and the warden has sprinted off to help, leaving you in your cells unguarded. This is your prime opportunity to make your escape attempt. Can you escape before he returns and catches you?
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Overall rating

Rated between 2 and 4 out of 5

based on ratings from 39 users
combined with 4 pro reviews

Your review

Player reviews

Ceri Thomas rated this:Rated between 40 and 40 out of 5
abunai expert rated this:Rated between 40 and 40 out of 5

This game (in Cardiff at least) is huge, which really aids with the immersion. Game flow is linear so would suggest a smaller group. Please note the hint system is TERRIBLE.

Anonymous rated this:Rated between 20 and 20 out of 5
Tom Alcock expert rated this:Rated between 40 and 40 out of 5
Played: 11 May 2022 Team size: 2 Time taken: 38:20 Outcome: Successful escape!
logical
shadsu rated this:Rated between 30 and 30 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!

Alcatraz room was nothing special but still fun to play.

🎲A Jones experienced rated this:Rated between 30 and 30 out of 5
Played: 14 Aug 2019 Team size: 4 Outcome: Successful escape!
Anonymous rated this:Rated between 20 and 20 out of 5
Team size: 3 Outcome: Failed πŸ™
poor hostingunoriginal

Really didn't enjoy the clue system (via ipad) We didn't have an actual host/GM watching us so once we got stuck, we were stuck for the remainder of the hour and couldn't move forwards at all

Tim Cooper expert rated this:Rated between 10 and 10 out of 5
Team size: 2 Time taken: 52:00 Outcome: Successful escape!
poor hostingunoriginal
Gavin B rated this:Rated between 20 and 20 out of 5
Anonymous rated this:Rated between 35 and 35 out of 5
Played: Aug 2018 Team size: 4 Outcome: Failed πŸ™

This is a tough game. We didn't get out, but it's a good type of tough.

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Reviews by escape room review sites

Alcatraz is a padlock-heavy, very linear game with a tendency towards fairly numeric puzzles. A good first impression was somewhat let down by some weaknesses of the game.

First of these was a puzzle where the clue for the answer was ambiguous, giving two possible answers only one of which would work. That's a design weakness, and was entirely avoidable here. It was compounded by the context, which involved a communication element that made the ambiguity harder to detect. (While discussing the ...

A hard room for inexperienced teams who aren’t confident on their communication, and annoying for experienced teams who like good rooms

Alcatraz is a well-produced room with good puzzle diversity. The overall experience is ultimately let down by the sub-par hint system, but the room itself is good quality. I’d recommend this room for larger teams that have a few escape room victories under their belt – you’ll need every brain in the room!


A round-up of a couple of trips through Glasgow. Mostly poor experiences with the one highlight being Escape the Past at Pollok House, a room that would stand up reasonably well even if it weren't in a heritage site.

Time penalties were given for each clue given which is the only downside for Escape Reality, however, we escaped within the 60 minutes we were given, so I'm taking it as a win. 

A good looking room, with good puzzles, this was the last of 4 for us, I thoroughly enjoyed it, we could have, and probably should have made it easier for ourselves, but despite that we got through. The iPad with time penalties for clues is probably the only downside for me. 

See also