Make Your Escape: Spellbound

#43

Room 2 out of 4 at our trip to MYE. This. Was. Magical. From the get-go we were immersed into the experience. The decoration was absolutely brilliant, not one part of the room was missing anything, and the puzzles! It can seem overwhelming at first at how much there is to do, and our host  seemed a bit quietly dubious as to whether we’d escape with just two of us. But we managed! This room could comfortably fit 6, but if you’re feeling like a challenge then try it as a pair. Into the top 5 of our personal rankings.

Our first puzzle to solve was something I’ve never seen before and very original. As there were so many puzzles, it didn’t bother us that a few were padlock-based either. The way you solve things to work towards the finale was super fun too. The last 3/4 minutes were a mad rush and rather stressful! But that’s what you need sometimes in such a room. The best room at MYE by far.

Really recommend a group of 4 for this one, even with experienced players! A LOT of stuff to do.

Really loved the theming of this room and the uniqueness of multiple puzzles. Everything was incredibly well signposted and loved the linking to the history of Derby itself. A must play if in the area.

I say escaped in time, but I think they gave us a couple of minutes more. This is a serious handful for a group of 4, and you must split up in this four. There's so much to do, and the first 10 minutes may be the best opener to a game we have played!

As we were a group of 2 enthusiasts, the very nice owners let us play Spellbound even though it normally has a minimum of 4 players. I can see why it would be a great game for a large group as there are lots of highly paralisable puzzles. Even though we didn't do it with an ideal number of players it was still a really enjoyable game.

This room is beautiful. On entry it definitely has the wow factor. It has the potential to be an outstanding experience. 

Sadly, we experienced 2 reset errors. Answers had been left on a chalkboard for us to see and another solution was left solved in plain sight. 

We know that these things happen, its human error and its inevitability. However, the way that these mistakes are dealt with is what sets good customer service apart from bad. 

 When someone has to enter the room to deal with errors, this 100% breaks the immersion and should be addressed at the end of the game. However, our GM  laughed off the mistakes, no apology, no accountability. This left us feeling really let down by this company. 

This was a good, but unfortunately not great room for me. It’s hard to talk about the things I didn’t like without giving too much away, but probably a combination of the story, first puzzle and space used. Two puzzles/object finding tasks are also essentially the same which threw me a bit. 

And I will bang this drum until I’ve played my last room - put some music/ambience in! It’s silent in there and you can hear people outside easily which really takes you out of the immersion…

Some good puzzles in here and certainly lots to do for two (maybe too much realistically), but I came out of this one feeling a bit underwhelmed after all the good things I had read about it. 

Absolutely beautiful room, very very cool. Plenty for a team of 4 to do, and didn't feel too difficult for a group of seasoned escapers.

Set design was beautiful, it was whimsical, and felt truly magical. An absolute must-do!

Lovely hosts, went above and beyond to make it a special experience for me on my birthday! Thank you so much 🙂

This game still sits firmly in our top 10 after playing a further 140 games since! The design of the room and the puzzles put in matching in with the style of the game was something fantastic to experience! Make sure you have your running shoes on if your a small group as there is a lot to do here! Definitely worth the trip to play this game! 

This escape room is jam packed with lots of interesting and satisfying (sometimes difficult) puzzles, in particular I liked the one at the start. Lots for everyone to do, not a linear game. The only thing that left a bit of a sour taste was a broken (very very stiff) directional lock, and the host seemed to dissapear and not help us with it, which was frustrating.

Excellent room.  One of the best rooms we have done

I completed this room with a group of colleagues who were a mix of first-timers, novices, and myself. There was a huge variety of puzzle types meaning there was something for everyone, and the sheer volume of puzzles meant that we were all constantly busy the whole time. However, the non-linear nature of the room meant that many people didn't get to even see some of the puzzles, which is a shame, and the chaotic nature of the room with everything being accessible at once made it lack a feeling of progression for me. The theming was spot on, however, the room was very dark. Some of the key symbols and information were near impossible to see due to how faded it was in such a dark room. Some tech also let the room down where it needed to be far too precise and done in a very particular way to make the technology work, resulting in a lot of immersion-breaking hints being sent to help us get it to work. 

Overall it was a fun room with a big variety of puzzles and nice theming, but in my opinion, it needs some TLC to make it run smoother. 

We really enjoyed this room. Non-linear complete the puzzles to escape kind of rooms are my favourite (not so much my partners) but it means we can both get stuck in. Lot's to do in this room in a huge space with some cute quirky props and puzzles. 

We had a ball I recommend all the games here! 

A unique beginning - with a particularly good opening puzzle - that opens out into a frantic game that is jam-packed with things to do. As a team of two, we managed it in 48 minutes, so it is definitely achievable if you put your foot to the accelerator and divide and conquer.

It is a gorgeous room and the puzzles are themed very well to fit in with the local story of two women accused of witchcraft.

Despite the subject matter, this is not a scary room at all and those of a nervous disposition have nothing to worry about in here!

Our host, Lucas, just loves his escape rooms and we felt extremely welcome at Make Your Escape.  Of the three rooms we did here, this was my personal favourite, although the combination of Dystopia and Utopia is an absolute winner as well!

Definitely a push for a team of 2, Spellbound is truly a puzzle delight. Theming is great and there is no shortage of things to do - split up and crack on! A great room and definitely not one to miss when in Derby. Slightly let down by the lack of ambient music but this is a very easy fix and would elevate the game significantly.

First game for me with more than one other. Parallel game so lots I didn’t experience. 

It’s clear why this game receives such fantastic reviews.

The first puzzle of the game was fantastic, something none of us have experienced before and we thoroughly enjoyed the discovery of this as a whole team. Very cleverly done! 

Lots of puzzles and we loved the link to the history of Derby, immersive and incredible theming paired with a great games host.

Really enjoyed the start of this game and the non-linear narrative of the rest of it. We found this better than the other Make Your Escape games and the puzzles were well signposted and fun. GM was good, and made sure to keep us focussed on the right puzzle at the right time. Theming and set was great, wish more of the story was delivered in game but liked how it tied into the local history. Well worth playing this room

A big room which can accommodate up to ten people, although I’d say that 6-7 is optimum to ensure that everyone has plenty to do.

I’m always a fan of themes inspired by local history and folklore, and this is the case here - the room’s scenario is based on a Derbyshire legend about a witch. Now, you’re trapped in her cabin, and to escape you must cast a spell...

The room looks convincingly like a witch’s cabin, and a number of puzzles are scattered around, all giving pieces of a final meta-puzzle which leads to a memorable and satisfying finale. Some of the most fun I’ve had in a Escape room l