stairs

Another fantastically brilliant, funny room from Case Closed. Like their first room ("The Murder of Max Sinclair"), don't treat this like a regular escape room.... rather, you should treat it like an interactive murder mystery. Or, if you prefer, a radio host simulator....

And that's my only criticism of the game; while I think it's great that the design allows players to choose which elements they engage with (and host Ronan does an outstanding job of adapting and improvising the game around that), it can make the experience feel a bit... divided? 

In our playthrough - players separated into two quite distinct groups, each approaching the game in totally different ways. And when we came to do our post-game debrief in the pub afterwards (as we commonly do in any games that have parallel flow), we found that it was not just that there were puzzles solved that players might have missed while they were distracted with other tasks, but almost completely different stories of even what the experience was!

However, I don't want to be too critical - the fact is that we chose which paths to follow, and we all enjoyed our experiences. I would have maybe preferred them to have been slightly more integrated (although perhaps it was just our team!). For me personally, I felt The Murder of Max Sinclair was slightly better in this respect.

But this is a really, really minor point on what is otherwise a fantastic, original, brilliantly designed and hosted game, which I'd still consider as completely unmissable.

This is a sweet game that fondly describes a whimsical scenario at the end of WWII. There's no peril here - just good old British beer, our brave boys in the air force, and plenty of tally-ho! As always from Escape Plan: Roll Out The Barrel is full of beautiful, hand-made tactile puzzles, very well-maintained props and excellent hosting (no poor quality, laminated, or broken props here - it's a game that is made and shared with love).

Perhaps not quite as memorable as some of the other Escape Plan games, but still very enjoyable.

Charming, delightful, stylish, original... a joyful romp through time and space between two beautifully-realised locations, accessed by a fun central gimmick.

As we've come to expect from Escape Plan, it also had very attentive, friendly hosting, top quality design and  craftsmanship on all the bespoke wooden props and puzzles. 

We all left with broad smiles on our faces - a delight.

The Murder of Max Sinclair is not an escape room. Or, at least, it is not like other escape rooms. It is an escape room++. Or, perhaps it is an example of what an escape room could (and, IMO, should) be.

Escape rooms sell us a dream - for an hour or so, they promise to transport us to another place or time, to be the hero in our own story. Yet, all too often, they fail to deliver on that promise. The Murder of Max Sinclair is perhaps the best room I have ever played in terms of actually delivering the fantasy it promises.

You will feel like a detective. You will have to act like a detective. You will solve the crime the way a detective would (or, at least, the way a detective would as portrayed in a TV murder mystery). So forget about 4-digit codes, or placing statuettes in a particular order, or blowing out candles. Instead, pour yourself a whisky, put on that trenchcoat, light up a cigarette and step out into the foggy air underneath the flickering streetlight, and you will love this.

In terms of real-world logistics, I should mention that Ronan was very accommodating of our team's requests, an absolutely superb host all the way through the game (including the thrilling ending!), and was a delight to talk to afterwards. There is a board game cafe on-site where we waited between games, and a geek pizza place close-by. We played as a family (2 adults, 3 kids aged between 12-17) and we all left absolutely buzzing from the experience.

It's not perfect, but as of right now I think it's one of the very best experiences available. I would recommend it to anyone.

The introduction from a softly-spoken GM set the mood for this (ever so slightly) creepy room that tells a story inspired by Edinburgh's history (think Burke and Hare, grave robbing, anatomy experiments, etc.).

A nice set dressing that is entirely appropriate to the theme, props created with decent-quality materials (e.g. written clues on fabric or heavyweight paper, not nasty photocopies or laminates), and a decent variety of accessible puzzles make this a solid room all round.

Not much tech, but what was there worked, and the room was kept in good working order.

Played to fill a bit of time while in Edinburgh. It was a little bit basic in terms of decor and puzzles, but everything worked as it should, it made sense, and there were a few neat moments.

We played as a team of three and finished in half an hour (while not rushing) - I would recommend enthusiasts play in a team with no more than that or else you simply don't get your money's worth (with the exception of two particular puzzles that required co-operation, I would actually so it's pretty easy to solo).

This game is a bit different! The first half consists of a GM-guided series of physical/dexterity mini-challenges, very much in the style of Crystal Maze. These earn you "clue orbs" that you can then use in the second part, which is more traditional escape room codes and locks.

I imagine this could divide players looking for a "traditional" escape room audiences somewhat, but it worked perfectly for us - a family group in a large team of mixed age and abilities, who welcomed the opportunity to play some more light-hearted carnival-style games rather than all be thinky puzzles.

Excellent, attentive hosting kept us on target thoughout.

We played while staying at Keswick on a family holiday in the lake district, and would definitely recommend the half-hour drive to Workington if it's poor weather or you fancy a break from fell walking or mountain climbing.

We played Casino Heist immediately after Diamond Mine in the same location, and would happily recommend them both. The Casino Heist scenario starts off with a brilliant set piece, and then settles into a typical escape room format. There's lots of content - our team of eight players of mixed experience levels were kept busy throughout the whole hour, and only just secured the final loot within the last few minutes, so would definitely recommend this as suitable for larger groups.

There's no single stand-out moments, but a solid mix of observation, deduction, assembly and physical manipulation puzzles thoughout.

Excellent, attentive hosting by the GMs delivered a few clues to nudge us along when we requested, and happy to chat afterwards.

The original lasercut mass-market puzzlebox, and still one of the best against which many subsequent derivatives should be judged. Satisfyingly tactile, simple but reliable mechanisms, and easy to lend or gift on again to share the fun with others.

Excellent highy-portable game that manages to jam in a surprising variety of puzzles into a deck of cards. Note that internet connectivity is required, which is the only thing that might prevent this being otherwise a perfect pocket travel puzzle companion

Very enjoyable collection-style game - loads to do means you're sure to get your money's worth - our team of five was kept busy for the full hour, with a good variety of puzzle types, and some fun use of tools and props to make it feel like you're performing a bank heist.

Excellent (energetic!) hosting, and clues were delivered to nudge us along which meant there was never a time any of us didn't have something to be actively working on. Family friendly (although access was somewhat tricky for anyone with mobility issues), and it was a pleasant surprise to find that kids under 15yrs old were eligible for a reduced-rate ticket.

Fun collection game set across two areas in a small spaceship (felt more like an escape pod than a starcruiser). 

Although only a physically small space, this room would actually benefit a larger team in some ways, since every puzzle is independent and can be solved in parallel - there's no linear progression or meta puzzle - it's a successive stream of "find a puzzle, solve the puzzle, get the fuel rod, move onto the next", with no dependency or connections between them. Our team of two collected 29 fuel rods (out of, I think, 42 available?) in the hour allotted - and that was pretty much working non-stop. 

Puzzles encompassed the usual variety of observation/dexterity/deduction, etc. and were all fun to solve. There were no individual "Wow!" moments that really got the heart racing, but it was more a constant trickle of dopamine as each new puzzle fell every few minutes. A team of 4 or 5 would probably get all the fuel rods pretty easily, since they'd simple have double the work rate, and there's no opportunity for bottlenecks.

No tech issues experienced, and we didn't receive any hints, so can't really comment on that, but our GM was friendly enough in the introduction, so no complaints!

Take to the open waters of the beautiful Norfolk Broads on paddleboards, and navigate between clues along the riverbank to solve riddles, open locked boxes, decode ciphers, and solve the mystery of a missing fisherman.

The puzzles are standard fare: mostly observational, counting, etc. (together with necessary map-reading and physical effort required to paddle your board along the river and occassionally getting off/on at the banks), but what sets this game apart, quite simply, is its setting. Where else can you play an escape room in the sunshine of a late summer afternoon, out on the open water, as herons, signets, and ducklings glide past you? It's completely family-friendly, the owner was absolutely lovely and all required equipment is provided.

My only suggestion for players is not to attempt to go for a high-score time on the leaderboard; instead, savour the experience and the beauty of the scenery and wildlife around you. Even though it's a 2 hour game, we simply didn't want it to end.

Really enjoyed this room with my 12yr old son and his friends. Lots of content, covering pretty much everything you could possibly imagine in an Egyptian tomb-raiding adventure, and kept all our team pretty much non-stop busy for the whole hour. 

There's a fair amount of tech, which is all integrated well and provides a clear purpose - it never feels like they've just added tech for the sake of it (and, it all worked well!). There's no single "wow" center piece, but rather a series of solid, satisfying set pieces that accompany story beats which mark progression though different areas of the game.

Theming is good - lots of large scale statues, walls adorned with hieroglyphs, and some archaelogical tools that need to be used. The puzzles are mostly searching, object association, combination, and usage - there is very little text, and no tedious "hieroglyphic" codes to be deciphered.

There are no TV monitors in the room - the game timer and clue system is handled via an iPad which can be carried around with you. We made use of a few clue requests, which were very quick to be replied and quickly put us back on the right track. 

I wouldn't say it was ever scary, but there are a few moments that my team shrieked (with surprise, or excitement). And I guess (what with this being set in a tomb in which an ancient king was buried), there could be some content that might put off the incredibly squemish. But otherwise, totally family-friendly.

Definitely recommended.

*SPOILERS FOLLOW* (although, tbh, it's hard to imagine how they could possibly make this room worse than it already is)

I'm normally hesitant to play escape rooms that are "bolt-ons" to other experiences, but decided to give this game at the Bear Gryll's adventure near Birmingham a try, as I thought that, even though the puzzles might not be the most innovative or original, at least there would perhaps be an element of exciting physical exploration or adventure. Oh God, I wish I hadn't bothered.

Thinking through the game afterwards, I think there are actually only 4 puzzles that you need to complete, in order, on the critical path from first entering the room to escaping. Absolutely everything else in the room is a red herring (either intentionally or leftover from a puzzle that is no longer used).
You know what's worse than having to solve a Sudoku in an escape room? Solving a Sudoku only to find you didn't even have to. Those three bits of paper with cryptic riddles about eyes on them? Not used. The runes on the floor and provided translation guide? Left over from a previous version of the room (as our guide informed us afterwards). The circled words on the book pages? Meaningless. The telegram pinned to the wall describing the last known location on the map, for which you find the grid coordinates opposite? Just for decoration.

A complete waste of £150 and half an hour of my life.

This is everything an escape room should be: from the moment the GM starts the briefing to the second you escape through the final door, you're transported back into WWII-era London. The puzzles are totally in-theme, they're interesting and varied, and give you a sense of satisfaction when solved. The story is exciting, and accentuated by clever use of ambient sound effects and props.

Special mention needs to be made to the beautiful "analog" lock mechanisms, which can only be described as high-tech in the most low-tech way possible. There's no anachronistic 4 digit keypads in this 1940s set - just beautiful, tactile, chunky locks that make this game feel like a consistent, complete package. What a delight.

The individual puzzles were fine - nothing exceptional, but a fair variety and seemed solid enough. Unfortunately, the overall flow of the game was a mess. We ended up accidentally jumping over a puzzle early on and, from that moment onwards, everything kind of fell apart... On two separate occasions, we ended up solving electronic puzzles that made something happen in a room that we didn't yet have access to. We spent about 20 minutes following a series of puzzles that resulted in nothing more than an item that would have been the "intended" way to solve a puzzle that we had already solved via another method ages ago. And, due to an unfortunate GM oversight, when we entered the final area, the "big reveal" was, well, already in plain sight. They then tried to correct this error by remotely "unrevealing" the prize item again in front of us, and this made us even more confused as to what was going on.

We escaped, but our overall feeling at the end was one of confusion rather than success, and unfortunately can't really recommend this game based on our experience.

This is not an escape room in a box. It's barely a cryptex. It's a stack of 6 laser cut dials that you spin to a really obvious letter combination and the whole thing falls apart. 

Brilliant, story-driven, character-interaction-led immersive theatre in a rich world full of lore. It's not an escape room and there are no puzzles to solve, just stories to discover and side-quests to complete.

Only criticism is that the experience is led by a mobile app (which, to be fair, worked flawlessly), which necessarily removes you slightly from the otherwise incredibly immersive world. But that's a minor downside, and I can't think of another way it could be facilitated.

A casino-themed room containing everything you'd expect from the Las Vegas strip - poker chips, roulette, cards, criminals, and fruit machines. Good mix of "classic" ER puzzles and some more modern tech. The gameplay is fairly linear and the space is not huge, so I'd say that this room is best enjoyed with a team of 4 players or fewer so you don't get bottlenecked (we played as a family with 2 adults and 3 kids, which was perfect) - at least one player will need to demonstrate some agility too....

If I was being critical, I would argue that a few of the puzzles were a little anatopic or generic, but they were all logical, the tech all worked flawlessly, and there are some nice twists before everything comes together at the end. Also must mention fantastic hosting from Andy, who gave us just the nudge we needed at the right time to unstick us (and I immediately kicked myself for not seeing the solution to the puzzle), and happily talked us through the components of the room and answered any questions afterwards. Overall, a very satisfying room.

Plenty to do, some "hi-tech" puzzles, nice use of A/V, and a slightly corny story that ties it all together in a space theme. Another great room to add to the Locked In Edinburgh stable.

The game starts off well, with a series of fairly simple but still satisfying puzzles, and we made quick progress through the first half of the game. I'm a sucker for laser-cut wooden puzzles, and there's some nice artefacts to handle and play with here (although the actual mechanic for which they're used is a little bit mundane), as well as another well-presented object. However, while the physical props are nice, the paper-based clues are just printed on value yellow paper, and in a "Comic Sans"-esque font...

The game took a distinct downhill turn at the meta puzzle stage towards the end, which just had too many unclued elements that could be combined in different ways, and just ended up with us spending half an hour or so guessing random combinations, completely destroying any flow that had built up. There was also some very dodgy text that could have done with some proof-checking/editing. There is a provided hint sheet, but it's tediously encoded, which added further frustration because it takes another couple of minutes to decode each hint, often only to tell us something we had already done (much like some real-life escape room games then!).

So, unfortunately, we left with a slightly sour taste and somewhat of a sense of relief that it was over rather than a jubliant celebration, which is a shame because with a bit more tweaking, this could have been really good.

Nuclear Countdown is the oldest of the escape rooms at CluedUp's Norwich location, and we played it having already enjoyed the others. It's fair to say that it's perhaps not as impressive as their other rooms; it takes place in a single, medium-sized room, and the decor is functional, but fairly plain. There is a section of the game that must be navigated by flashlight, but fortunately this does not continue for the whole game. The locks are mostly numeric, alpha, or directional combo locks, and the puzzles are fairly code and cipher-heavy. There's no Hollywood-style flashy moments.

That said, even though it might not have been considered state-of-the-art or stand out "wow!", there is still plenty to commend about this game:

- although there was only limited tech involved, what tech there was all worked flawlessly.

- the puzzles themselves were solid, and in-keeping with the theme: chemical formulas, locations of missile sites, access codes, that sort of thing. There was not a single puzzle that we felt was unfair, misleading, or out-of-place.

- Our GM was attentive and gave just the right level of nudge when needed

- There was some suitable background ambience music track which helped set the mood

- The room, lobby area, and entire building were well-sanitised, there was fresh air and hand sanitiser available throughout, and staff wore masks (as did we in those areas, but we removed them in the room itself)

So, all in all, still a very solid room, but if you only play one room in this location I'd probably recommend trying their Bank Heist or Prison Breakout rooms first.