Autor-Archive: escapethereview

Unlock!: The Tonipal’s Treasure

Room-in-a-box, Jan 2018

The Unlock games have so far been released in sets of three, and both times the third game in the set has had the highest difficulty rating and has also seemed to be the one with all the designers‘ favourite ideas. This one, The Tonipal’s Treasure, i… (more)

Unlock!: The Nautilus‘ Traps

Room-in-a-box, Dec 2017

Second in the Mystery Adventures set of Unlock games, The Nautilus’ Traps is a beautifully illustrated game with an evocative theme, creative puzzle ideas and some clever ideas that mix up the format somewhat; and despite all that it’s a contender fo… (more)

Unlock!: The House on the Hill

Room-in-a-box, Dec 2017

They’ve been out on the far side of the Atlantic for a while now, but the three new Unlock games finally reached the U.K. in December. Here they’re sold as a single box of three games with each described as a different difficulty level, and House on … (more)

Deadlocked Escape Rooms: The Testing Chamber

Reading, Jan 2018

There are not many computer games I’ve played in the last eighteen years, but one of the few I have is Portal. If you’re also familiar with that, then you’ll recognise immediately the tongue-in-cheek dark humour of Testing Chamber. This game starts w… (more)

Deadlocked Escape Rooms: The Phoenix Research

Reading, Jan 2018

Located on the west side of Reading, Deadlocked currently have two games. Their first is Phoenix Research, named for the documents you’re trying to retrieve: the critical notes of a missing scientist employed by the dubious Wexell Corporation.

If yo… (more)

Exciting Escapes: Dark Deeds and Groceries

Basingstoke, Dec 2017

With three successful games under their belt at their Southampton branch, Exciting Escapes have expanded to a second branch in Basingstoke, with one copy of their original game plus two new ones. Dark Deeds is the first of those new games and has a 1… (more)

History Mystery: The Queenmaker

Norfolk, Dec 2017

With their first two games set in Norwich Guildhall, History Mystery had already set a high bar for their locations, but their third game takes that to a new level by being set in an actual church. The church in question is part of the Blickling esta… (more)

History Mystery: Archived Alive!

Norwich, Dec 2017

In Archived Alive! your mission is to rescue the local historian, who has managed to lock himself in the vaults. As he explains to you in the intro video, the poor fellow has been there three days without food or water, and since he’s also worried ab… (more)

Escape Colchester: 221B Baker Street

Colchester, Dec 2017

Many Sherlock-themed escape games need an excuse for why the great man himself isn’t present – perhaps he’s been kidnapped, or has died, or is simply too busy with more important cases. Escape’s version takes a novel approach: here you are in fact th… (more)

Escape Ipswich: Taken

Ipswich, Dec 2017

The second game at Escape Ipswich (and also at various other branches of Escape around the country) has you investigating a serial killer, and inevitably you’ve found yourselves caught and in danger of becoming his next victims. Naturally this killer… (more)