Escape Reality Leeds

The worst room I've played so far, and by some distance. To start the game there was a missing prop in the room which was essential for the running of the game. We had to wait 15 minutes for them to sort the issue, whilst other staff members in and repeatedly asked us if we had just missed the prop - which we hadn't. One staff member was a particularly terrible host. I dont like isolating anyone for this but the more experienced host who took over our game was really uncomfortable. In searching for the missing prop he threw around our coats and bags that were left in the corner. He only gave us 8 minutes of additional time to make up for the error, not the full 15 we had lost. He was also very rude when we didn't want a picture for their social media (not possible for our jobs). 

The clue system was terrible - it was clear the staff weren't monitoring the game. You could only get a clue by signalling them, then waiting for them to enter before you had to fill them in on where you were. 

Finally, some of the puzzles were beyond illogical, and others were beyond easy. There was no inbetween. Unless you have a knowledge of electrical circuit symbols and unique crossword types then you're going to need the support of the host. 

A very poor room and from the looks of it a very poor company. 

Great theme to the room as we were fans of Game of Thrones. Some puzzles were really clever and were a lot of fun. Shame about the final one which looked more like a radiator cover than part of the puzzles. 

Ipad kept breaking...had to get a new one mid-game to help as it wasn't scanning clues. We weren't given any extra time for this to make up for lost time.

Our GM was very poor...lacked enthusiasm.

This room had the most rooms to enter in the whole of europe at one point. It was well themed from start to finish. Even when we thought we were done there were more twists. 

Shame our GM wasn't great. Lack enthusiasm and set our room up room as we had a puzzle incorrectly placed.

It's a weird game as the first part looks so high-tech and has a minor 'wow' moment when there's an unexpected game mechanism. The later parts of the game look a bit cheap and cheerful in comparison, and the puzzles aren't anything out of the ordinary. My least favourite room here, including the impossible Alice one. 

There are some good moments in this game, the way you follow through the rooms suits the theme. The beginning can be really tricky if you only have two people though, as you're split up and if one person doesn't understand the puzzle it's almost impossible to explain it. I did enjoy the room as a whole though. 

One of my least favourite games. The initial rooms are brilliantly themed and fun, but it just gets weirder and makes less sense as it goes on. Some of the leaps in logic later on are crazy i'm not sure how you're supposed to finish it, certainly not with a smaller team anyway. 

Good theme, a couple of quite original puzzles and great set dressing/props. One of the better ones here. 

This was one of our favourite Escape Reality games. It suffers from some of the same problems with clues etc as all of their games, but the puzzles were nice and the story made sense. We ran a little over time but they let us finish as we were right at the end. 

The room was very dark which I didn’t feel was totally necessary for the theme of the room. The room was well designed and in keeping with the theme. Unfortunately there were a few dealbreakers which lead to my lower rating. Firstly there is a system where you ask for a clue specifically for one task and it is clear which task the clue is for. However, the answer we received was for the wrong task which led to the host coming into the room and realising we had the wrong clue - this took up time, broke immersion and gave us a clue for later that I’d have liked to try and figure out myself. It turned out the task had also been tampered with hence our being stuck and also took up time that then led to us going over at the end. The host almost seemed to suggest they were doing us a favour by allowing us to stay 2 extra minutes to escape. One further element later in the game did not work and the host came in to help.

If everything had gone as it should, the rating would be quite high but that is even more frustrating!

The clue system is awful and the last puzzle was broken, the writing had completely rubbed off. Would avoid this company like the plague. 

Clue system is awful, just generic clues on an iPad after scanning a QR code - often telling you to do something that you’d already done. GM kept coming into game if we were stuck which disrupted the flow. Avoid this company.

Awful clue system, puzzles not triggering 

One player does all the work. The other just gets locked in the cell for more than half the time.

This was probably one of our better experiences at Escape Reality, as everything in the game worked. It was just a shame the game was so dull. The aesthetic was flat and not really in keeping with the theme. Escape Reality has a habit of locking you in black empty rooms, that only contain the props necessary for the tasks themselves. So in that sense, if you know what you're doing, you can walk through these linear stories pretty easily. We certainly should have done better in terms of time and was largely delayed by our own anxiousness to interact with (spoiler alert) locks that only have a certain number of attempts. We also tried to avoid using the scanable clues - this is Escape Reality's way of circumventing the unstaffing of their venues. Your games host is also managing other games, e-mails, the phone and walk-ins. They're not watching you on CCTV and they're not listening to you. If you get truly stuck and the scanner isn't helping you, you switch on a light and wait for your GM to respond. Our GM, on this occasion, was lovely and very responsive, but I personally don't agree with the management decisions that are made by Escape Reality. And although this won't stop us coming back, the fact I've ran out of games there will. Apparently there are no plans to install new games, which makes me wonder if they're winding down. So, if you're thinking of going, you might want to do so sooner rather than later! But find a discount code. I don't suggest paying full price, as these rooms don't provide the full experience. Our room didn't so much as have atmospheric music to help lift our dull surroundings. I get the impression many of the puzzles are designed in such a way as to not be tampered with too, as they don't have the budget or means to replace items. So instead, they've just locked things away and now you play by looking. Not touching. It was, overall, a playable game, but just a bit dull.

Enjoyed the themeing of this one

One of our favourites of the day - enjoyed the setting. Nothing special, just fun.

Nosferatu (What a Guy)

As part of a birthday weekend, I came to play Nosferatu with a few friends. Our host was okay- our interaction with them was minimal because of Escape Reality’s infamous hint system (more on that later). Their briefing- which included a “If you break anything, you have to pay for it”- wasn’t the friendliest I’ve ever experienced. Did we look heavy-handed, or something? Who knows.

Story

Discover the reason behind your fellow villagers’ mysterious deaths, or fall victim to Nosferatu.

Puzzles

The first puzzle was impossibly difficult without a clue. There were multiple aspects you had to link together: rather than easing us in, the vampire folk clearly wanted to throw their hardest task at us first. Others were manageable and did an acceptable job of tying in to the theme. As ever with Escape Reality, tablets were used for accessing hints by scanning images next to puzzles. Lazy, impractical (it was a dark room) and lame. We needed a couple of pointers, but these “clues” simply tell you what to do.

Mise-en-scene

There were one or two surprises, but Nosferatu maintained an eerie vibe as a pose to a terrifying one…so don’t worry about getting too spooked (I say this as one of my friends is a scaredy-cat). The surroundings were correspondingly gloomy/macabre.

Final Comments

Something was up with the final puzzle, as the action we were meant to perform did not bring about the outcome it should have. After many (many) attempts, though, it worked and we got out with about thirty seconds to spare!

Typical prison escape… could’ve been much more original especially when themed (I use that loosely) around the most famous prison in the world! 

Split into 2 cells (standard). I had actually completed the room from my own cell before my team mate had actually got out of their. Poor puzzle plan if that’s always the case. GM had to enter the room to explain a rather poor thought out puzzle and even after explanation, I still don’t get how it was supposed to be completed. Not a great venue…. Will not return 

Not scary at any point even though it leads itself to be scary… ridiculous clueing system linked to iPads/tablets and QR codes. I had to brute force a mag lock as the prop was clearly broken. Spent a good 10 minutes trying to get the GM’s attention to try and fix it or enable us to carry on. This was the 2nd room I had played at the venue on the same day. I should have bothered… it’d have saved me some money 

Great for first timers!

The concept is fun and there are some great puzzles but it felt a little bit ambiguous at times, although this could be due to us skipping ahead and having to go back on ourselves. Some nice Easter eggs for GOT fans.

Out of the escape reality rooms we have done this was my least favourite ... I think the set just felt a bit cheaper than the others. Still not loving the iPad clue system, but with 4 people we needed less help. I think we stumbled through the final puzzle without solving it too .. oops!

I enjoyed this game, the theming was good and a few good surprises on the way. We still didn’t love the hint system and when you call for help the games master comes into the room ... which isn’t brilliant

This was a tough game to do as a two. The clue system is the let down here, nobody watching you all the time to see how you are doing. There is a lot to do for two people. Should really revisit to complete it!