Deadlocked Escape Rooms: The Reading Witch

My first escape room of 2025 was also the one that was top of my ‘to play’ list: Deadlocked’s new horror theme The Reading Witch. This two-hour experience comes with a minimum 4 player requirement, but we played it as a two, and I’d recommend doing the same if that doesn’t make the cost prohibitive. I should also disclose that the owners are friends of ours, though naturally I’m reviewing the room as objectively as possible.

All the games at Deadlocked relish an immersive style where you’re greeted and briefed in character. Reading Witch follows that style and builds on it, with a scene-setting video provided in the email confirmation and acting elements throughout. Staying carefully away from spoilers, this game takes inspiration from the Athens type of interactive horror escape room while emphatically defining its own style. In particular, it avoids the mistake Athens horror games sometimes make, where the scares devolve into actors repeatedly appearing and screaming in your face while you either cower in a corner or patiently wait for them to let you continue solving. In contrast, Deadlocked avoid cheap shocks in favour of catching you off guard in more interesting ways, with a combination of careful choreography and team-specific improvisation. The result certainly has plenty to scare you, but the tone is more reassuring – it seems wrong to describe it as “cheerful” or “light-hearted”, but it’s more a fun type of horror than one that’s trying to terrify you witless.

Although the interactivity is a major element throughout, this is still primarily a puzzle game, with a satisfyingly crunchy sequence to solve, where the puzzle ideas interact with the physical environment and the story in interesting ways. You can generally assume that while you’re working on a puzzle you’re safe from unexpected hauntings, but the moments of interactivity aren’t just disconnected interludes; the puzzles set up the set pieces, and both tie together to form the narrative.

I remember the space from when it was a different game, and it’s remarkable how much it’s changed and how expansive it feels. While it doesn’t have the floor space of some of the eight- or twelve-room monstrosities in Athens, this is the most visually rich of Deadlocked’s rooms so far, and makes it easy to lose track of the outside world. So too does the two hours of game time, where the room keeps throwing new twists and further surprises at you.

Reading Witch is an ambitious attempt to build the kind of highly interactive experiential game that shouldn’t really be feasible to operate in the UK. Deadlocked have a distinctive house style, which may not be to the taste of all players, but it’d be hard not to be impressed with what they’ve built here. This is designed as a premium game and is full of clever ideas and cool moments. Horror isn’t for everyone, but I’d suggest this one may be worth considering even if you’re doubtful about scarier themes – it’s trying to push the bounds of what people expect from escape games in the UK, and it succeeds at that to an impressive extent.