Houdini’s Escape Room Experience Birmingham: Escape From Titanic

Let me start by saying that this wasn't even the room we were supposed to be doing. We had booked Hexmore, and on arrival we were told that Hexmore was so broken that he didn't want us doing it and he asked if we were happy to do Titanic instead. So I was already annoyed that they didn't contact me in advance and ask us to change (what would they have done if we had already done Titanic before?) we were taking some friends for their first ever escape room and wanted something easy for them. It's a good job we were experienced enough to help them through it; because this room was a mess! 

The GM was completely unenthusiastic and unhelpful. He led us to the room where we were given no briefing whatsoever. No health and safety, no 'these are the sort of locks you might find', nothing. Just told us that because of the mixup he would give us 90 minutes and sent us in. There is a lot of GM intervention in this room so if you get an uninterested GM like we did then this room is not going to be as enjoyable. 

HERE IS YOUR SPOILER WARNING! The rest of this review does contain some spoilers.

The first area was in my opinion the best room, theming was great and there seemed to be lots of puzzles for everyone to solve. However... on inspection, the puzzles were badly damaged. Clues were stuck to elements using stickers, half of which were missing and you could just about see where they had tried to carve the missing clues back onto the objects, but it was very hard to see and very clearly not intentional - just broken. Here's the one that got me the most agitated -  the numbers for one of the clues had been stuck on/scrawled in the wrong order! So the solution was spelled wrong, very confusing. But it wasn't just the clues that were broken, one of the key puzzle elements that we collected instantly fell apart in our hands so we had to keep putting it back together until we found out where it needed to go.

There are also a lot of red herrings throughout this room which may well have just been old broken puzzles that they didn't bother to fix.

Moving on to the next area involved some crawling (there was no prior warning on booking that there would be any physical activity). However, we quite liked it and it fit with the theme. 

The next area had such potential, this was the room where they could have absolutely gone to town on the theming but it was quite the opposite. Very minimal and very cheap. They had large black panels on the wall in place of windows. They could have at least put some artwork there that made it look like you were looking out of a window, not just solid black panels. What few elements there were in here were just more red herrings and we were so convinced they should be puzzles that the GM just used the microphone to tell us exactly where to find a hidden clue (which we hadn't asked for and was so direct it was very aggravating).

In the next area were were then tasked with the typical morse code puzzle, but the GM didn't even let me finish putting in all of the information before he activated the next step, so it was rather pointless. 

To end it all off, the finale was rather weak. The premise was cool but the budget fir theming must have run out as they seemed to give up on it. This section of the game was aimed at 4 players so may have been tricky with less, especially as the elements didn't stay put without you holding them. The game then just sort of finished and we were left wondering if we were meant to just press the switch to exit or wait for the GM to eventually turn up and let us out. 

Overall, I was left very disappointed by a game that I had heard good things about. The room seems dated, it's broken, it's rather illogical in its puzzles and red herrings at times and the GM was a let down. The whole location (not just Titanic) seemed very unprofessional and in need of some serious work. The newcomers enjoyed it, but as enthusiasts were would definitely not recommend it.  

Some basic puzzles with not a lot of thought along with too much searching and illogical puzzle solving made a room that had great promise and a good overall look very disappointing. I noticed the Southampton version of the game is 90 minutes so may be bigger and better but we visited Birmingham. The hosting was also not great as it felt they were trying to push us through as quickly as possible and even giving a clue when I had asked not to. Most of the clues were just telling us where to find something or what to do rather than a gentle push in the right direction. 

The GM got my back up from the start, and the experience left me feeling deflated and underwhelmed.

Firstly, make sure you're at least 15 minutes early!! We didn't realise this, and was then informed our time would be docked for time spent filling in the monstrous 'paper work' for the whole team. 

Once we'd all provided our apparently inoptionable names, phone numbers, DOBs, e-mails and signed waivers for all 4 team members, taking turns on their one tablet, we finally got to the room. 

The room is beautiful and really fits in well with the team. I thought their website had said this room could do up to 7 people, but I wouldn't have wanted any more than the 4 of us in that tight a space. Then, later on, we found one of the tasks would be difficult to do with less than 4 people! So 4 is perfect.

The puzzles were in keeping with the theme, which is a really big plus, but it's probably the only positive I have. The room is ultimately flawed, as it requires intervention by the GM, who is busy on the desk and answering calls.

Effectively, the room has become run down and I think they've made changes to the room, so there's 'red herrings' left behind by previous iterations. They may simply be red herrings, but it really felt like there were things in the room that were intended to be part of the game. I mean literally... there were padlocks left unlocked! Does that sound right to you?

Here's a Spoiler Warning before you continue reading this review!! I'll try not to go into too much detail, but... it's hard.

There were 2 aspects of this game that I really struggled with; I didn't realise it was going to be so physical. Our mom wasn't too pleased! And I'm recovering from surgery. Going through a tunnel is one thing. Going through it multiple times and doing puzzles in the tunnel was a pain. 

I thought it was great, being a mission on a ship, that we had to use maps and a compass, but they should have provided a unit of measure for the map. Usually, there would be a piece of string or a ruler or something. Parts of the game were physically broken, so the GM had to intervene. And one task in particular had us all frustrated;  communicating and performing Semaphore. It's a great idea - I'm not irritated by the concept - but 14 letters later I was getting annoyed. At that point, you've worked out the puzzle, you've figured out the task... so now you're just watching the time tick away as you perform Semaphore, over and over, waiting for the thumbs up or thumbs down from the GM - taking us back to what I was saying before - any game that requires GM intervention, where the GM is not dedicated to your game, is flawed. 

And I say watch the time tick by, but actually, they haven't included a clock! I found this very frustrating to not be able to gauge our time.

Worst still, there was no end to the game. I don't know what the ending used to be, or is supposed to be, but it didn't happen for us today. We made it into the final room. We had collected the necessary. We're positioning them into place to perform the big team finale sequence - it was set up to have a great ending! Then the GM walks in and congratulated us on winning the game. ... But we didn't finish the game? I don't know what we were supposed to do or achieve in that final room, but it didn't happen. He then apologised for having the booking times wrong, so there was no need to dock our minutes for being late! It turns out the next team aren't due for another half hour - which we could have told him because we know his schedule from the website. So for all the stress and fallout at the start of the game, it was all for nothing in the end.

To be honest, by the time we'd entered the room, having filled in all that paperwork and being told our time would be docked, I wanted to tell him to stuff his room and walk out, but we'd already paid and it had taken us an hour to travel there. 

In the end, it was a pretty bitter experience and I don't think they'll be winning any awards for customer service. I can't even name the GM, because when we asked for his name, he just said "call me Captain." Yes, funny, because we're on the Titanic... but now I don't even know who I'm moaning about. All in all, not an impressive or enjoyable experience.

Had wanted to do this game for a while and it lived up to my expectations. Great theming and a good variety of puzzles. Although our games master said at the start we could have as little or as much help as we wanted, I feel he guided us quite a lot towards the end when we hadn't asked for it which I think is why our finish time was quite short. Despite this it was still an enjoyable experience and different to a lot of other games I've previously played.

Titanic was an original theme which is something we value in a room. Great use of space without feeling either empty or crammed. All of the puzzles were relevent to the story and did not feel shoehorned in and provided a decent level of challenge for an experienced team.

A well-decorated room that created good immersion, with a good variety of puzzles that felt intrinsic and natural.

Great room. 

Good theming and puzzles on point. There’s a lot to do and get you started in this room, but the great thing is that they take the time to explain some of the puzzles at the end which are all relevant to the actual story of the real titanic. They have used this escape room as an educational piece and it’s done brilliantly. 

It’s certainly a room not to be missed and I would explore everyone to pop along and give it ago 

One of the worst games I have ever played. Despite having only been open three weeks, a lot of the room was damaged. Letters has been scratched off things that we thought were clues but were actually just room damage. One clue had been printed back to front. Some puzzles couldn't be used because they were broken. One puzzle we solved but the mechanism just didn't trigger. There was no way of speaking to the host. He kept just crawling into the room to tell us things were broken and to just move on. Also the room hasn't been reset correctly so he had to crawl back in and give us a key. It really broke the immersion and flow of the game.

A fun active experience. A very large room with lots of areas to it. Our host (v) was very overbearing and would have told us how to do every single puzzle before we'd even tried it if we hadn't started ignoring her. 

Houdini's does seem to be carving out a reputation but it's probably not one they would want.  The hosting here was fabulous, but the room was broken in a few cases and it was clear it needed some maintenance doing on it.  It was on ok way to spend an hour but not worth going out of your way for, for the numbers only.

This game started off positively in a well themed room with an intriguing method of moving into the second room. But as the experience went on, the set and puzzles seemed to become more tired. There also seemed a lot to be done in the time and some of the puzzles were frustratingly fiddly. Not a bad experience, we just felt it could have been better.

As with their other rooms, items damaged, missing, broken. GM coming in to the room to correct and bring missing items. Wasn't clear when you'd finished until GM  came in to tell you you're done 

Fantastic room! A lot of thought has gone into the theming, really well laid out and enough to keep us all busy. 

I can imagine this was a great room once. The obvious lack of maintenance ruined the experience for me.

We booked 3 Houdini's rooms for one day and gosh was it disappointing! 

The worst escape room we have every played! This room had only been open for a month and a half and already half the puzzles were completely broken. 

It was very frustrating - we would complete the puzzle, it wouldn't work, so we would go off and try something else thinking we didn't have everything for the puzzle yet and the 5 minutes later the GM would appear to tell us it was broken. One particular puzzle at the end had exposed wiring which we weren't warned about. When expressing concern we were told they already knew about it and to just use the other wires there and it should work. I just can't believe they would leave exposed wires out for us to touch!

Again as with all 3 rooms at Houdini's, the end to the room was so anti-climatic we didn't even realise we had completed the room until the GM appeared at the end and told us. 

And be warned - the clue system for Houdini games (at least in the Swindon branch) is the GM just appearing in the room to give you hints. It's very disconcerting and completely ruins the immersion. The GM was constantly coming into the room to check on us and give clues (even if we didn't want one!). There was a phone which we were eventually told was meant to be used for the GM to communicate with us but he would only use it some times and then the other half of the time he would just appear in the room!

One positive I will say - the rooms are decorated well and some puzzles could be fun/clever if they actually worked or the GM gave you a chance to figure it out.

We'll never do a Houdini's room again!

Myself and my teammates had a fantastic time at this beautifully themed room in a fairly new venue in Crewe. Everything about these escape rooms is well thought out and executed well, right from the entrance stairwell to the gorgeous room itself. This is themed exactly as you’d expect, and was what really made the room stand out for me, as it was unlike any other themes I’d encountered before and - from my knowledge of the Titanic - there had been a good deal of care and research that had gone into it, right into the music that started playing as we got the announcement from the captain that the ship was going down! So this room is definitely going to float your boat if you’re a Titanic fan (pardon the pun!).

There are quite a few wee surprises and nice unusual quirks and mechanics which we really appreciated and which made this one of the more original rooms I’ve done recently. None of the puzzles is all that hard, but there is quite a lot to just get done in the time limit, and you need to be very observant! Lovely and non-linear though which is great for groups that enjoy splitting up and cracking on with different things. 

There were a few teeny wee niggles: the clueing system - which looked the part and would have been awesome if it had worked - was broken on the day we were there, which is unfortunate especially for a newer room. Instead, when we needed to communicate with our host (which was not too often, fortunately) , he actually needed to come into the room, which broke the immersion somewhat. Fortunately, he (Leon) was an incredible host and we really didn’t mind this too much! He was friendly, kind, funny, and respected our request for no clues, only popping in to give us a few vital bits of info - in one case, a key was not where it should have been, in another, we were concerned about whether we were solving a puzzle correctly as there was no audio feedback when we’re expecting there to be - and one clue, when we asked for it. 

On the topic of immersion, there were one or two anachronisms (the use of number padlocks, and - most gratingly - the use of a tablet screen in one key part of the room which could have been better thought out so that it needn’t have used a modern portable device so obviously), and, as I mentioned before, a couple of the puzzles had no discernible effect when being executed/solved, which was a shame (I’m thinking especially of the two final things you need to do to escape), but all in all this was a very satisfying and enjoyable room which is a strong contender to go into my personal top 5! We are returning to do their other room (Alcatraz) very soon! 

I went to the Greenwich branch of this franchise. There was some parts that can be done in parallel but it mostly felt like it was linear. All the items in the room were old and bits were falling off items that may or may not be related to the puzzle e.g. we found an electrical part with tape on that was not related to the game but perhaps someone previously prized out of an unrelated item. We also found that the numbers for the locks seemed quite illogical and some answers to puzzles were not clear on what you needed to do and if you followed it exactly as described, incredibly tedious without added value to the game.

Lastly, the worst part was the clue system, we waved and waved at the camera seemingly no response for several minutes and next thing you know, the host was in the room with us and communicated with us for the rest of the time this way.

Some of the props were actually quite nice but overall the game was awful. I would not recommend this at all.

Worst escape room experience I've had - whilst the room itself wasn't too bad (although a few of the puzzles seemed to need a bit more though) - unfortunately the host made it a really uncomfortable experience.

Things started off badly when we couldn't figure out how to get in after knocking on the door but after 10 minutes of being stood outside someone (who later turned out to be our host) came out a couple of times and walked straight past us.

He eventually ushered us in aggressively and started to complain that we had booked the last slot of the evening and he wanted to go home.

During the room itself, there were points where he injected in an exasperated tone, almost as if he was annoyed we weren't speeding through the room because 'he wanted to go home'.

Made for a really bitter experience and unfortunately won't be going to Houdini's again.

Houdini's have been on my radar for a while and this game is supposed to be one of their best. Unfortunately, while it may have been great 5 years ago it really isn't today. The set felt very tired and poorly maintained: clearly puzzles had been removed but props were still left, some clues had numbers written in marker pen and various bits of set dressing were damaged and broken. The puzzles were not well signposted and a lot were just bland or timewasting. The floorplan is quite large, but the spaces still managed to feel tiny and boring. Our GM said this was a fully linear game which was blatantly not true and there was none of the briefing I'd heard about using their cinema screen. There was no soundtrack either, the captain would occasionally give updates on the situation but no foghorn or ship's bell to indicate if we were doing something correctly or not despite being told this in the brief. 

Just rather disappointed given I'd heard a lot about it - doubt I'll try any of their other games if this is the standard. 

Our host was great and personable, but I don’t think there’s any reason a host should have to come into the room to clue (if you can call it that). Quite a vital component was also missing from our game — something that was only realised by the host about 15 minutes in after I couldn’t nail a precise element needed to end the game. Easy and preventable fix as well, you shouldn’t write on glass as it will eventually rub off? 

Theming was great and I had a hoot with my friends but it was seriously a bummer as we’d have gotten out much quicker had the puzzle been in working order. 

Didn't really enjoy this game at all - Some things were broken, or just didn't make sense and felt like frustrating tasks and not an escape room. 

This was our first 90 minute room so we were excited, but this is so overrated online! Maybe it was good years ago but now it feels very dated. Dirty life jackets, terrible ‘iceberg’ with a lazy iPad just propped up against it. Puzzles not automatic, had to do physical signals in a time wasting puzzle til GMs approval. Didn’t like puzzles that revealed where things were hidden as could find without solving them. GM was the best part, very nice lady. We liked the size and the on theme puzzles and water puzzles. So not the worst room or anything, just did not match the hype.

Great room! Quite immersive and just kept going!

I really wanted to love this room. I'd read so many great reviews of the other versions of this game and it looks absolutely brilliant... but we found this a tricky experience.

There are bound to be teething issues with a new setup and we visited the York branch after six days of it opening, so hopefully the issues will be straightened out as more people do the rooms.

The set is just gorgeous and there are some lovely puzzles in here but we spent a long time trying to work some fiddly tech that, in the end, just didn't work. There also seems to be a bit of a design flaw in that the people from the room next door burst into our room halfway through our time, which did kind of ruin the immersive nature of the game.

I hate to leave any kind of negative review but this one just didn't work for us; saying that, all of the issues were solvable so hopefully all those problems will get sorted.

The set was a lot bigger than I expected and it added to the atmosphere. We enjoyed the room, it had a few unexpected puzzles and had us moving for the whole time. 

Tip - the rooms are located inside the bowling alley.

Poor state of repair. A cool effect that I had heard about is no longer working which was disappointing. Needs some maintenance urgently. Still a playable game but living off its reputation rather than the reality. 

Seemed easy for a 90 min room - I expected more. Good mix of puzzle types. Some things seemed to be there as red herrings (either that, or we missed a puzzle but still got out!). A prop was missing and we had to be diverted to another room so it could be added, which felt pretty poor. There were a couple of things which didn't work as they should all the whole room felt quite decrepit and in need of a spruce up. 

First of all, this room was EXTREMELY HOT. There was no ventilation, or air-con, except for one fan in one of the rooms. We went in the evening and it was still hot.

The game itself was fairly different and there were a nice arrangement of puzzles to clear. Some puzzles were excessively long which didn't need to be, and one puzzle you couldn't hear back yourself, so you're left wondering whether you've done it right or not..

There were a few red herrings that put you off in the game, which I feel was unnecessary. One of the final puzzles was not working which was explained to us was due to the heatwave, which was a real shame.

The room also felt very dated, worn out, in need of an upgrade, and cleaning as there was a lot of dust gathered in places. 

We had a fantastic experience in Nottingham.  The story telling was fabulous.  One of best we have played

We really enjoyed the Titanic room. It was immersive and different to anything else we had played with some great features and plenty of puzzles along the way. The set was far bigger than we thought it would be. We became stuck a couple of times but we were helpfully guided back on track by our gamesmaster. 

Thoroughly enjoyed this and the combination of puzzles. I personally would have preferred to play as a smaller team as I found so many people meant you werent as involved BUT that doesnt take away from how wonderful i found this room to be. If I could do it over,  I would any day of the week.

Definitely not our favourite and has put us off trying any more at Houdini's! 

The very first puzzle we encountered a problem (vital information missing) and had to call for help straight away. This continued throughout, at least 3 times we had to ask for help because something wasn't working as it should, which was really disappointing. 

The GM was lovely, and very happy to help, but sometimes his clues relied on us having prior knowledge of the Titanic (which I am lacking!). 

The clues are via an old style telephone, meaning if you have made it beyond the initial room it can be time consuming to get back to get help. 

The theming of the room was fantastic! The decor, details and sound effects were brilliant.

The puzzles and clues were clever and original (some things in there we'd never seen before) it's such a shame that some just didn't work. 

We got a little ribbon trinket for successfully escaping which was a nice touch but it doesn't make up for the broken room!

Booked this room based on high recommendations in the UK enthusiasts page but were disappointed in comparison to the reviews. Although this is a good room with beautiful set design to immerse you. There are let downs with certain labourous puzzles and poor hosting. Before entering, the gamesmaster boasted about having the best time as a team of 2 only to check and find he had been beaten by the review the room team which changed his interaction. We made good progress quickly and came stuck at one point, asking for a clue which never came... Once out he admitted that as we were doing so well he didn't think we needed help so soon. Disappointing experience but not just because of the host. Would recommend but not as highly as we were led to believe

Fun game and liked the way they did the backstory. Agree it does not need to be a 90 minute game although worked well for us having 2 young children in tow who wanted to join in. One puzzle a bit tedious and involved a lot of crawling back and forth but otherwise enjoyed - some parts of the game starting to look a little worn. 

One of my all time favourite games. The room is stunning, taking into account historical details into the set. It's an incredibly immersive experience. The puzzles fit into this historical focus by telling the story of the Titanic. I was very impressed with how they merged narrative into the puzzles throughout the game. It added a whole different dimension to the room that made every puzzle feel weighty and important. This was made all the better by the variety of puzzles in the room and the quality of them too. It's a must play game that stands out to me as one of the best in the country. 

A very impressive set but it did leave me feeling a bit cramped at times.  There were some fantastic puzzles in this but also a couple that I found a little laborious.  I wasn't sure why they needed to make it a 90 min game.  We escaped in around 50 mins and if they just removed some of the more tedious aspects of some of the puzzles then this would be a great 1 hour game.

Enjoyed the physicality and immersion of the room - was tastefully done for the theme. Surprised it's listed as a 90min room, as we were out comfortably within the hour, and possibly could've done it faster.

Great people, love the concept as something different to your conventional escape room.