XscapeNow: Runaway Train

When pulling up to Xscapenow by first thought was how happy I was to see a thriving independent, out of town escape room thriving. It was almost fully booked with 5 rooms running simultaneously all day.

My thoughts quickly turned to imagining an overstretched games master looking after multiple rooms, not watching games and delivering late generic hints about things we've already done. We've all seen it at usual suspects.

How wrong could I be. Our host was super friendly, enthusiastic and keen to talk all things escape rooms. The twice we asked for clues he immediately responded with a clue specific to our game. He must have anticipated the question and was ready to send - itbnakes me wonder what else he typed thatbwe didnt need. Unlike other gamesmasters we have had, he didn't overstep the mark and jump.in with clues, spoiling the 'ah ha moments' but the one time we had the right clue but just didn't press the button on the lock he jumped in to stop.us wasting time and spoiling our fun.

The game itself was huge, spread over multiple train carriages and featuring so.many styles of puzzle. Everything from real thinking puzzles to a really fun skill based puzzle easy enough so it won't ruin your game but tricky enough to make you feel good about yourself after succeeding.

The set was very immersive and you felt like you on a train rushing though the wild west the whole time.

Reviews persuaded us to make a detour on our trip to Birmingham and I am so glad we did. Next time we are in the area we will 100% be back to do more.