Plymouth, Mar 2024
I’m very overdue a proper trip round the escape rooms of Devon and Cornwall, but in the meantime I’ll take whatever brief chances I get to try them. So on a fleeting visit to Plymouth I picked a room at random at Escapism and booked in.
In Legacy you’re trying to rob a tomb to loot the valuables hidden there – but it’s okay, because the deceased lady set the puzzles there as a challenge, with her jewels as reward to any sufficiently smart grave robbers. This is one of the rooms that Escapism runs at both its branches, in Chester as well as Plymouth.
I’d describe the graveyard setting as themed rather than immersive, but the gothic decorations hit the right note. The focus is on the puzzles though, with a mostly non-linear structure and quite a lot to solve. It has the ‘wall of locks’ effect where you enter a space and are greeted by a considerable number of locks waiting to be opened – which could be intimidating or energising, according to your tastes.
Escapism list Legacy as the hardest room at either of their branches, and the challenge isn’t just from the number of puzzles. Experienced groups will likely tear through most of the puzzles at speed, but one step in particular is subtle enough that I’d guess fewer than 10% of teams get it without a hint, while still seeming entirely fair in retrospect.
A different puzzle struck me as a bit more confusing than it should have been due to a piece of equipment that gave insufficient clear outputs. But that notwithstanding, Legacy was a room with clear, logical, and often interesting puzzle design – on the basis of this room, I’d happily return to play more at either of their venues. 