TheMushyPeas

Gas Alert was our second visit to One Way Out after playing Framed earlier that afternoon. These were our 15th and 16th rooms so while not experts, we have played enough to know these were special. 

As with our first visit, the introduction was great. Character based, entertaining and very different to any intro we’ve had before. Once again we can only commend Tessa for her fantastic work with this room, which was as equally impressive as the last. The setting again was fantastic. The room had loads of space to accomodate a large team and very much felt like the science lab it was supposed to be. Having read from other reviews that the owner used to be a science teacher it really shows in this room. 

Once again there was plenty to do for the four of us, with less searching required than framed but the added element of science-based puzzles. We have not seen these unique, practical elements in any rooms before and doubt we will see them again any time soon. They were great fun and made for an incredibly immersive experience and made us all feel like kids again. We split in to 2 teams of 2 and swapped about if/when we were struggling and this proved a good tactic for this room. 

We escaped in 59.14 (70 minute room) so it was a good amount of things to do for the four members of Waltzing Matilda. I’m fairly confident the Mushy Peas could have attempted this as a two and successfully escaped, but may have still needed a hint or two. 

Clues were once again delivered in a timely manner via voiceover in the room but we didn’t need as many this time. Framed and Gas Alert both have a personalised and intimate feel beyond any we have experienced before. This room is also up there with the most enjoyable rooms any of us had played so far, for slightly different reasons. This one felt slightly more inclusive for the less experienced members of our team and made for a ton of fun! Thank you to One Way Out for a marvellous experience, well worth the trip to Oakham.

We visited One Way Out with 2 friends (to form team Waltzing Matilda) specifically to try our hand at Framed because of it’s excellent reviews and it did not disappoint. We enjoyed it so much that we immediately booked for Gas Alert later that evening. These were our 15th and 16th rooms so while not experts, we have played enough to know these were special. 

Firstly, the introduction was delivered with excellent humour and really got us in the spirit. You can tell that our host and writer of the rooms, Tessa takes great pride in her work and cares about the guest experience. Secondly we were pretty blown away by the beautiful room itself. Framed is set mainly in a large living room which looks exactly like…well, a large living room! This did not have the feel that you were in a purpose built/themed space. Instead it felt as though you had genuinely entered someone’s home. It was decorated brilliantly and almost everything in (and out of) sight was part of the game play. 

This room was fairly search heavy but also had a huge variety of other puzzles, too. There was plenty to do for the four of us. As usual with open rooms, it got more linear as time went on and we worked more closely together. We really enjoyed the added murder mystery element of the game and it helped keep the narrative continuously moving. There was one particular element that we were all impressed by as we hadn’t seen anything like it before in an escape room and it was so beautifully done. 

We escaped in 65.47 (70 minute room) so it was the perfect amount of things to do for us four. I think the Mushy Peas could have attempted this as a two and potentially gotten out, but it definitely would have been a close call! Due to having extra time, Tessa allowed us to go back in and look for the cake (a charming little side quest) which we found fairly quickly once pointed in the right direction!

Clues are delivered in a timely manner via voiceover in the room, addressing individuals by name - which sounds as if the host is right in the room with you! Framed and Gas Alert both have a personalised and intimate feel beyond any we have experienced before. It feels difficult to compare Framed with others of our favourite rooms because of its very original style but we all agreed it was up there with the most enjoyable rooms any of us had played so far. Thank you to One Way Out for a marvellous experience, well worth the trip to Oakham.

Our least favourite game so far (out of 13 at that point). We have played non linear games before so did not find this element an issue, it was the puzzles themselves which many of both clues and answers were ambiguous. We made sense of things by assuming what the creators were trying to imply as opposed to what was actually there. Various answers you find lead to one big end puzzle - which is completely up to interpretation. Even after GM explained it to us after escaping we still didn't think it made sense. It still kept us busy for the hour but we would not recommend it to others. We believe the reason it is listed as their most difficult game is because of the sheer amount of time people must waste trying to guess at a couple of the answers (including one that we had correct all along but needed to by typed a certain, nonsensical way).

One of our favourite rooms so far! (played 14 rooms). Much better than Clue HQ's other offerings. Sturdy construction, outstanding theming and great story. Nothing particularly, individually challenging- just so much content to get through! Our only criticism was the lighting levels caused us issues at more than one point throughout the game - including the finale in which we had to have a clue (which we try to avoid) as to where the item(s) even was that had already been revealed as it was too dark for us to see.

As we have learned is to be expected of Clue HQ this was a fun, solid game. Enough of a challenge to keep us busy (we split up immediately on the advice of GM) but not enough content to fill out the time. Good quality props and screens - just nothing particularly special. An ideal game for a less experienced team of two. Not all puzzle were very well linked to the narrative (but this is often the case with many rooms). Our main complaint was the lack of clarity on one of the clues, which we basically had to be told the answer to simply because the UV markers used were no longer visible. It's a shame as this is such an easy fix but requires care and attention from staff in order to prevent it from happening.