matt_keds

#85

It’s hard to call any room perfect, but this has come closest for us out of 85 so far. From the minute you enter you have to check that you’re not actually outside, such is the detail and immersion. So many quirky puzzles before you even start the main story of the room, and when you do, the immersion just ramps up. No spoilers, but the finale/last 10 mins of this is utterly perfect and a mad scramble (be prepared to get a little dirty!)  the best decoration and most unique finale of any room I’ve seen, this is our new No1 by a country mile.

Updated top 5:

1. Safe: The Legend Of Jack Daniel - The Padlock (Prague)

2. Carfax - Cape Escapes (Nottingham)

3. Zodiac Patres - The Chamber (Prague)

4. Mr Copplestone’s Curiosity Shoppe - Escape Quest (Macclesfield)

5. Viking - Extremescape (Disley)  /   Poltergeist: Haunted House II - The Chamber

#84

Creepy vibe, this was just what we were hoping it would be. A step up from Mission 53, you can tell the care has gone into making it immersive. Fun puzzles and not too difficult, definitely worth doing.

#83

While a 99 minute room may be a bit daunting, we had tons of fun with this. Even if you can see the age showing a bit, the location the room was set in was superb. Another case of not knowing where we were going to end up next.

#82

The Chamber takes the number 1 spot for Prague, all 3 of their rooms we did were incredible. The host/actor we had was perfect and stayed hilariously in character the whole time. Really fun puzzles, and again the set decoration was impeccable. 

#81

Another fantastic room from The Chamber, this is a lot more relaxed than Poltergeist! Impeccable set design that felt like a real medieval dungeon, loads of tricks and puzzles we’d never seen before and to top it off the acting/host was so unique. Into our top 3 rooms out of 85, and again, unmissable.

#80

Bloody terrifying. Enormous in space, immersion is second to none, and the fun puzzles were just a distraction from being scared to death. The hosting was incredible, and the ending was unique and chilling. Also, I’ve never seen my wife so scared in her life so big thumbs up! 😂  In our top 3 for Prague, it’s unmissable.

#79

A game of two halves really - the set was incredible, it felt like a real spaceship all throughout. Unfortunately two of the puzzles were a let down, one of which took a frustrating and mandatory 15-20 minutes to solve which meant we failed for the first time in 60 rooms. Thankfully the host was nice enough to let us finish, this is probably best as a 3/4 so you can split up a bit. Still a soft recommend though.

#78

An amazing way to start our weekend in Prague. The whole experience was impeccably decorated, especially the finale. Everything was on theme and not a padlock in sight. One of 5 you must do if you’re in the city.

#77

Really immersive room, puzzles were all on theme and the decoration was brilliant. A massive thanks to our host who was fantastic and chatted to us for half an hour afterwards. We played as a 4 but easily doable as a pair. 

#76

Never thought I’d love a horror room as much as I did this! Firstly, the host was incredible, stayed in character throughout the experience. The puzzles weren’t too difficult but due to the immersion and creepy factor we were glad of that! One particular moment if the most I’ve jumped in my whole life, this is a whole hearted recommend. Loved it and can’t wait to see what they do next.

#75

This room felt very original and was a treat to look at. Loved the set decoration and the host was brilliant. Great fun if you’ve got children too.

#73

A very immersive room, we didn’t realise how quickly we’d gone through it. A couple of original puzzles, and not too difficult.  Host was great as well.

#74

Awesome room! So immersive and the set is brilliant, you genuinely don’t know where you’re going to end up next. Also one of the best finales we’ve seen. If you’re a Back to the Future fan then you HAVE to play this one.

#72

Brilliant theming and a really unique game. The space is really well used and the unique story makes it a fun and exciting experience. Cave Escapes are the top venue we’ve visited, very accommodating letting us do what is normally a 3 person+ room as a pair. Unmissable.

#71

Another fantastic room in Nottingham, this was possibly the most unique we have done. Loads of unexpected twists and turns, despite the fact we escaped quickly we felt like we had our money’s worth. The whole place felt like we were explorers! Top 5 room, the best we’ve done at Escapologic as well. Perfect for a team of two.

#70

This room has a a shining reputation and it’s definitely earned - very original and clever (no spoilers), we took a while to get going and needed a couple of pushes, but the puzzles were all fun and a few original things really stood out.  Definitely add to your list for Nottingham.

#69

Our new favourite room! So much fun, and some unexpected twists and turns. The whole thing feels like a movie set, and a creepy ending really finishes it off with a bang. Very well utilised space, each part is incredibly well themed. Best room in Nottingham IMO.

#68

Loved this. It has quite a reputation and definitely delivers. The room is enormous and similar to UI-55 or Copplestone’s in its concept. We played as a two and still had a few puzzles left, you’d still be busy with 4 of you though. So many different things to do, you won’t have a second to stop!

#67

Amazing. So immersive and creative, there’s no room I’ve seen like this. A must if you head to Nottingham.

#66

A really fun and immersive room, the puzzles were in theme and the set was great. Would have escaped sooner if it wasn’t for a frustrating final puzzle, definitely worth doing though. Host was fantastic.

#65

Unfortunately we just didn’t gel with this one. Puzzles seemed a bit boring and illogical but that may have just been our expectations.

#64

A solid room, not too difficult and fun puzzles. Decoration wasn’t as strong as Operation Moonshine but fun nonetheless.

#63

Unexpectedly great, the surprises just kept coming. The host was brilliant and the immersion never stopped. 

#62

Absolutely brilliant room. It isn’t huge in space but you never notice as the room is filled with in-theme puzzles. A few things we’d never encountered before and the last 2 minutes was very immersive if a little stressful!

#61

The best at Emergency Exit IMO, one of the creepiest rooms we’ve done and good puzzles. The finale was particularly stressful/scary!

#59

Very creepy! Great use of space and the puzzles were all in theme.

#60

Great fun, very immersive and creepy, good storytelling too. Fantastic hosting for all three rooms here as well.

#58

Another great immersive room, lots of puzzles and a wide variety of them. The set decoration is fab too, 10/10 quality. Lots of padlocks but they go unnoticed, even you’re not a fan of them, you’ll still love this.

#57

One of the most original games ever! So much fun, really immersive and great hosting. The clue system is wholly original as well! Loads to do but we never felt too swamped.

#55

This was a great surprise. A really immersive set and a few things we’d never seen before. Great ending too. The room flowed well and we never felt stuck or frustrated.

#54

A good variety of puzzles, a simple storyline but still enjoyable. Looking forward to their new room.

#53

Really good fun. Good story and the flow of puzzles worked really well. Great for families as well!

#52

Breakout Chester’s newest room, this was a lot of fun, if a little stressful! We were pleasantly surprised to see that the theming is really on point, and the soundtrack makes for a really creepy vibe. The puzzles are pretty typical for Breakout but still a lot of fun,  there’s a few things you can get on with at once so not too linear to start with. Lots of fun, up there with Forsaken as our favourite Breakout rooms.

#51

Our second room of the day at Clue HQ Birmingham, again this was incredible. The theming was really on point, this room is more padlock-based which didn’t bother us after the padlock-less Miyalock (that being said there is more than just locks in here). Really fun and on theme puzzles,  nothing was out of place. We were laughing the whole time during this, and we really feel like we got our money’s worth.

A couple of original touches in this room, the middle part especially was a real delight. The end had us rushing around even though we had time remaining, something that always gets the adrenaline pumping! A couple of people have noted about lighting issues in the final part but we had none of that so I’m assuming it is a problem that’s been rectified recently. 

Will definitely be going back for Hellevator and Core!

Updated top 5:

1. The Legend of Miyalock: Forbidden Magic - Clue HQ Birmingham

2. Viking - Extremescape

3. Mr Copplestone’s Curiosity Shoppe - Escape Quest

4.  UI-55 - Compendium

5. The Legend of Foole’s Gold - Clockwork Escapes

#50

Our 50th room has gone straight to the top of our list! The whole experience of this was brilliant. Our host Ryan was very attentive and interacted with us just the right amount, little nudges if we needed it without giving too much away. The decoration is on a par with Copplestones and Viking. Really fun interaction with some of the puzzles, and the whole experience seemed to just keep going and going! Also the story was brilliant and incredibly immersive, something very original considering magic is a common theme. From the first puzzle you can tell that it is going to be a great experience. 

There was no clue in particular that was ridiculously hard, just quite a bit to do, and if you forget about something very important (no spoilers!) then you’ll definitely add on a couple of minutes! Don’t miss this, it was a knockout.

Updated top 5:

1. The Legend of Miyalock: Forbidden Magic - Clue HQ Birmingham

2. Viking - Extremescape

3. Mr Copplestone’s Curiosity Shoppe - Escape Quest

4.  UI-55 - Compendium

5. The Legend of Foole’s Gold - Clockwork Escapes

#49

Wow this was so much fun! After struggling with the first clue (we felt like proper beginners!), we made our way into the main set and were really impressed with how immersive, sprawling and exciting it all was. A vast variety of puzzles, all of which made sense, and best of all the theming of this room was really on point, it felt like we were really on a train! Double thumbs up for this room! Our new  personal favourite at XscapeNow. 

#48

This was a fantastic experience! From the moment you are in the room you are immersed, and from there it just keeps expanding. Very original, the practical effects and decor of this room are on a par with, if not exceeding Viking at Extremescape. A few really unexpected turns and surprises, we would be completing one puzzle and genuinely be unsure what we were about to put into motion.

An added bonus of this room is that as you are collecting gold AS WELL  as trying to solve puzzles and try to escape, you can finish before you have completed EVERYTHING - therefore our host didn’t let us out when we enabled escape, but instead encouraged us to search high and low for every last shiny piece.

Again, brilliant hosting here, the one criticism is that it was rather dark to start with in the mine, but your eyes do adjust in time. We both came out genuinely gutted it was all over. 

Current top 5:

1. Viking - Extremescape

2.  Mr Copplestone’s Curiosity Shoppe - Escape Quest

3. UI-55 - Compendium

4. The Legend of Foole’s Gold - Clockwork Escapes

5. Spellbound - Make Your Escape

#47

Our first room at C.E. was a lot of fun, a really original concept and layout of the room. One  thing in particular we had never seen before, and was a great surprise when revealed. It’s just a shame we didn’t have much interaction with it!

As tagged, this is a non-linear room, which can be a bit like marmite.  We felt we were backtracking a few times, and would have struggled without quite a bit of guidance from the G.M (who was also fantastic and stayed in character our whole trip). This room (and ESPECIALLY Foole’s Gold) is definitely worth the travel.

#46

I don’t normally like to criticise a room without giving it a few decent points, but this was not a good experience. Easily in the bottom 5 of 40+ rooms we have completed. Some of the puzzles were infuriating and boring, the host even came in at one point (something I’m not a fan of unless asked first), because our logicaL solution to a puzzle was wrong, yet the real solution was so convoluted. A  shame as it’s our first trip to Clue HQ, I wouldn’t bother with this one.

#45

After completing The Signal and Spellbound in the morning, we headed back after lunch to tackle Dystopia and Utopia.  Having two rooms blend together like these two do with their stories is something I’ve never seen before and felt very original.

- The decor of Dystopia may seem a little lacking at first, but there is a story-based reason for it. This was a very fun room, but with a slightly frustrating final puzzle that even our host had admitted a lot of people (himself included)  had found difficult to see/comprehend. However it didn’t spoil our experience of the room.

- After completing Dystopia we headed straight into Utopia. The way you start the game was surprising and unique, although could have been tightened up a bit so that no GM interaction was required (players of the game with understand what I mean by this). This would also have added to the immersiveness of the game. 

After getting through to the main hub of the game, I can say the decoration of the room was fantastic, with a couple of things I’ve never seen before. The puzzles in this room are all very electronic-based, compared to Dystopia where it is mainly padlocks.

Unfortunately,  due to this reliance on technology, one of our puzzles didn’t operate at all, causing the GM to have to come in  and pause our time while he fixed it quickly.

The final part of the room was again very tech-dependant, with a couple of frustrating and lacklustre puzzles, with a poor way to interact with them. When we finally had the means to exit the game, our host came in to tell us while we had escaped, we couldn’t fully complete the experience because another team was in the area we escape to! (previous players will understand what I mean)

This was very frustrating as it would have been down to the GM’s poor time/team management, and it meant we couldn’t fully complete the experience. After a brilliant morning, this obviously left a very sour taste in our mouths, given that we had spent so much time and money at a venue and couldn’t complete the experience.

All in all, I would still recommend both rooms, and that you should definitely do them back to back, starting with Dystopia. 

Personal ranking of the rooms at Make Your Escape would be:

1. Spellbound

2. The Signal

3. Dystopia

4. Utopia

#44

After completing The Signal and Spellbound in the morning, we headed back after lunch to tackle Dystopia and Utopia.  Having two rooms blend together like these two do with their stories is something I’ve never seen before and felt very original.

- The decor of Dystopia may seem a little lacking at first, but there is a story-based reason for it. This was a very fun room, but with a slightly frustrating final puzzle that even our host had admitted a lot of people (himself included)  had found difficult to see/comprehend. However it didn’t spoil our experience of the room.

- After completing Dystopia we headed straight into Utopia. The way you start the game was surprising and unique, although could have been tightened up a bit so that no GM interaction was required (players of the game with understand what I mean by this). This would also have added to the immersiveness of the game. 

After getting through to the main hub of the game, I can say the decoration of the room was fantastic, with a couple of things I’ve never seen before. The puzzles in this room are all very electronic-based, compared to Dystopia where it is mainly padlocks.

Unfortunately,  due to this reliance on technology, one of our puzzles didn’t operate at all, causing the GM to have to come in  and pause our time while he fixed it quickly.

The final part of the room was again very tech-dependant, with a couple of frustrating and lacklustre puzzles, with a poor way to interact with them. When we finally had the means to exit the game, our host came in to tell us while we had escaped, we couldn’t fully complete the experience because another team was in the area we escape to! (previous players will understand what I mean)

This was very frustrating as it would have been down to the GM’s poor time/team management, and it meant we couldn’t fully complete the experience. After a brilliant morning, this obviously left a very sour taste in our mouths, given that we had spent so much time and money at a venue and couldn’t complete the experience.

All in all, I would still recommend both rooms, and that you should definitely do them back to back, starting with Dystopia. 

Personal ranking of the rooms at Make Your Escape would be:

1. Spellbound

2. The Signal

3. Dystopia

4. Utopia

#43

Room 2 out of 4 at our trip to MYE. This. Was. Magical. From the get-go we were immersed into the experience. The decoration was absolutely brilliant, not one part of the room was missing anything, and the puzzles! It can seem overwhelming at first at how much there is to do, and our host  seemed a bit quietly dubious as to whether we’d escape with just two of us. But we managed! This room could comfortably fit 6, but if you’re feeling like a challenge then try it as a pair. Into the top 5 of our personal rankings.

Our first puzzle to solve was something I’ve never seen before and very original. As there were so many puzzles, it didn’t bother us that a few were padlock-based either. The way you solve things to work towards the finale was super fun too. The last 3/4 minutes were a mad rush and rather stressful! But that’s what you need sometimes in such a room. The best room at MYE by far.

#42

We spent the day and did all 4 rooms at Make Your Escape, and had a brilliant time!

We started with The Signal, which is a really fun Area-51 themed room. Very original out of the 40+ rooms we have done, the story was quite linear and had a few very fun puzzles. Set decoration was on point and the fact you have to make a decision in this room that determines the story was brilliant! Don’t miss it!

#41

I’ve had Paralysis on my list for a while so was chuffed to finally visit. However if you’re after a typical escape room, this is not it. It is rather light on puzzles to solve, the immersion really comes from the decoration and scare-factor. The hosting was fantastic from the start, really getting us ready for an hour of fear. Taking place in an old cellar, we were on edge from minute one. 

That all being said, we escaped within 35 minutes so didn’t really get the full experience. I have a feeling this would be a lot better if played as a pair, as opposed to a group of four like we did.

The puzzles were pretty basic, but the immersion into the story was brilliant. More of a scare-room than an escape room.

We’ll still be heading back for Entity and Feast though! 👻 

#40

Our third room at Compendium, and other fantastic one. The smallest room there but they really make the most of the space. Again, really cool set design, fun, logical puzzles and as always, fantastic hosting. All of Compendium’s rooms have original themes and set design, head there as soon as you can.

#39

Another fantastic room from Compendium!

We visited last month to complete UI-55, so obviously couldn’t wait to return.

The immersion in Wrong Turn is fantastic, creepy at times and a large variety of puzzles, mostly keeping in theme as well. One trick in particular during the first third of the experience was something I’ve never seen before, and the room just seemed to keep going and going!

Would definitely recommend heading to Compendium and taking the day to do all of their rooms! Personal ranking so far would be:

1. UI-55

2. Wrong Turn

3. Bedlam

#38

Typical franchise room. Enjoyable at times, and the fact there are few padlocks is a positive, but the flow of the room sometimes seemed illogical and un-intuitive - some of the puzzles didn’t match the theme at all. It was a little hard to see inside the room too.  I’d recommend if you haven’t experienced different to Breakout, although I’d say in the area there are better companies.

#37

Again a fab room in Lucardo Rawtenstall, the host starts you off by really immersing you in the story. A few clever puzzles here that really keep with the theme, and the quality of the room was brilliant - especially the second part (no spoilers!)  which was some of the best set decoration I’ve seen in the 40 escape rooms we’ve done. Definitely worth the visit here!

#36

A fun room, the hosts help immerse you in the experience, as they also do with Dragon’s Heart. Some clever puzzles here, if maybe a little padlock heavy.

An original take on a common theme, the space used was well-incorporated too. Would recommend but not to a group larger than 3 as space is a bit lacking.

#35

Again, brilliant design and attention to detail at Extremescape! The introduction to this room is particularly unique and blew our minds! The decor really makes you feel like you are in an old prospector mine. The puzzles we had to solve had a wide variety and a few things we had never seen before. The last part of this experience was a particularly cool surprise as well, that took us a second to figure out! After completing all of the rooms as Extremescape, our personal ranking would be:

1. Viking

2. Pirate Ship

3. Lost Tomb

Take the day to do all 3, they are all unique with their design and puzzles and all loads of fun. We need more 90-minute rooms!