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Time Race (Bury): The Invitation

A room that has an interesting central mechanic and some good immersion but was let down by most of the puzzles having some flaw and the final puzzle being basically impossible.

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The Vault Festival 2018 (London): The Lifeboat

I enjoyed this game with its fun puzzles and sense of urgency. Yes, it was cramped; and yes, some of the props weren’t perfect; but there was much to enjoy. The big disappointment was the lack of finale with the game just fizzling out.

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Escape Room Hull: Prison Break

Solid decoration, good puzzles, plenty of communication and a little bit of theatre: this game has plenty going for it. Well worth a visit, especially if you can must a team that’s up for the versus mode!

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Game Over (Derby): Jack the Ripper

Outside the room Game Over isn’t a common brand in the UK (although they have now opened a second venue in Rochdale), but there are venues all over Europe – Lyon, Helsinki, Rome and Athens to name but a few. Given that international reach, I was curious to see what their rooms were like. Surely
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Adventox (London): Mission X

A game where things seemed to click for us but where I wouldn’t say everything was straightforward. The decoration isn’t amazing although there is one impressive centrepiece. It’s a fun game but not one that I’d travel across London to play.

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Adventox (London): No Way Out

A solid game but not one that excited me. First timers will almost certainly enjoy the experience. More experienced players will appreciate some aspects but are unlikely to be super-impressed.

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Escape London – Shadwell: Taken

Plenty of puzzles, a fair number of locks and good but very much IKEA-esque decoration. A perfectly reasonable game but with nothing to get very excited about.

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Escape London - Shadwell: Escape the Seven Seas

A pretty game with some fun puzzles, but our enjoyment was severely impaired by the ambiguity of a couple of solutions. If you get easily frustrated, you should definitely steer clear of this experience but if not, then there’s definitely some fun to be had.

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Escape London - Shadwell: Witchcraft and Wizardry

A pretty room with a reasonable and nicely structured set of puzzles. Although it could most definitely be improved, we enjoyed our time in the game and, as London games go, it would sneak into my top half.