July 2019

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Escape Hub (Maidstone): Inbound

A game that takes you on a cool journey through a beautifully designed set. Lots of logical puzzles to get your teeth into too.

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Clever Dilemma (Faversham): Dracula's Chambers

A really fun game with good decoration and props. There’s solid puzzling to be had and tough searching if that’s your thing. For me, it’s a feelgood room which enthusiasts will enjoy playing, finding it logical and challenging while never feeling like they’re likely to fail.

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Escape in the Towers (Canterbury): The Comms Room

A beautifully engineered game, that provides theatre in abundance and solid puzzling throughout. As a bonus, it managed to teach us some history, maybe even giving us a taste of what the period was like, while still feeling like a normal game.

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Adventox (London) - Haunted: The Curse of Dr Stevens

Of the three games at Adventox, this is my favourite. There’s a pretty set, a vague story that occasionally makes an appearance, enjoyable and logical puzzles, albeit without significant challenge, and a general flow that kept us entertained.

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Crack It Bolton: Pirate Cove

An experience every bit as good as Haunted House at the same venue, with fun puzzles that span the range of skill and mental challenges. They’ve improved the overall experience since our previous visit with far better instructions which results in better flow to the game.

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Ctrl-Alt-Esc (Margate): Detention

A feel-good game that throws you back to your childhood, from the GM introduction right through to the moment you escape the room. Plenty of enjoyable puzzles, an enjoyable setting and a clever finale to the experience. If you want ninety minutes of nostalgic fun then I can highly recommend.

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The Escapement (Margate): The Pit

A truly impressive game that will immerse you in the world they’ve created. With a visually astounding set and a cool story concept, it was only the puzzles where this room showed its weakness.

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Exit Newcastle: Fiorella's Cave and Volatile Laboratories

Two fun games from one of the better companies in Newcastle. Volatile Laboratories was probably impressive in its time but didn’t excite me that much while Fiorella’s cave was a really good experience let down by a couple of tedious puzzles.

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Pirate Escape (Whitley Bay): Forbidden Jungle, The Brig and Mutiny

Three fun pirate-themed games. The Brig was the most accessible with the clearest puzzle structure. Jungle was packed full of puzzles but felt a little more chaotic. Mutiny had more multi-stage puzzles than I’ve seen in almost any game.