Review

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Locked in Edinburgh: The Cutting Room

A great experience that shows off the puzzle, story and set design skills of the team at Locked In. It’s packed full of puzzles to entertain players but still manages to squeeze in some theatre to make solving them extra special.

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Riddle Rooms (Glasgow): Dark Room

A game with a clever concept at its core, but which was sorely let down by a lack of user feedback and some GM decisions that felt questionable. By the time the game was over, I felt entirely disillusioned about the room.

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Timelock'd (Gravesend): The Xscape Factor

A game that’s well worth playing whether you like music or not. There are a couple of rough edges around some of the puzzles but the overall concept is very strong and it really evoked the feeling of recording a single in a music studio.

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Athens Escape Review: The Brainfall Hotel (Down the Rabbit Hole and Dark Seas)

A pair of fun experiences with gorgeous sets but with the actors that didn’t really add to the experience. In one, the actor got a bit repetitive, while in the other, the actors weren’t very relevant. Go in expecting an immersive theatre/escape room hybrid and you should have a good time.

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Athens Escape Review: Mystery Lab - Requiem

The problem with Athens is that there are so many great experiences that it’s easy to start getting blasé about them. If this game were in the UK, I’d be raving about it. There’s a cool start, a clever ending and a huge amount of exploration during the game. There are plenty of solid puzzles and some really fun ones. There are frights but not ones that overpower the experience. This is a very good game even by Athens’ standards, but in most locations it would likely be the best in the area and an absolute must-play.

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Athens Escape Review: Escaped (Peristeri) - The Otherside

A game that takes a popular theme and translates it into a thoroughly enjoyable escape room. There’s an incredible sense of exploration, a cool set with some amazing transitions, good decoration and enjoyable puzzles. This is one of those games which is strong in virtually every department, delivering an experience that’s hard to fault.

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Athens Escape Review: Reality Ripples - Deadlock

A game that lives on its start, finish and scares. It begins with a bang and finishes off in equally impressive style. In between, your heart will spend most of its time pounding in your chest. The puzzles, in contrast, were a bit of a let down so make sure to go in with your eyes open if you book.

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Lockhill (Athens, Greece): Sanatorium

A fantastic experience, creepy even in non-scary mode, and potentially terrifying in the scarier version with actors. It’s got good puzzles, a great sense of exploration, “fun” character interactions and amazing theming. If you’re in Athens, and think you can cope, play this game, ideally in MIDNIGHT mode.

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Lockhill (Athens, Greece): Lockwood Manor

A game that felt like a slightly tired creepy experience. Don’t get me wrong: in another market, this would be a solid room, but Athens just isn’t any old market so, in order to compete, games have to be impressive. It’s a reasonable game but not one I’d visit unless I had a lot of time in the city.

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Fox in a Box (London): Zodiac Killer

A solid addition to London’s games. There’s an interesting start, good decoration and enjoyable, logical puzzles. It may not have amazed me, but it did keep me interested throughout, and it never let me down. If you’re happy with the theme, then it’s well worth a visit.