- Overall rating:
Timed Trap: Treasure Theft

An uninspiring room. The puzzles were disappointing and the linearity meant that all too often the team felt sidelined while one player was taking the active lead. The theming didn’t win me over and the host coming into the room for clues was the final nail for immersion.

- Overall rating:
Timed Trap: The Great Escape

A game that could have been so much more. An interesting physical set up, a good attempt at theatre and some decent tech. Unfortunately totally broken immersion, poor puzzle design resulting in some players being sidelined from the game, a limit on clues and a lack of engaging puzzles undid all that good work and left us disappointed.

- Overall rating:
moviESCAPE: SAWtopsy

For haunt fans this might have rated higher but as an escape room it just didn’t work for me. A promising story progression was hurt by a shortage of puzzles and unpleasant searching that left me feeling disappointed by the overall experience.

- Overall rating:
moviESCAPE: The Haunted House

A game I never really got excited about. It was perfectly playable with some OK puzzles, an OK theme and a reasonably good story but there was very little about it to make it stand out.

- Overall rating:
Cryptology Nottingham: Cypherdyne

A game that started off with dull puzzles/theme and never really engaged me. Towards the end there’s a centrepiece puzzle that makes the finale to the game far better than the rest but, for me, it was tool little too late.

- Overall rating:
Extremescape: The Lost Tomb

The set is stunning, the puzzles are enjoyable, the theatrical moments are fantastic and, to top it off, the couple who run it are a great pair of hosts. If you’re ever in the area, and by that I mean the UK, you should head over here for 90 minutes of pure joy.

- Overall rating:
Escape Room Centre: the Bomb

Yet another great TRAP-designed room. Started off feeling quite weak but improved dramatically and by the end it had recovered and more.

- Overall rating:
Escape Room Centre: Secret Agent

Another good TRAP-designed room. Probably weakest of the four available in Blackpool but still plenty of fun particularly as a couple.

- Overall rating:
Room Escape MK: The Sphinx Chamber

A game that would have been the worst one I’d ever played had I not just come from playing their first room. It’s an incredibly sparse space with almost no puzzle content, no flow and very little of interest which I left feeling frustrated and disappointed.