Up North

- Overall rating:
GR8escape York: Spy School

Old school room with pretty much everything that entails. The decoration wasn’t engaging, the puzzles were OK but not super exciting, and the story was minimal. For new players it will be fun and they won’t particularly notice the rough edges. For experienced players, I think it’s worth heading elsewhere.

- Overall rating:
GR8escape York: Space Cadet

This was a feelgood room with plenty of puzzles, some of which were reasonably challenging although it’s unlikely to win prizes for decor. It’s definitely a decent challenge – keeping our experienced team of four fully occupied for a fair chunk of the allotted time.

- Overall rating:
The Live Escape (Huddersfield): Underground

A fun, coherent game with a reasonable theme and fun puzzles. At times some of those challenges were shoehorned in to the room but overall a very solid game.

- Overall rating:
Trapped In (Bury): CSI

A fun game that isn’t likely to wow but should keep you entertained for most of an hour with a decent variety of puzzles.

- Overall rating:
Trapped In (Bury): Interstellar

A thoroughly polished game that I’d put right up there as one of the best in the North West. Looks beautiful, lots of puzzles and a very good structure to the game is topped off by a finale that felt it was taken straight from Star Trek.

- Overall rating:
Time Race (Bury): Vault 17

A sprawling game with some interesting challenges but an ambiguous opening puzzle got the room off to a bad start and a series of rough-around-the-edges challenges throughout the game left us ultimately frustrated.

- Overall rating:
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!

- Overall rating:
Lucardo (Manchester): Gem Runner

A fun-filled adventure, packed full of puzzles and searching that kept the pair of us occupied for almost 40 minutes with barely a pause for breath. This isn’t high brow escaping with complicated puzzles, amazing backdrop or deep narrative. This is easy-access with puzzles that aren’t too daunting, a set that more than does its job and a flow that kept the adrenaline high right to the very end.