Building extensions

Building extensionsOctober has been a very fruitful month for existing sites adding new rooms. Here’s a round-up of at least some of the sites that have added, or are about to add, new rooms to their line-up.

  • Cryptology of Nottingham opened their new room, The Crypt, on October 10th. “Pharaoh Rameses has sent you and your peers to The Crypt where you will starve. Some of his minions are sympathisers and have given you the means to escape. Can you and your team unshackle and free yourselves before the guard comes to make their first inspection?” This adds to their already popular Cypherdyne room, both of which take 2-5 players, and their Group Detective tour of the city.
  • Exit Newcastle, of -on-Tyne rather than -under-Lyme, were a day later with their new Volatile Laboratories game for two to six. “You find yourselves trapped and infected in a top secret laboratory that’s been sent into lockdown. Will you be able to find the antidote and release the Exit? (Please note that Volatile Labs begins in a confined space. It is also not suitable for those with epilepsy.)
  • A day later still, Salisbury Escape Room reopened with a brand new game, Murder at the Museum, replacing their prior Magna Carta Challenge. There’s no written description available, but have an online video instead, showing how it takes advantage of the founders’ legal backgrounds.
  • Not just a new game at Puzzlair of Bristol, but a whole new location. The original location, Puzzlair 1 remains open with its two games; the new location, Puzzlair 2, opens on Monday 26th with two new games and a third to follow soon, as discussed at 365bristol. The new games are The Warehouse of Jack Travis, in which you search through said storage facility for clues to a hidden rare diamond, found during African explorations and set to be donated to the Crown Jewels until Travis’ untimely disappearance, and the Secret Agent room, wherein a double agent has stolen the complete list of MI6 agents and you are required to identify the double-dealing counterspy and return the agent list to its proper owners. The Poltergeist Room will be the third game at the new location, set to open in November for players aged 18+.
  • Code to Exit of Altrincham are set to open their second room on 14th November. In The Test, the story goes that “An alien life force has been experimenting with the human DNA. They tempered with few of us and mixed their genes with ours. You are being abducted to complete the tests and find out if it was successful. Are you intelligent enough to represent our species? If you pass you will be set free.” Maybe best not to find out what happens if you don’t pass.
  • Looking further ahead still, Lost and Escape of Newcastle have announced on Twitter that their Time Travel to the 1900s game must close at the end of Earth Year 2015 – but, in happier news, new games are under construction and will hopefully be available in Feburary 2016.
  • Ex(c)iting Game of Oxford have added not so much a new room as a whole new outdoor game on October 8th, The Time Machine. Apparently bus 8, regardless of whether it is being operated by Stagecoach or by the Oxford Bus Company, acts as a time machine when you take it towards the city centre. “You are members of a secret society who suspect the existence of the time machine and impending danger, but you cannot specify it. Now you will be engaged in a secret mission in which you need to get the information necessary to find out what will jeopardize Oxford and in what year! Your task is to detect the precise details, so you’ll have time to prepare for the impending danger and prevent it.” This game, for groups of 2-5 (but maybe up to a dozen or so such groups, each starting 15 minutes apart?) is only available before 2pm because it relies on the opening times of some of the other buildings that you may have to visit in the city, which do change from time to time. The short version costs £45 and takes 2-3 hours; the long version costs £55 and takes 4-5 hours, possibly split over two days.
  • While in an Oxford frame of mind, the Jailbreak! game at Oxford Castle has undergone a complete makeover. It’s now only available after 7pm and has been revamped so that it now caters for parties of 10-15; the price has likewise been revamped to £250 for the team, though this includes a glass of house wine. (Subject to confirmation: per player, not per team.)

And finally, in bigger news still, congratulations to Enigma Quests of London on their opening day today! Their first such Quest sees you “brew some potions and defeat dark arts” as you explore a magical academy.

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