Welcome to your almost weekly fix of UK and Irish escape room news covering everything that this site has discovered in the last seven twenty’one days! Apologies – I’ve been off to Up the Game in the Netherlands.
Exit Games is always on the lookout for new rooms or venues that are opening, references in the media or anything else that might be of interest to readers, so please do send an email if you spot anything of interest. That applies to owners too – feel free to send me your news for inclusion here. Don’t be shy!
On to the news
- Crown dependencies!
- It’s been running for a fair while, but I’ve just spotted that Adventure Rooms Guernsey is open. For those who aren’t aware, Adventure Rooms is an international brand with venues across the world as well as in Cardiff and Dublin. No website, so hard to tell exactly which game they’re running, but I think it may be the Black Queen.
- The Isle of Man has long since had an escape room venue, but Exit Strategy have opened yet another game, with Wonderland becoming their sixth experience.
- South West England
- In Between Realities Escape Room is, as the name may hint, an augmented reality escape room. Exact dates haven’t been announced, but expect to see it in Chelmsford at some point over the summer.
- Housetrap, way down in Bodmin, have opened their second game, Dormant.
- West Midlands
- Merlin are obviously happy with what they’re seeing up in Blackpool, or at least I assume so given they’re looking at opening a game in Warwick Castle. Few details yet, but it looks like it will open next week.
- Escape has opened yet another franchise, this time Escape Leamington Spa, with two games: Witchcraft and Wizardry as well as Contagion
- South East England
- Time Trap have launched a new game at a new venue. The Divide is somewhat unusual in that 10% of the takings are being funnelled off to Launchpad, a local charity aimed at helping the homeless. It’s a game that doesn’t just benefit the charity financially but also aims to raise awareness of the issues – balancing the fun of the game against a meaningful and relevant experience for the players.
- Exciting Escapes have opened their second Basingstoke venue with Breaking the Law and a couple of copies of a new game, Banking on Trouble
- The team from Pier Pressure were featured in an article in the local Brighton press.
- The local news has noticed that Oxford is going to get a new venue, Escape Hunt Oxford…
- …and they’ll be joined by Escape Hunt Reading in the not-too-distant future.
- Xscream Escape have submitted a planning application to open a two-game venue just south of Heathrow.
- It looks like the University of Surrey are getting in on the escape room excitement and running an escape workshop as part of their STARS program.
- The Locked Room launched recently in Eastbourne with their first game, called the Haze.
- The Panic Room Gravesend opened a new game, Revolución Olé, in one of their existing venues…
- …and they’ll also be opening a fourth (fifth?) venue in the centre of town with their 30-minute long Secret of Pocahontas game.
- Escaper MK opened their third game, Hostage.
- Escape Milton Keynes is another new Escape venue, with a brand new game, Sabotage, joining the brand’s established favourite, Witchcraft and Wizardry.
- Knockout Escape Rooms, near Reading, opened 9-to-5 Assassin.
- Wales
- Escape Blackwood opened their third game, Wizard’s Shop.
- East Midlands
- Trapp’d have opened a new venue in Northampton. Their site, at the Billing Aquadrome, launched with three games: 46 Below, Exordium and Dead on Arrival.
- They’ve also announced a new venue opening nearby in Wellingborough, although the exact location is still a secret.
- Escape Leicester opened their third game, Da Vinci.
- Yorkshire and the Humber
- First hints of a new venue in Harrogate, Clue HQ Harrogate, have appeared. According to the newspaper report, they’re planning on three games – CSI: The Panic Room, The Betrayal of Cluetankhamun and Cell Block C.
- Scotland
- Another town, another new venue: Escape Hunt Edinburgh will be the first Escape Hunt location north of the border.
- Falkirk has long been missing an escape game, but Transcend Escape Rooms are here to put that right with what looks like a couple of different games.
- The NTS have had to do some quick back-pedalling after an escape room opening in one of their sites caused controversy over its portrayal of mental health.
- Northern Ireland
- Escapade HQ is a new Belfast venue with a game called Save the City.
- North West England
- Breakout Manchester are expanding their offering with a new VR centre where, naturally enough, you’ll be able to play VR escape rooms.
- Escape the Van are a new mobile escape room based in South Manchester with a single game, The Experiment.
- I hope you’re not bored of hearing about Escape Hunt venues because… You can expect to see Escape Hunt Liverpool at some point over the next few months.
- Add in Escape Hunt Manchester and that’s something like seven confirmed venues.
- London
- Another university, another escape room project, this time designed by an archivist and a games design student with the aim of raising awareness of the archive at the University of the Arts.
- Clue Adventures opened Gangsters Treasure in the Three Lords pub. It’s got an interesting-looking GM concept – according to the website, you need to bribe the barman for help…
- AIM Escape is a new venue in central London with four games: Psychopath’s Den and Hangover Deja Brew are both aimed at adults, Patient 2150 is aimed at teenagers and above, and Spy Heroes has a minimum age of six.
- North East England
- According to the local paper, Escape Room Hull have moved venues.
- East of England
- D S Escape Rooms has opened in Haverhill with one game, the Killer.
- Meanwhile, in Leighton Buzzard, Don’t Get Locked In have launched with The Secret Hut. They’ve launched a gold, silver and bronze rating depending on how many clues you need to finish…
- …and they’ve kicked things off well with some local news coverage.
- Bamboozled have been open for a while in Norfolk but have only just appeared on my radar. They’ve already opened Pawn Shop, and Demolition will open next month.
- Cryptx have locked up The Gaol and replaced it with the School of Hard Locks.
- Too late to get tickets, but Cambridge University are running their annual Cluescape escape room, this year focusing on the UL tower.
- Blog posts
- The Logic Escapes Me
- Underwoodsgreatescape
- Escape Goats
- Immersophenia
- Stuck In The Riddle With Clue
- Escaping Rooms
- Lock Us Up
- Escape Review
- Brit of an Escape Habit
- Escape the Review
- Bewilder Box: Judgement D.A.V.E.
- Bewilder Box: The Bewilder Box Initiative
- Riddlr: The Brunel Enigma
- Escape Hunt: The Fourth Samurai
- Escape Room Preston: Gallery
- Escape Room Centre: Grimoire In The Attic
- The Blackpool Tower Dungeon: The Escape
- Escape Game Brighton: Return of the Mad Scientist
- Pier Pressure: Pavilion Perplex
- The Escaporium: Operation Moonshine
That’s all I’m aware of. If any of the above is incorrect or if you’re aware of other news, significant discounts or competitions, then let me know via email or in the comments below and I’ll include updates in the next edition.
Thanks for reading!