Escape Rooms

Escape Rooms

How to Escape with your LIfe

ByBy Escape Rooms /

I have been tasked with providing you, dear creature, with a list of ‘top tips’. This is a surprisingly difficult job, as one must walk the line between saying too much and too little. Our games require secrecy, so I cannot tell you how they work. Then again, were I to adopt HR speak and tell you of the vague importance of ‘enthusiasm’ and ‘teamwork’, you would rightly be forgiven for thinking this whole exercise a waste of time. With that in mind, I present to you this list: not quite 12 rules for life, but 12 tips for escape game success (and successful courtship thereafter).

1) Of codes and padlocks.

Most padlocks require combinations of varying lengths. Let us suppose your padlock requires a 4-digit code. Let us further suppose that you have worked out 3 of the numbers but are struggling with the last. Do you A) continue working at the puzzle until you have the final number, or B) scroll through the padlock’s final dial until it unlocks? If you picked A) you’d do what most people do, and most people do not escape.

2) Listen to your Game Master.

Whilst we take seriously that part of our job which requires us to lend grace, charm and beauty to the establishment, our role is not merely ornamental. We have interesting and, yes, helpful things to say. And most of us say these things rather well. So be sure to listen. Right to the end. It’s polite.

3) Ask questions.

Pride is all very well, and of course it is entirely up to you, but we do hand out walkie-talkies for a reason and the best teams make use of them. A well-placed question can be the difference between success and failure, life and death. Remember, there’s no such thing as a stupid question. (Stupid people, on the other hand…)

4) Communicate, how to.

In the first place, listen to your Game Master (See 2) Listen to your Game Master) when he/she explains how the walkie-talkies work. You wouldn’t believe the number of people who don’t do this, and who instead find new and innovative ways of doing things badly. In the second, if you are playing a game, for example Project D.I.V.A, in which multiple walkie-talkies are involved, you will need to remember that they only work one-at-a-time. Failure to observe this rule causes your Game Master a good deal of pain and annoyance.

5) Be Charitable. (For corporate and team-building groups.)

Remember that you are at a disadvantage. Families and groups of friends, all of whom are (presumably) playing because they want to, know how to fall out – indeed, in the case of families, how to hate each other – whilst remaining productive, they being familiar with each other’s strengths and weaknesses, flaws and foibles. You may not be so familiar with those of your teammates. So be charitable. Remember that what may seem to you an unspeakably dumb question might have taken a good deal of mental effort on the part of Sharon from accounting. (See 3) Ask Questions.)

6) Organise yourselves.

Once again you’d be surprised how many people fail to do this, they being (one supposes) overwhelmed by the complexity of the game, or else by its sheer sensory brilliance. Organisation is particularly important in non-linear games, such as Room 33 and Pharaoh’s Chamber, where there are many items to be used and no strict order in which to use them. So, a word of advice to those taking on our games at London Bridge: keep track of what you’ve used, and make sure the whole team is kept informed. There is no sense letting Ethel waste valuable time fiddling with a key that’s already been used.

7) Don’t Complain.

It’s not that it hurts our feelings, as our feelings are and ought to be irrelevant. Rather, I warn you against complaints because they have a deleterious effect on team morale, and thus diminish your chances of escaping. If you can’t figure out a puzzle, don’t moan that it doesn’t make sense. Do not whine that the puzzle in Project D.I.V.A, which involves binary code, ‘isn’t logical’, as a team did last week. (It’s perfectly logical. It’s binary, for goodness’ sake.)
Rather, admire the complexity of the puzzle that’s baffling you. Perhaps ask questions of your Game Master. Beseech your teammates for help. All of our puzzles make perfect sense, even if you can’t see it. Honestly.

8) Be sober.

Unless (like me) you must always be drunk for medical reasons, or unless (also like me) being drunk makes you a genius, we do most sincerely recommend – and indeed beg and implore – that you turn up sober. Hilarious though your drunken antics may me to you (and, yes, sometimes to us), the chances are consumption will be a hindrance.

9) Listen to your children. (If you have any. If they’re smart.)

Sometimes children demonstrate such instinctive skill that, when you look at their parents, you cannot help but wonder if the child has been adopted. Some of my favourite teams have contained children as young as 12, and it is often the young ones who have the best ideas. There is nothing more frustrating than a parent obstinately doing the wrong thing when the child has worked it out correctly. So, parents, listen to your kids.

10) Don’t drop the cube.

This will make sense once you’ve played Pharaoh’s Chamber. Suffice it to say that dropping the cube is the equivalent of setting off a small nuclear bomb. You are highly unlikely to survive the experience.

11)Don’t over-complicate things.

First principles, Clarice. Simplicity. Read Marcus Aurelius. Of each particular thing ask: what is it in itself? What is its nature? It is quite possible to be too intelligent. I once had a team with a genius, but he was of no use at all. He did in fact cost his team valuable time. He had found a riddle, and found the answer to that riddle, but became convinced that the answer was itself an anagram and a cypher which, once decoded, would give him a 4-digit code. No such puzzle exists. Sometimes things are simpler than they may appear, which makes Occam’s old razor an invaluable tool for any escape artist.

12)Remember, you’re on camera.

Granted, this probably doesn’t count as a tip. Not one that will be of much use to you in the game, anyway. But it is still important. We occasionally have teams who forget we can see their every move, and people do behave quite differently when they have – or think they have – privacy. We’ve seen things. Things you people wouldn’t believe. Things the likes of which I cannot repeat in polite company. So please, for the sake of decency and our good consciences, remember: You’re being watched. Oranges and lemons, say the bells of St Clements…

By Benjamin Mercer

Escape Rooms

Escape Rooms on Mental Wellbeing

ByBy Escape Rooms /

Escape games have taken off in galactic proportions over the past few years and here at Escape Rooms we are always looking for ways we can introduce the craze to new audiences. As part of this endeavor, recently my colleague and I were sent on the excursion of a lifetime; to an office block in West Croydon.

Don’t worry, we were actually invited, we’re not one for cold calling. The event was to promote the importance of wellbeing to the employees of the organisation. Foolishly in spite of this, neither of us had done any proper research. Many of the attendees had never heard of Escape Rooms, which is exactly what we’d hoped, however we were greeted with a bombardment of questions regarding how the experience we offer could be considered a platform for mindfulness. In retrospect this seems the most obvious question to revise beforehand.

“Well essentially you’re locked in a room with your colleagues for an hour and you have to solve lots of difficult puzzles whilst racing against the clock“ we replied.

This didn’t seem to meet the criteria. The skepticism wasn’t helped by an episode of the BBCs Not Going Out which had aired on TV the previous night. The characters all went to an Escape Room and the outing was depicted as a pressure cooker of distress, anger and animosity which left friendships and relationships in irreversible tatters. Cheers for the publicity BBC.

So we got our thinking caps on and hastily scribbled down a list of bullet points on a piece of scrap paper. After all, between the massage therapist offering complimentary 15 minute sessions and the adorable golden retriever brought in to promote the benefits of petting animals to lower blood pressure, we had some stiff competition. It turns out that Escape Rooms do indeed offer an abundance of benefits that promote healthy relationships and a healthy mind. Suddenly we fit right in and the conversations with other visitors to the event gave us even further insight into the qualities Escape Rooms has to offer when opening a discourse on mental wellbeing. Here are just a few:

Escapism and Immersion

Sorry to get all Inception-y but in being put in a room from which you need to escape, you could say you have already escaped. Let that sink in for a moment. Mind blown? No? Ok.

The fact is the term Escape Rooms actually presents a double meaning. The experience in itself is an escape. At Escape Rooms you can find yourself immersed on a spaceship in the future, a cursed Egyptian tomb, a moon base and even complicit in a high-stakes museum heist. In short, you’re transported, if you’re willing to submit to complete suspension of reality, not only to another world but a place completely removed from the London’s rat race and from the distractions of modern life.

Nowadays when we’re unsure of how to do just about anything the answer is quite literally at our fingertips. Unfortunately Google or Siri will not help you solve our puzzles and our strict no photo/video policy means that you won’t find the answers anywhere on the web. Here the brain is at front and centre and personal phones prove useless. Smart phones are brilliant but render the user Omni-present. As such they have often been credited as a springboard for anxiety levels (I admit, there is a slight irony in that our games at Angel involves a smart phone messaging system, but all part of the futuristic sci-fi immersion, my friends). So switch the real world off for an hour and come and try an escape room if you want to train that brain in an immersive and fully tangible way.

Cohesion and Communication

There’s a reason we’re so popular as a team building activity. Communication and teamwork are at the very core of Escape Rooms and the game requires you to work as a cohesive unit towards a common goal. It can allow you to identify and cultivate each other’s strengths and compensate for each other’s weaknesses, learning the best way to approach working together. Much like some mad scientist in the lab you are taking the best of everyone to create one super monster (but like a good monster that’s going to win the escape room or something. Time to go back to metaphor school). One of the things in which we take great pride is the vast array of puzzles we have to offer. They may require skill, dexterity, physical prowess, a great visual mind, impeccable logic. In short there is something for everyone and thus a chance for everyone to shine. This isn’t like Scooby Doo where Velma solves everything. Without sounding like an after school special, being part of a unified team is a great feeling and positive interactions go hand in hand with a healthy mind.

Asking for help is not a weakness

When discussing mental health and wellbeing in broader terms, this is a statement that is much easier said than done. It is something that is endemic throughout all of society today and surrounds a stigma that with any hope will be quashed over time. However I am not exactly qualified or profound enough to talk on this matter in the broader sense. As such I’ll apply it to the microcosmic world of Escape Rooms.

Of the deadly ‘sins’ the one to which we are the most exposed as games masters, is pride. We can guarantee that you will reach a point in your game where all hope seems lost. You’re doomed and prepare to raise the white flag (which reminds me, whatever happened to Dido?). What a lot of players seem to forget is that the games master is there for a reason and accepting an offer of help should never be considered a sign of weakness. The teams that succeed most often are the ones that are not afraid to swallow their pride. Not only in accepting help from us, but from fellow team mates too. It really is a great applied example of the notion that asking for help is fundamental to growth and achievement. It is most certainly not something to be ashamed of. “The only shame comes from not making it to the wall of fame. And to make it to the wall of fame, one must be willing to suppress the shame“- Aristotle??

The Selfish Part

As much as teamwork is intrinsic to Escape Rooms it can also teach you a lot about yourself. The environment forces the mind to utilize skills that you might not even know you possessed. When you make the link, find the code, discover a vital puzzle component you feel ever so slightly great about yourself. You did that! After the experience has finished have a debrief with yourself and acknowledge your contribution. Speaking from my own experience and testimonials from our teams, the adrenaline- fuelled feeling you complete a room within the hour is a ‘rush’. Enjoy it. This is as much a victory for yourself as well as the team!

By Josh Buckland

Escape Rooms Team Building

Which Team Member Are You?

ByBy Escape Rooms /

It could be said (pulling at straws here) that Escape Rooms are a microcosm of wider society. Overcoming obstacles, solving problems, it’s all part of the game of life. In life we encounter a myriad, a rainbow if you like, of varying characters. Some we love, some we love to hate. Naturally (desperately clutching at this crumbling metaphor), Escape Rooms often contain a melting pot of different personalities, each with their own qualities, hindrances and downright oddities. Here are some of our favourites, caricatured up to the nines for your entertainment. We invite you to ask yourselves, which one are you?

The Cassandra

If you are not familiar with the tale of Cassandra here’s a very over-simplified break down. Daughter of the King and Queen of Troy, the famed mythological Greek figure was condemned to a life whereby no one would believe her prophecies. Cassandra is a much more tragic and troubled figure than that sentence attests but the essence of her plight is something that can be observed in at least one member of many Escape teams. Often, they’ll have exactly the right idea but get shouted over, shouted down or simply dismissed and ignored as they are seen as the weak link. It is the Cassandra for whom the games masters are rooting. We all love an underdog. Especially an underdog who is right. Listen to Cassandra.

The Apathetic

The Apathetic is here because work made them come. They aren’t too thrilled by the thought of being locked in a room and forced to work with others under the pressure of a ticking clock. Sometimes the Apathetic is surprised by how into it they become. Sometimes the Apathetic is just there for the pub afterwards. They’ll find a seat and observe from afar and occasionally open a padlock with a code that someone else had figured out. If the pub portion of the day was before the game, in a state of mild inebriation, they’ll probably just nod off.

The Box Hugger

The Box Hugger is a character than pops up in our non-linear games. They enter the room, lock eyes and are fixated on their conquest. To open THAT box. In their eyes this box holds the key to success and all other boxes, props, clues are simply futile. They cradle the box for the full hour as if a mother hen guarding their egg and it takes all the strength of the other team mates to pry their talons away. If another team member so much as gazes upon the box they hiss or squawk as a warning to stay away. This is all worth it though when the time finally comes for the box to be opened. The Box Hugger, red faced and dishevelled holds the open box to their bosom; it’s all been worth it.

The Queen Bee

In many escape games there is one over-arching puzzle that requires the team to collect various pieces over the course of the hour. These pieces are then constructed or placed accordingly to trigger the opening of the final door. It may be a jigsaw, items being placed on a map, something that needs to be built. Often this is very simple but acquiring the pieces themselves requires meticulous puzzle solving prowess. The Queen Bee is responsible for putting these pieces in place but the nitty gritty and hard graft is reserved for the worker bees. Every time a piece is collected the worker bees flitter over to The Queen Bee. “A vital component, your Highness”. “Excellent” exclaims Queen Bee who places the piece in it’s rightful position. Once all parts have been placed, the door springs open and as such the Queen grins regally, reaping the credit for his/herself.

The Clever Clogs

The MVP. They may have substantial prior experience in escape rooms. Often they’ll be wearing a novelty T-Shirt adorned with some witty visual joke to do with Breaking Bad. They spend their lunch break doing the Guardian Crossword but now is the time for the extensive brain training to pay off in front of an audience. They make quick links effortlessly leaving their team mates in a state of both awe and shame. In spite of this Clever Clogs remains admirably humble at face value, but internally they are fist pumping, safe in the knowledge that they were the driving force behind the operation. On occasion a whole team will be comprised of Clever Clogs and, like a lunar eclipse, this is truly a rare spectacle to behold.

The Tyrant

Often found in corporate groups and family outings. The tyrant has self-appointed themselves the team leader. The role of the team leader is to delegate and ensure everyone’s ideas are heard. Whilst some do this exceptionally, many spill over into tyrannical territory. They are often extremely competitive and stomp around the room micro-managing. They can often be found not listening to Cassandra. As history attests, those who rebel against the regime of the tyrant, are the true heroes of the day.

The Drag Race Superfan

My personal favourite. These bright young things come in packs of 4 and are out to have a good time. They exclaim ‘Yaaaaas. Shante you stay’ when anything is solved correctly. They shout ‘Miss Vanjie’ instead of ‘cheese’’ when they have their team photo taken. To those familiar with Drag Race these teams are EVERYTHING. To those who are not, these teams are a potent combination of infectious and stratospherically baffling.

The Shrieker

The arch-nemesis to any hangover. Often found in teenage birthday parties. The Shrieker, as their name suggests, has one unwavering reaction to almost everything. Be it a light switch being turned on, a box opening, the unveiling of a secret compartment their screams can be heard far and wide beyond the confines of the room. Neighbours consider calling the police. Finally, they emerge from the room wailing with joy at their success. A paper bag is on hand and in the worst-case scenario, a vial of tranquiliser. They leave saying that it was the best thing ever.

Have you identified your Escape Rooms persona? Are you happy? Are you in a period of deep self- reflection? If you’re the Apathetic you probably don’t care. If you’re the Tyrant you probably care too much. Perhaps none of them sound like you. Don’t worry, you do exist, there are many we’ve not covered. If you’re not sure there’s only one way to find out…

By Josh Buckland

Escape Rooms

Escape Rooms: Corporate/Team Building

ByBy Escape Rooms /

Of time, Auden wrote, albeit in a very different context, that it is ‘intolerant of the brave and the innocent.’ (‘And indifferent in a week / to a beautiful physique’… Which we can well attest, but is irrelevant here.)

He was right, of course. The clock carries you forward, inexprorably, toward the end of everything; the hour, the day, the week, month, year; life, the universe — everything. As if that weren’t enough, humanity has a habit of imposing artificial ends upon itself. Tasks have deadlines, which are hard enough to meet even when unique to you. Throw a few more people into the admixture and suddenly things become much more complicated. You might, to borrow from Henley, remain ‘the captain of your soul,’ but you’re no longer the master of your fate.

This can be a good or a bad thing, depending on how you work and who you’re working with. Trust is paramount. If you don’t trust your colleagues, if you don’t know them or how to work with them, odds are the whole process will seem that much more stressful and unpleasant. Thus has ‘team-building’ become an industry of its own; deadlines do not wait for some random and accidental mixture of elements between which chemistry might or might not begin to function. Reaction must be provoked.

This might appear tangential but I assure you it is not: The ‘Scandinavian model’ of education (if indeed there truly is a single model) is almost unique in being both feted and underrated. All independent analyses suggest it is spectacularly successful, yet it is studiously ignored by those responsible for education outside the Nordic realms.

It embraces a concept called friluftsliv, which has it that the natural world – to say nothing of yourself, and your place in the same – is best understood by experience of it. It has an ancient almost-analogue in Aristotle’s phonesis, or practical wisdom. The lessons of biology are best remembered by practical experience of its teachings; physics and chemistry make more sense when you experiment with them. As I can attest from schoolboy experience, understanding how Cromwell earned his (temporary) victory in the civil war is easiest when you’re given a pike and told to march in formation against a rabble of classmates composed in the main of those you like least. (I had an unorthodox history teacher.)

We do a form of friluftsliv here at Escape Rooms. Kind of. If defined liberally. Except that, rather than encourage you to experience the great outdoors, we lock you in dark rooms full of fiendish puzzles and tell you to escape. Anti-friluftsliv, perhaps.

Time, tasks, deadlines, teammates — a human chemistry set, if you will.

Escape games have become something of a worldwide phenomenon. The simple concept allows for near-infinite permutations. Our four games include raiding an ancient Egyptian tomb, breaking into the British museum, shooting space Nazis on the moon and deprogramming our equivalent of the HAL9000 computer.

But the basics remain the same. And it is because those basics are so potent that they – that we – are so useful for team-building exercises, if that term is understood properly.

We can of course produce the ingredients from scratch. But seldom is it an exercise designed to create a team. Rather, it often serves as a means of testing and improving existing chemistry. Chances are you’ll not look to send a team of totals strangers to us, but instead a group of people who are already professionally acquainted to one degree or another. You’ll want to find out what camaraderie already exists, as well as building upon it.

I find Project D.I.V.A to be particularly useful here. There is a section of the game during which two people are separated from the rest of the group and confined to two locked compartments, where they remain until the rest of the team has solved a rather devilish puzzle with their help.

There is a wealth of research which proves that people act very differently in isolation, and differently again when the nominal group leader is absent. I’d be lying if I said it always brings out the best in people — but that’s not what you’re looking for, is it?

These are occasions to learn about people as well as to fashion them. I once had a team which included one particularly quiet individual, who played absolutely no part in the game until the two group leaders were locked away. The rest of the team foundered until this impeccably quiet man tired of their dithering and took charge, accomplishing his new role somewhat tersley but in a manner otherwise deserving of sicnere admiration.

They would not have escaped without him. And we, who watch every moment of the games we host from the security of our office, were able to observe a palpable and lasting change in the team dynamic. This was a chance for this new-comer to the group to prove himself, and he did so creditably, thus truly introducing himself to his colleagues.

This is an example of success, but it would be dishonesty by ommission if I did not say that we are as good at revealing incompatibility as we are compatibility. (At our London Bridge venue we’ve hosted a couple of proposals, and we’ve also precipitated a couple of relationships reaching their acrimonious end.)

In this pressured setting, suffering the intolerance of time, people reveal their true natures. The bossy can become the tyannical, the meek can become wrecks, the cynical can destroy the morale of everyone else.

If these are the revelations you seek, come on over. We can prove strength in adversity but ultimately what we do is reveal truth by adversity. You’ll learn far more about your employees and your colleagues in our world(s) than you can anywhere else.

By Benjamin Mercer

Escape Rooms

Christmas Parties at Escape Rooms

ByBy Escape Rooms /

As the heatwave dwindles to a muggy end, feeble, dazed, heat-stricken Brits are desperately clutching at something new to complain about. But never fear, it’s August which means that the shops will start decking the halls soon in prep for the festive season. ’It gets earlier every bloody year‘, ’it’s the twelve days of Christmas, not the twelve months of bloody Christmas‘, the nation cries. Sometimes you just have to bask in the consumerist tinsel-laden lagoon and stick on Mariah Carey. Although I must admit when we started creating our Christmas brochure two weeks ago, fans at full setting, it was all just a bit weird. Nevertheless, whether we like it or not, it’s time to get in there quick and plan your work xmas do.

Christmas parties are a cultural phenomenon. Tracey is on the table squawking Celine Dion, Liam and Gemma from HR are getting off in the stationery cupboard and Keith is doing crude and unspeakable things with the photocopier. It’s almost admirable in its debauchery, but maybe it’s time for a change; something a bit more cerebral perhaps. Or at least something mildly intellectual to justify the bacchanal planned for later that evening. Look no further than a little jaunt to Escape Rooms to satisfy this brief.

Escape Rooms and Christmas have a lot in common. Creative problem solving for example. No room at the inn? Find a stable. Forgot to make the stuffing? Use the box of Paxo at the back of the larder, no one will know the difference. It’s high stakes pressure, like Debenhams on Christmas eve. It’s a time for successes like that year you decided to just stay at home and it’s a time for failures, like that year you defied Delia and decided to do something a bit different with the parsnips. Also whether the most cynical of us care to admit it or not, it’s a whole lot of fun.

Remember how the holidays felt as a child? It’s not all taxes and backache from here on out; you grown ups aren’t exempt from that magical feeling. As much as Escape Rooms are centred around puzzle solving, they also require playing pretend. In one of our games you might even get to dress up a little bit, should you be so inclined. Whether you’re raiders of a cursed tomb, thieves of the night, warriors on the moon or saving the world from destruction the fantasy is yours for the taking.

December is our busiest period. We have proven increasingly popular as a destination for Christmas parties over the years, whether office outings or family gatherings. Escape Rooms are what you make of them. A true gruelling test of logic, dexterity and nerve or just a bit of (a lot of) a laugh. Either way you and your team will emerge having had a whale of a time. Particularly if you beat the clock. No one can truly attest to the level of satisfaction one gets from this until they have experienced it first hand. It will feel like the biggest victory since Rage Against the Machine beat the X Factor to Christmas number one. There’s no greater gift than getting your photo placed on the wall of fame.

So jingle those bells and rally the troops. Visit the games section of our website to find out more about the adventures on which you and your colleagues could be embarking this festive season. And if you need any further assistance our elves are busy in the workshop waiting to answer your queries. We ho-ho-hope yule* consider Escape Rooms.

*After that I completely understand if you won’t.

By Josh Buckland

Escape Rooms

Escape Rooms: Hen/Stag Do

ByBy Escape Rooms /

So, you’re getting married? Congratulations! You’ve made it this far. You’ve survived the dates, met the in-laws, popped the question, and soon you’ll be making sacred vows at the altar of a church or registry office. But something stands in your way. The stag or hen do.

You might think your options are limited in these great, liver-busting traditions. Option one: get slaughtered. Option two: stay in with a cup of tea and play scrabble. But let’s face it, neither option does justice to the 21 st century in which you happen to be living.

Option one is certainly the oldest and most venerable; even Jesus, though himself an eternal bachelor, saw fit to turn water into wine at the wedding feast, and he got so drunk he was crucified. No, that won’t do. Neither will option one, since a quiet night in is just as alienating to some of your friends as vodka-induced amnesia.

Option three? Escape Rooms: get locked with your fellow stags and hens inside a themed room full of puzzles. It’s the best of both worlds, in that you can turn up appropriately whiffled, laugh at each other, and emerge genuinely pleased with yourselves if you do actually manage to escape. There are plenty of escape game companies in London, but we, of course, are the best. Our Games Masters-the people charged with introducing you and helping you through the game-have met hundreds of stag and hen dos since 2014, when our snazzy London Bridge venue first came to Tooley Street.

I myself have seen stags wearing anything from tuxedos to rags to, well, almost nothing (which is sometimes delightful and sometimes regrettable); and hen do’s invariably turn up with giant inflatable willies, usually named Percy. All our games-four across two venues-contain a mixture of puzzles, some logical, some spatial, some physical, and some involving timing and communication. No stag or hen need feel left out, for there is something for everyone, and I’ve yet to encounter a group that didn’t have a wonderful time.

As you can imagine, stags and hens produce a unique set of challenges for the unassuming Games Master. As such, please don’t turn up with alcohol, as tempting as that may be, and please don’t turn up too drunk. Some of our games involve laser beams, one of them involves laser guns and a slide, and all of them require brain power.

It’s not in your interest to turn up so drunk that you imagine shooting Dave in the face with a laser gun to be a good idea. Nor do we appreciate having to shout over up to 14 people during the crucial and exciting introductions and stories we provide. Please don’t use any physical force on any of the puzzles and, above all, please do turn up on time.

That being said, stag and hen do’s have been some of our best, funniest customers. I’ve seen grown men weep over difficult puzzles. I’ve heard a bridesmaid’s fart through a solid wall. I’ve seen hens sacrifice their own mothers for the greater good. I’ve seen grown men and women confuse left and right, column and row, and ‘ simultaneously’ for ‘ instantaneously’ . I’d like to put this down to tipsiness, but I end up blaming the state education system. And Essex.

Marriage is a puzzle in itself-why not get some practice in? We have four games. The two at London Bridge are a little more ‘ old school’ , and involve more padlocks. In Pharaoh’s Chamber, you must find the sacred treasure before your souls are cursed; in Room 33, steal an ancient vase from the British Museum before the time portal closes. The games at Angel are set in the distant future. In Project DIVA you must disable an artificial intelligence robot gone rogue; and in The Dark Side of the Moon, old foes from the Second World War now haunt the moon, and must be destroyed.

Come, stags and hens. We need you!

By Oscar Yuill

Escape Rooms

A Dictionary of Escape Room Terms

ByBy Escape Rooms /

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all people are created unequal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable stupidities, such as annoying questions, illiteracy, and the pursuit of ignorance. – That to secure these rights, ‘Teams’ are instituted among man and woman, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, – That whenever any Team becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the Games Master to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new Rule, laying its foundation on the principle of explaining certain basic terms which the people really ought to know by now.

attention (see also Listen)

The act of listening to what the Games Master is telling you; commonly confused with inattention-a rudeness punishable by a death-stare.

booking

You will need one of these to play. You cannot and will not play without one of these. Commonly referred to as reservation (which is precisely the emotion Games Masters express towards the common rabble).

children

infant humans; tiny drunk people; noise terrorists; grot-bags; cute simpletons; stupefied dwarves

 

column

A vertical line: the opposite of a row.

early

Preferable to lateness. Teams should remember Gandalf’s wisdom: ‘A wizard is never too late, nor too early; a wizard arrives precisely when he means to’ (15 minutes before your designated start time).

force

physical; breaking; do not. Not to be confused with any of the fundamental forces of physics such as gravity, which Games Masters cannot, alas, suspend.

games master

staff member; evil overlord; custodian; patronizing voice at end of walkie-talkie; John Kramer, AKA Jigsaw; police-state bureaucrat. Games Masters are most fond of polite teams as opposed to smart teams. They know all the answers to all the puzzles. You should take their advice seriously.

late

unfashionably overdue. Excuses commonly offered include lateness of trains; useless Uber drivers; inclement weather; absent-mindedness; sheer incompetence; and death. Games Masters appreciate the courtesy of a phone call warning that you will be late.

laser-beams

high density photons. Please do not stare into them, for reasons of blindness. Latex optional.

listen (see also attention)

understanding; comprehension. Impossible to achieve while talking.

row

A horizontal line: the opposite of a column.

simultaneous

At the same time. Precisely the opposite of one after the other, which is what many people unaccountably think it means.

By Oscar Yuill

Escape Rooms

The Seven Stages of an Escape Room

ByBy Escape Rooms /

There are 7 stages that all participants go through in an escape room. Whether or not you escape is based solely on your ability to make it past the first 4 stages. But what are these stages?

Stage 1: The Fear.

Everyone is afraid when first entering a new escape room, regardless of whether you’ve played before. The fear of making yourself look like an idiot in front of your work colleagues, friends and family or complete strangers is incredibly obvious the moment you step through the door. Even with a bit of liquid courage, your loud bravado isn’t fooling anyone.

Stage 2: The Confusion.

When groups first enter the room, a game master must watch as teams wander around in hopes that answers will jump out at them. Usually, they’ll be led astray by the fake confidence of Uncle Darren or Manager Nick who know this is absolutely what everyone in the team should be working on. It’s almost certainly a complete waste of time. This period of confusion, where people warm up their brains and finally start opening padlocks, is either the best or the worst part of a game master’s job, depending, of course, on who has the walkie talkie.

Stage 3: The Stubbornness.

Usually at this point, a game master might chime in and offer a bit of assistance. This is also usually the moment that a small debate breaks out within the team as to whether to ask for help. The answer is a no, obviously, because ‘We have plenty of time!’

Stage 4: The Depression.

This is the stage where teams start to doubt themselves. Some symptoms of this stage: sulking, randomly kicking the floor, and pessimism. There are two ways in which this stage can go. The first is that the team give up; Uncle Darren sits in the corner. The second is that with nothing left to give, they finally remember that asking for help doesn’t mean you’re a bad player. It’s a main part of teamwork and we’re part of your team. A hint, a nudge, or the ever useful ‘Yes or No’ questions come into play here. These are part of standard game play. Usually teams just need a small nudge in the right direction and they’re off again.

Stage 5: The Excitement.

With a small nudge, whilst this debate is going on and the depression ensues, one of the unassuming members of the team has been quietly working. The excitement comes when the other team members notice that a padlock or panel has opened. This is the best part. Finally, teams feel as though they’re getting somewhere. This stage can happen at any point between 15 minutes or 40 minutes into the game.

Stage 6: The Breakthrough.

And we’re finally on a roll. Is that another padlock open? I do believe it is. Your game master is most definitely cheering you on at this point, you just can’t hear them.

Stage 7: The Panic.

The panic usually happens within the last five minutes of the game; usually someone gets hurt. The most common symptom of the panic stage is the overuse of the walkie talkie. You’d like a hint on something you already know how to do? We’re only going to be able to tell you what you already know. Calm down. Breath, you’ve got this.

At this point, either you escape, or you don’t. Though, as I’ve mentioned previously, if you can’t make it past the first 4 stages; The Fear, The Confusion, The Stubbornness and The Depression, you won’t escape. Don’t be Uncle Darren. Push through and you’ll escape with plenty of time remaining. We believe in you. It’s time for you to believe in yourself… or ask for help.

Want to see if you can pinpoint the stages yourself? Try one of our games and let us know whether your team shares this experience!

By Charlotte Potter

Escape Rooms

Delightful Customers

ByBy Escape Rooms /
To business that we love we rise betime and go to it with delight —Shakespeare Working in the escape game industry can be repetitive. Games Masters watch the same puzzles get solved over and over and over. This can fool us into believing that people are just as predictable. But every now and then, a customer with some unexpected talent, saying, or eccentricity restores one’s faith in people’s ability to shock, delight, and move.

The boy who loved Egypt

A family had just emerged from our Pharaoh’s Chamber when the son, whose 14 th birthday it was, said, ‘I appreciated the realism of your canopic jars.’ I must have looked confused, for he went on, ‘you know, canopic jars, where they put the organs—livers and kidneys and stuff.’ I had not known, but clearly I should have. There I was, in my third year running the Chamber (as we call it), and never once had I inquired into the nature of those little golden jars. The boy showed me pictures from his family holiday in Egypt. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘our hotel balcony looked over the Giza Pyramids.’ And there he was, sure enough, grinning on the balcony with one arm round his sister and the other pointing behind him, where the great wonder of the world rose up in the haze. He showed me pictures from inside Tutankhamen’s tomb. ‘How did he die, again?’ I asked. ‘Modern scholarship diverges on this point,’ he said thoughtfully, ‘so I myself suspend judgment, but it is most fascinating, isn’t it?’ If only all 14-year-olds were so bright (and polite).

Gun-nut Grandpa

Not long ago, a family showed up to play ‘The Dark Side of the Moon’, one of our more physically demanding games. It was for the grandfather’s birthday. He must have been about 90, by the looks of him, and seemed frail during the introduction. Once inside the game, however, he moved like lion in pursuit of an antelope. It soon became clear that he was drawing from past experience when he said, ‘Let’s biff a few Germans, shall we?’ For that is the theme of ‘The Dark Side…’ Players must travel to the Moon and systematically destroy those national socialists who didn’t opt for Brazil or the Vatican. It was really a thing of beauty: grandpa, laser guns akimbo, ‘biffing’-to use the Waughian term-as many gerries as possible, escaping an hour later with an irrepressible grin on his wrinkled face.

Crazy Carpet Lady

She was disturbingly eccentric from the moment she walked in. She seemed to sort of…sniff the air, like a dog. Her hair was dreadlocked and matted, and covered in yellow beads. Like Professor Trelawny from Harry Potter, she squinted out through think, circular glasses. Before its grand revamping, Room 33 had, at that time, a carpet: purple, slightly worn, but a carpet nonetheless. Once this lady was deposited safely inside, she proceeded to crawl around on all- fours examining every square inch of the carpet. Her friends were obviously used to this kind of behavior, because they just ignored and stepped over her, and she fumbled, squinted, and sniffed around the floor. Once their game was up (they did not escape), she approach me and said: ‘I’ve been examining your carpet.’ ‘Oh?’ I replied. ‘Yes…it’s a bloody awful carpet. It’s not even one carpet, just lots of squares of carpet pushed together.’ ‘I hadn’t noticed.’ She withdrew from her pocket a business card and leaned in close. She whispered: ‘Look…I sell carpets. Good carpets. All sorts of carpets. And your carpet is really bloody awful. Hit me up. Call me. I’m usually awake. I await your inquiry.’ I never did call her, and we have floorboards in Room 33 now, but I do sometimes wonder what amazing rug she might have provided.
By Oscar Yuill
Escape Rooms Team Building

Team Building and Escape Rooms are the Perfect Mix

ByBy Escape Rooms /

Sometimes finding the best outing for a staff party is hard, we all know that. You need something that will inspire all your work colleagues into enjoying their time together whilst also trying to improve their teamwork and communication skills. Now, whilst we’re not saying going out and getting drunk together won’t do this, we, at Escape Rooms, believe that playing one or more of our games will be a much better substitute for awkward small talk and a great way of avoiding a nasty hangover for work the next day.

If that hasn’t convinced you already, here are 5 reasons as to why you should choose to play an escape game for your work outing:

1) Team building is hard.

However, when you force people to work together in a high stress situation for a short amount of time, usually a team dynamic forms. Our rooms at Angel are particularly good for team building as they’re linear games. This means that teams must work together to solve one puzzle, riddle, or obstacle at a time. Furthermore, escape rooms mean that you can’t escape the room until they’re done. This means that a team member can’t sneak off and not participate. For more information about team building, see: www.escaperooms.co.uk/corporate. See what I’m doing here? Team work. Go check out my colleague’s blog post.

2) You can get a better picture of your employees’ strengths and weaknesses.

If you’re looking for the next person to promote, Escape Rooms are not only a great way to see how people work under pressure but also to see who naturally leads the team through puzzles. There is a very clear definition between the types of leaders as well. You’ll be able to see who the tyrannical leader – those who do not listen to the suggestions of others, and who is the diplomatic leader – those who are more open to the opinions of their teammates. You may also find ‘The Cassandra’, the team player who has all the answers and gets overruled by The Tyrant. ‘The Queen Bee’ is also a character you’ll find. Every had a suspicion that one of your workers, perhaps one of your leaders, are claiming the credit for other people’s hard work? This is a good way to catch them in the act. For more character evaluation of your employees, see What Team Member are you? at https://www.escaperooms.co.uk/team_types.

3) Team building usually has a bad reputation, but Escape Rooms are fun.

I’m sure that whenever you mention the phrase ‘team building’ to your employees, there’s at least one person that complains. Usually, teams complain up until the point that they enter one of our venues. Sometimes they even complain up to the point where they enter the room. After this point, they forget that they’re meant to be here for work – instead they start to have fun. They focus on the task at hand and nine times out of ten, we have teams leaving the room wanting to play another game. Unknowingly, team building becomes fun when you throw in some laser guns and a few puzzles to crack. Now previously, I’ve spoken about the Seven Stages of an Escape Room, which, as the name suggests, looks at the stages that teams go through whilst within one of our games. If you want more of an idea of what your employees will be up against, emotionally, mentally and perhaps physically, I’d suggest you take a look at the full post: http://www.escaperooms.co.uk/seven_stages

4) A bit of friendly competition never fails to get the blood pumping.

A great aspect of Escape Rooms is the fact that each of our venues has two rooms – meaning that you can bid teams against each other. Not only does this increase motivation but is generally causes a few jokes to be thrown around in the name of competition, leaving teams laughing and bonding together. If you believe that two of your employees don’t usually get along, putting them within the same team may inspire some team spirit within them when put in competition with their co-workers. We also have the Walls of Fame, which are infinitely difficult to get onto. Click here to find out more: http://www.escaperooms.co.uk/walls_of_fame_and_infamy

5) Failure leads to bonding.

If none of your employees escape, then they fail together. They can learn from the mistakes they made during the process of the room, meaning that their knowledge of teamwork skills improves. If one team member was bad at communicating, they know for the future that they need to be more vocal about getting help or ideas that they have. If a team member struggles with listen to other ideas, they may be more open to taking input from other people on upcoming projects. Truly, it’s a win-win situation. Now if you want to avoid failure or looking like you’re the one who causes it, I’d suggest looking over this blog post: http://www.escaperooms.co.uk/dictionary

So regardless of whether your employees escape the rooms or not, there is something to learn about teamwork within Escape Rooms. We hope to hear from you soon with news of your team bonding plans to join us at one or both of our venues.

By Charlotte Potter

Escape Rooms

Going Green

ByBy Escape Rooms /
With a venue at Angel and another at London Bridge, we at Escape Rooms enjoy all the conveniences and privileges of central London life. Our game masters need only to pop to the corner to get lunch; the nearest tube station is only 10 minutes’ walk, and everything – that means everything – is available 7 days a week at the shops within reach. I’d be lying if I said we never took these conveniences for granted. But, recently, it became very clear that the fruits of the 21st century come with a hefty price attached. The eye-openingly-named Extinction Rebellion protestors closed down some of the arterial streets and bridges of London to bring attention to the direct existential threat humankind is currently facing and call for urgent action. How do we -as a small company in the heart of London- fit in this picture at all? We’ve been trying to change our ways at Escape Rooms for a while now, becoming greener in our decisions. But I must admit it’s been baby steps. In the last year, we’ve stopped offering plastic cups to customers and moved onto paper cups. Whilst we know that this isn’t ideal, of course, we’re aware that paper is better than plastic. As for us? We have been using our own branded fancy ceramic mugs (want one? click here!). We’ve made steps to become greener through creating less waste as well. We reuse Blu Tack, for instance, when sticking customer ‘team cards’ onto the Wall of Fame at London Bridge. In fact, we’re a bit stir crazy with reusing Blu Tack. There’s an unspoken competition in play at our London Bridge venue, with game masters competing for who can make the best Blu Tack figures. They’re everywhere within our office space. We now use biodegradable sweet wrappers for our complimentary sweets – thanks to our supplier for offering this option! We replaced our wooden tea-stirrers with a permanent set of company cutlery because we believe that the future is reusable not recyclable. We stopped using long lasting milk sachets and, instead, we’re making regular trips to our local grocery shops to pick up some bottled fresh milk (sadly they still come in plastic) along with some basics rather than ordering them online. Furthermore, we don’t print tickets for our games and all our correspondence is via email, even our invoices come in an electronic form. Always. Our next steps will be to ensure a thorough recycling system is in play at both of our venues. This takes a little more preparation but we’re working on it. Additionally, we’re looking into ways that we can replace the paper that we give to customers to use within their games. We’re hoping to invest into smart boards or perhaps even white boards. Love escaping? How can you be Earth-friendly when you’re coming to play an escape game? First: don’t print your confirmation email. There’s no need! Just your name on arrival is enough for us to confirm your booking. Second: Walk to our venue or use public transport. Parking is difficult around our venue anyway and the city has just welcomed 24 hour ‘Ultra Low Emissions Zone’ areas which we fall into. Therefore, try not to use your car when coming to our venues. Find more environmentally friendly transport. Third: Bring your own reusable water bottle and you can fill it up at any of our venues with filtered tap water!  Don’t litter! Fourth: Please be gentle to our props and equipment. This means that things last for longer within both of our venues and we don’t need to replace props as often. This doesn’t mean we want you to stop having fun. It’s just us asking you to be more self-aware of the affect you’re having on our planet. We all could do a bit more, but slowly, we’re making changes to help. Is this enough? Probably not. But it’s a good start.
By Escape Rooms Team Picture by Vladimir Morozov via Extinction Rebellion  
Escape Rooms

4 Years at Escape Rooms

ByBy Escape Rooms /

I have worked in a café, garden centre, car factory, flour mill, pub, and escape game. Quite a variety, and each with their instructions in human nature. It was the last, however— ‘Escape Rooms’—that has, after four years, left the deepest imprint.

Just so we’re on the same page, an escape game involves being locked in a themed room full of puzzles, in which teams must work together to escape within an hour. Think Crystal Maze without the crystals, or Takeshi’s Castle without the brutality. The concept arose from phone apps before turning tangible. Our own company was, I think, the third such game in London. There are now dozens, attesting to their explosion in popularity. We are a small company of two venues, preferring quality to quantity, but there are now escape game companies from Dubai to Norway, Romania to New Zealand.

My interview involved playing one of the games. I was terrible, so they must have seen something else in me. I was soon officially a ‘Game Master’: introducing teams, telling back-stories about the game, and watching them on-screen, with a walkie-talkie to provide the occasional ‘hint’ (no more than three to make it on the coveted wall of fame). Two years later, we opened another venue, in Angel, with another two games. Trained on all four, I continued in this role before briefly becoming one of the managers.

I mentioned ‘instruction in human nature’. This was unavoidable—and equal parts funny and depressing. Observing families, colleagues, and friends stuck in a room together reveals among other things, for instance, dire levels of literacy. Bankers who strut it wearing Rolex watches frequently ask me to define ‘simultaneous’ without any evident embarrassment. Teachers—teachers!—have asked me to explain the difference between rows and columns. Given the hint to search for digits, teams often reply, ‘We haven’t found any letters.’ And the query, ‘Can I ask you a yes or no question?’ is self-evidently annoying. But teams may also edify. We have a Rubik’s Cube in the lobby, and it’s always children who manage to solve it. One team playing the Pharaoh’s Chamber claimed to be distant relations of Howard Carter, the man who discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun.

I’ll miss this place. I’ll miss the unexpected variety and delightfulness of customers, from Waughian reactionary to Sheikh to builder to professional Rubik’s cube solvers (seriously). I’ll miss Martin Freeman and Woody Harrelson, both of whom popped in (not together) without notice or fanfare. I’ll miss the email we received, from out of the blue, from the actor who played Mike Teevee in the original Willy Wonka movie. I’ll miss my colleagues, who hailed from as far as Pakistan, the Philippines, Bermuda, and the north. I’ll miss the bald chap who walked into a door. I’ll miss the visitor who mistook us for a sauna. I’ll miss my old manager’s French bulldog, Malcolm, who baptised customers with his tireless tongue. I’ll miss our mascot Colin, literally a skeleton in the closet. And I’ll miss feeling at home here, belonging, being known.

This job has sustained me through my first years in London, providing structure, friendships, and of course rent money. But I shall never see it in purely instrumental terms. As I move on to the next job, I will not forget my time here. Je ne regrette rien.

By Oscar Yuill