TheEscapePuzzler

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Reviews

The Murder of Max Sinclair [prev. Case Closed]

The Murder of Max Sinclair [prev. Case Closed]

Case Closed Edinburgh

  • Escape room
  • IRL
Ronan (our GM) jumped straight into character for our briefing, which took place in the cafe, before taking us through to the room. His improvisation skills were second-to-none, as he questioned if Detective Clueless was related to a certain DJ Clueless - one of our characters from our playthrough of their other room, Radio Nowhere. As we stepped into the room, we literally felt as though we'd entered a film noir. The ambience was incredible, heavily utilising dynamic lighting and music throughout to enhance storytelling. As with Radio Nowhere, this room is broken into "acts", with each requiring that you correctly answer a series of questions about the investigation. The answers are written on a questionnaire sheet, which you post through a letterbox in the room. If the answers are all correct, the lighting will change and you'll hear a voiceover aka your "internal monologue", which unlocks the next stage of the case. Once you've successfully completed all of the acts, you'll discover the identity of the murderer and face a final challenge. Our first task was to identify aspects of the crime scene that didn't add up, which was a great test of our observation skills. Compared to Radio Nowhere, The Murder of Max Sinclair leans more into puzzle-solving, as well as deduction. As such, you can expect to find more traditional puzzles and locks, alongside the murder mystery elements. It felt like a full forensic investigation, in which we tested blood, searched for hidden messages, compared handwriting and listened intently to cassette tape recordings. All in an attempt to find key pieces of evidence that would lead us towards the killer. The experience manages to pack in a significant number of tasks across the 90 minutes, with plenty to share out across a larger team. Before our visit, we were delighted to learn that The Murder of Max Sinclair had been announced as one of only 7 UK-based TERPECA 2025 finalists. Having now played the room, we can totally see why. It is a real treat for fans of the noir/detective genre and a great fusion of escape room, murder mystery and immersive theatre. It was an absolute joy to play and I cannot wait to see what Ronan dreams up next. A full review of the games on offer at this venue can be found here: https://escapepuzzler.com/case-closed-edinburgh-uk-feature/
The Morrison Game Factory

The Morrison Game Factory

PostCurious

  • Escape room
  • Tabletop
The Morrison Game Factory is a triumph. Brimming with nostalgia and bags of heart, the charming story is unexpectedly moving and ‘the feels’ linger long after the final credits. The puzzles are fun, varied and perfectly woven into the narrative. Achieving such high production value at an excellent retail price is a real credit to the team; there is no question that it is fantastic value for money. I’m excited to see what Lauren Bello dreams up next and can only hope that this isn’t her last PostCurious collaboration. I cannot recommend this game highly enough and I am labelling it a Must Play. Read my full review here: https://escapepuzzler.com/the-morrison-game-factory-review/
Zemsta Umarlaka [Deadman's Revenge]

Zemsta Umarlaka [Deadman's Revenge]

DreamScape - Escape Room

  • Escape room
  • IRL
Dead Man’s Revenge was my first experience playing a TERPECA-winning escape room, and it did not disappoint! Our attention was seized from the moment we were summoned by the GM, and we remained enthralled throughout the entire experience. I had reservations about the presence of a live actor, having had limited exposure to this in the past. I must say that it definitely added an extra dimension to the gameplay and increased immersion. The sets are wonderful, the audio and special effects were masterful, and the hint system was inspired. A fantastic mix of varied puzzles kept us on our toes, with one particular challenge towards the end requiring lots of clear communication. A special mention for our GM, who also doubled as multiple characters in the room. He was funny, terrifying and fully embraced his roles. He really made the experience for us. Dead Man's Revenge is a MUST play if you are visiting Poznan, and has taken the number one spot on my personal escape room rankings. If this is the level of quality to expect from TERPECA-winning rooms, then I will definitely be seeking more of them out.
Box One By Neil Patrick Harris

Box One By Neil Patrick Harris

Theory11 Online

  • Escape room
  • Tabletop
I wish I could un-know what I know so that I could play this game again for the first time. It was such a thrilling experience – to find out why you will really have to play it yourself! If you can bring yourself to part with the box, then it is perfectly possible to regift this game once you have finished it. In fact, I am sure you will want to so that others can experience it for themselves (and then you can talk about it with them). I can’t stress enough how much you will appreciate keeping this experience spoiler-free, so I’d suggest getting your hands on a copy sooner rather than later! Full review here: https://escapepuzzler.com/box-one-review/
The 13th Floor

The 13th Floor

Escape Rooms Cardiff

  • Escape room
  • IRL
We’d heard a lot of buzz about TERPECA 2024 nominee The 13th Floor, which is the newest addition to ERC. This was our second game of the day, and quite a departure from the more ‘traditional’ Cardiff Castle. It stood out from the other games we’ve played due to its effective use of a smaller space and the novel approach to gameplay. It is a modern 2.0 escape room that utilises electronic locks, along with other immersive elements, which add some extra surprises. This technical wizardry, made possible by the room’s modern technology, boosted immersion and led to some fun reveals along the way. The set design looked so authentic that one of our team who is afraid of heights, was scared to enter the lift at the start! Alex (GM) had to reassure us that it wasn’t an actual lift, but that the technology used would simulate the feeling of movement. As we stepped inside and the doors closed behind us, we had no idea what to expect… The 13th Floor is a fantastic linear room that slowly reveals each puzzle in a fun way as the elevator ‘ascends’. There are lots of tactile puzzles to solve, with plenty of teamwork required. The story was also engaging and had us invested in urgently working through each level. Despite its spooky vibes, I wouldn’t class this as a horror room – it was unsettling at times, but never felt all-out scary. We escaped with about 10 minutes to spare, after losing a decent chunk of time on one puzzle. We kicked ourselves as we had missed a key detail that would have allowed us to solve it much more quickly. This room was a big hit with us and definitely deserves its TERPECA nomination! Kudos to the team at ERC, who have managed to create a very memorable experience in a relatively small space using some great technological enhancements. For the full article covering my trip to Escape Rooms Cardiff, visit: https://escapepuzzler.com/escape-rooms-cardiff-uk-part-1-feature/
Radio Nowhere

Radio Nowhere

Case Closed Edinburgh

  • Escape room
  • IRL
Our experience with Radio Nowhere started before we stepped into the room, when we were given a clipboard of information to review at a table in the cafe. This gave some key details about a murder that had taken place, along with instructions on where to start when we entered the room. A short while later, we were led into the main Radio Nowhere HQ, and given complete control of the airwaves. We beamed at each other as we caught sight of the studio set-up, with its funky lighting, tape deck and microphone. The game is comprised of several acts, each of which requires you to complete key objectives to progress. These are delivered in the form of a questionnaire that is posted through a letterbox into the room. Once you've managed to answer all of the questions, you post these back through the letterbox and await the outcome. If all the answers are correct, the lights will dim, and some audio will be played that progresses the investigation. If incorrect, the questionnaire will be posted back through the door with the wrong answers highlighted. The first task we were given was to identify potential suspects. As the game progressed, we were then tasked with establishing motive, means and opportunity for each of these, with the ultimate aim to uncover the murderer. The most impressive thing about this room is how personalised it is. It's been designed to allow the GM to adapt to the players' strengths and weaknesses. We definitely weren't as comfortable as some might be with the role-playing aspect, which was toned down in the second half of the game. You can live your best life as a radio host, taking listener calls and unlocking new nuggets of information. Or you can focus more on uncovering physical clues throughout the space. I was surprised at the joy of finding new cassette tapes hidden throughout the room that allowed us to unlock new songs to play on the radio station. There were some fun interactive elements, such as an old computer, a mixing desk and a radio that you can tune to different frequencies. There is also an LED listener count display that updates in real time, based on how much engagement you have with the audience. Radio Nowhere is unlike any escape room we've played! Part murder mystery, part immersive experience, it took us out of our comfort zone and surprised us in fun and unique ways. The incredible personalisation really elevated the experience for us, which was in no small part down to our incredible GM Ronan. I honestly cannot recommend it enough. It's superb! A full review of the games on offer at this venue can be found here: https://escapepuzzler.com/case-closed-edinburgh-uk-feature/
Séance

Séance

Riddlr Escape Room

  • Escape room
  • IRL
Great atmospheric theming, occasional jump scares (no live actors) and creepy components make for an effective horror experience. This linear room features a good variety of puzzle types, a self-service hint system and some fun surprises. It was definitely on the easier side, with our main issue being the lack of lighting at times (and one light source to share). A fun experience overall! Our host Maddie was fantastic - really welcoming, knowledgeable and attentive! We will definitely be back to play the other rooms. Worth pointing out that if you play two rooms back-to-back, you pay a special price of £30 pp which is superb value!
The Great Escape

The Great Escape

Exitus Escape Rooms

  • Escape room
  • IRL
TERPECA 2024 nominee The Great Escape was our final room of the day at Exitus, and boy, was it good! Chris, our GM, led us into a small cell with bunk beds and a log burner. Setting the scene, he explained that our objective was to escape the camp and then to liberate the other 200+ prisoners. No pressure! From the moment the lights went out, we felt like we were escaping an actual prisoner-of-war camp. We uncovered secret passages, pulled ropes, and crawled as we explored different areas. We even [REDACTED], which we have never done in a room before; much to the enjoyment of our GM. It was a fun, unexpected moment that felt perfectly in keeping with the setting. I’ve been pulled out of an experience in the past by an incongruous piece of technology. Here, everything felt made complete sense within the setting. This includes the puzzles, of which there were many! Each of us had our moment to shine, whether that was with a maths puzzle, a more physical feat or a good old-fashioned logic puzzle. This is the first 90-minute room we have tackled together as a team, and we were excited to see how that translated in terms of gameplay and difficulty. What we found was that the extra time meant less clock watching (there is no visible timer in the room/s anyway), and we allowed ourselves to be fully immersed in the experience. I can definitely see why this room is TERPECA nominated, and if it is an indication of the increasing quality moving forward, I can’t wait to see what comes next! You get two escape times for this game: the first is when you actually escape the prisoner of war camp, and the second is when you have successfully liberated all of the other prisoners. We escaped the camp 53:02 minutes in, and completed the final challenge at 67:07. Not a bad effort!
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