The Locktopus

Just wonderful. A puzzler’s paradise but be warned this room is quite the challenge. Maybe don’t try this if you’re quite new to escaping. We went through phases of busily solving and phases of just standing still and staring at things. Everything looks amazing and everything is covered in puzzles that call to you. The main computer and the pads for inputting answers are enticingly good and keep calling you back. Finally, our warm welcome from Ash was wonderful. He guided us through with patience, humour and enthusiasm even though it was late at night and we were tired and not at our best. Make peace with the fact that you will not get close to completing every puzzle - you won’t even see many of them - and just have a hectic hour of puzzling joy.

An innovative, technological and puzzle-focused game that challenges players not just to escape the room, but to score as many points as they can. You are pitted against an AI system that you interact with via a large touch-screen table in the centre of the room. Once you press ‘initiate’, you gain access to the eight ‘tentacles’ - or puzzle streams - that you need to complete to earn points. There are over 75 puzzles to complete, but there is no expectation to complete them all. Some puzzles are required to progress through the game and unlock the door, which can happen well before the 60 minutes is up. The beauty is that once the door is open, you can choose to play on and complete optional challenges. This means you always get a full hour of gameplay. There is a steep learning curve at the start, but once everything falls into place, it really is a lot of fun. Resource management is key, ensuring you communicate and work effectively as a team. Some puzzles require you to work together, while others can be solved individually. There are no physical padlocks to open; the only way to progress is by using the touch screens available. A satisfying green flash and ‘ding’ sounds when you solve a puzzle; in some cases, this may change something within the room. The sci-fi theming is brilliant - think ‘Alien’ - and we marvelled at the use of everyday items to create such an impressive space. Charlie and James, the owners, make a point of building their rooms from as much recycled material as possible, which is really impressive. This room won’t be for everyone, but if you appreciate a puzzle-heavy, fast-paced room that is light on story, you’ll love it! We left feeling completely exhilarated. We were also delighted to hear that we’d taken the all-time #1 spot for a team of three, which was completely unexpected. One of the cool aspects of this game is viewing your stats at the end. There are different achievements you can unlock throughout the game, and it also tells you how many puzzles you solved. Hats off to the team at Knockout for an exceptional room!

This was an incredibly fun room, one of the best I've done in a while, about 5x as many puzzles as a normal room, with most optional. We got near the high score and still missed at least 20! High adrenaline, incredibly parallel. Though beware that you may leave annoyed at all the ones you missed!

Excellent change of pace to the normal escape room script. Prepared to be engaged from minute 1 and you will not stop until the hour is up. Our team managed 34 additional puzzles as well as the main throughly story.

A different take on the escape room format with more puzzles than you can complete in the time - all in high tech format with plenty of hidden bonuses. A puzzle enthusiasts dream with a guaranteed action packed full hour but could frustrate completionists and overwhelm newbies!

Absolutely loved. If you are big into puzzling, this experience is a dream. It is score based and very slightly story driven. It does have a main objective but it seems like our team also got sidetracked enough to solve 25 of the SEVENTY FOUR optional puzzles (or maybe 74 includes optional and main objective but we were nowhere close to solving everything and we were fine with that). I do wish we could have another go at it! James was a wonderful host and GM, who also walked us through some puzzles afterwards.