Escape rooms

Who likes them? Who hates them? Who has vaguely considered ideas for designing them?

I've done five rooms so far, each at a different venue, and I've had fun each time. There's so much possibility for different things to do with this format, but maybe if you keep doing them you'll find some puzzles getting a bit same-y.

BeardyTom wrote:Who likes them? Who hates them? Who has vaguely considered ideas for designing them?

I've done five rooms so far, each at a different venue, and I've had fun each time. There's so much possibility for different things to do with this format, but maybe if you keep doing them you'll find some puzzles getting a bit same-y.

I've only done one, but really enjoyed it. We were hampered though, one of our number wasn't able to crack a puzzle and becuase we were locked in seperate rooms noone could help (it was a submarine thing, we had to fix the periscope to read some information - we fixed it but the person in the compartment with it wasn't able to then read the information it supposedly revealed) so we failed to complete it - and it's not like you can try it again once you're done.

Was really good fun though, and I'd defintely be up for doing it again.

BeardyTom wrote:Who likes them? Who hates them? Who has vaguely considered ideas for designing them?

I've done five rooms so far, each at a different venue, and I've had fun each time. There's so much possibility for different things to do with this format, but maybe if you keep doing them you'll find some puzzles getting a bit same-y.

I've done a few and have, for the most part, loved them. I have seen similar puzzles in different rooms, but so far they've always been different enough to keep it interesting and fun.
The one factor that, in my experience, has made the biggest difference in my experience, is the people I've been locked in with. Much like when playing board games, individuals can have a significant positive or negative impact on my enjoyment. Whilst the vast majority of my co-escapees have been a joy to puzzle with, there have been a couple of exceptions, ranging from the disinterested spouse who doesn't see the point of it all and just gets in the way to the "LOOK AT ME!" Alpha-Escaper who insists on solving every puzzle himself whether he knows how to solve it or not.

In short, for best results, be selective who you escape with!

I've done just the one, but really enjoyed it (it does help when you break the room record though...)! I agree with Paul, the group I was with (which included BeardyTom in fact) worked very well together, but I can definitely see that enjoyment could easily be reduced if you're doing one with the 'wrong' people (as it were).

From what I know, it feels like there's probably enough variety to keep my interest up for quite a while, if I did them regularly (assuming I'm happy to keep paying the not-exactly cheap as chips prices - my only grumble really, they do seem expensive for the amount of time you spend on them).

Definitely up for more though!

PaulC wrote:The one factor that, in my experience, has made the biggest difference in my experience, is the people I've been locked in with. Much like when playing board games, individuals can have a significant positive or negative impact on my enjoyment. Whilst the vast majority of my co-escapees have been a joy to puzzle with, there have been a couple of exceptions, ranging from the disinterested spouse who doesn't see the point of it all and just gets in the way to the "LOOK AT ME!" Alpha-Escaper who insists on solving every puzzle himself whether he knows how to solve it or not.

In short, for best results, be selective who you escape with!

Good point. Who you're with could make a big difference. All the family and friends I've done rooms with so far have been great, though. 

From a design POV, like in co-op tabletop games, there are things the room creator can do to mitigate some potential problems, such as some players dominating the solving. Having a lot of different things to do at once, rather than just one puzzle after another, means that everyone has something to do most of the time. Some rooms separate the players a little bit at the start, (e.g. the Mad Scientist room I did at Great Escape Sheffield had us all handcuffed in our own little cubicle) and I guess the idea there might be that if everyone has to do a bit of puzzle on their own, or contribute a bit of info needed for the first puzzle solution, then that will get them involved straight away.

I have only done one but quite enjoyed it. With the exception of coming away physically scared.
It was very dark in the room and I walked into a metal gurney that had been used by a crazed doctor and punctured a whole in my leg. So leaving the room a bit bloody seemed appropriate but perhaps not everyone.

Ianm wrote:I have only done one but quite enjoyed it. With the exception of coming away physically scared.
It was very dark in the room and I walked into a metal gurney that had been used by a crazed doctor and  punctured a whole in my leg. So leaving the room a bit bloody seemed appropriate but perhaps not everyone.

That's quite a commitment to the theme!

I think there's several rooms popped up in Sheffield over the past few years. I know Escape Sheffield, The Great Escape and Crack the Code.

Crack the Code was where I did my first escape room with my family. I had fun but now I've experienced a few more escape rooms I'd put this one quite low down in terms of production values and design. This was a few years ago and they have changed their rooms since then, with the Cold War Room we did being replaced by something new, so I can't say what it's like now. 

The Great Escape has two sites. Great Escape II is their newer premises and has a bar area and, I think, more money spent on the rooms than they had in Great Escape  I. I've done one in each; Mad Scientist in GE I and Run in GE II. Of the two, Run had great atmosphere and a really well made set but I think I had more a bit more fun with the puzzles in Mad Scientist. Both really good, though.

Escape Sheffield is where I did the Sherlock Holmes room with fellow gamers and we totally smashed it. The room was nicely set up and there were some interesting puzzles along the way.

Has anyone tried any others in Sheffield? A quick google brings up The Lockup, Enigma, S6, and Clue HQ, none of which I know anything about.

I think i've done 4 escape rooms so far:

- "Homicide" at Sheffield's The Great Escape Game was my first. 4 of us and we loved it (and succeeded in escaping).

- "Alcatraz" at Sheffield's The Great Escape Game. 4 of us again. Enjoyed the beginning, but really didn't like the second part. And we failed.

- "Vacancy" at Manchester's Breakout. 3 of us. Really enjoyed it. Succeeded.

- "Abducted" at Sheffield's The Great Escape Game (newer site). 3 of us. Really enjoyed it, but it was really scary - the actors were really really rough with us. One of my mates was on the brink of quitting. Failed, but close.

I actually bought my family one of those escape room games for Xmas along with vouchers to do one of Sheffield's escape rooms sometime this year, so quite looking forward to the next one.