Review - Escapologic
After experiencing the multiple room escape adventures of Escapologic in Nottingham, we were left pondering an important question – what is the collective noun for a group of room escapes? Whatever the expression is – it needs to be used for Escapologic as this venue has no less than 5 mind puzzling room escapes in just one venue (well two venues to be truthful as they are now expanding into the underground basement opposite.)
Immediately upon entering the venue, the scene was set, as the dingily decorated reception area led off into a dark and oppressive corridor that is home to just 5 doors. Each one, a pathway to another world. All very different, all very testing and all beautifully themed. Whether it is the dark dingy underground caverns and vaults of Crypt-ic or the steam punk styling of Con-trap-tion, the attention to detail in each room is second to none – in fact so much so that in EPI Centre, the room shakes as the earthquake rumbles around you!
Although these three rooms have a dark and sinister vibe, we braced ourselves to experience the two main horror themed rooms – Howitz and Butcher. As with any room escape adventure – half of the magic is knowing NOTHING before you enter, so we will try and keep any spoilers at bay but if you want to experience either of these rooms for yourself then stop reading now!
Howitz takes place in a haunted toy shop and the spooks were very active during our visit. At times, eliciting some real screams and shouts of fright from us, as things would move of their own accord, or fly around the room. There were some really unique experiences and effects, and one poor member of our party will now probably be terrified of ever sitting on a toilet again in his life! As the story unfolded – we discovered more and more rooms and annexes and we started to doubt we would ever actually get out. Fortunately we did, and with just 9 minutes spare we escaped!
We weren’t so lucky with Butcher- the serial killer themed room that was like something out of the SAW movies. We powered through many of the first puzzles then got completely stuck on what we later found out was to be the last real clue we needed to solve. But we did have an excuse – by this time one of our team had already elected to leave as they were too scared (they only survived 17 minutes) and the remaining three of us were so distracted by the bangs, screams yells etc. of the serial killer on his way home that we just couldn’t focus on the clue. So, with the hour up, we had to put our hands in the air and concede defeat.
The key thing to mention about both of these adventures were the lack of keys and combinations that are so common in room escapes. Granted we got completely lost with one combination in Butcher, but most puzzles and clues relied on physical props, activities etc. This felt really differently from the more linear key/lock, number/combination process we usually encounter.
Once we had calmed down from the scares of both experiences, the team took us for a little tour of the new room escapes they are working on, and we can honestly say they look really impressive already. The new Victorian themed parlour room hides an ingenious killer twist and a new more family friendly room will be online soon. Although with Escapologic – we hate to think what their version of “family friendly” is – they let children inside Horwitz, and we were genuinely terrified in there!
If you are a fan of scare attractions and are looking for something scary to do outside of the main Halloween season, then we strongly suggest you start checking out room escapes. The two we experienced at Escapologic were some of the scariest things we have ever done - so scary in fact that one of the team had to be pulled out early. If that isn’t a great recommendation – then we don’t know what is!
Immediately upon entering the venue, the scene was set, as the dingily decorated reception area led off into a dark and oppressive corridor that is home to just 5 doors. Each one, a pathway to another world. All very different, all very testing and all beautifully themed. Whether it is the dark dingy underground caverns and vaults of Crypt-ic or the steam punk styling of Con-trap-tion, the attention to detail in each room is second to none – in fact so much so that in EPI Centre, the room shakes as the earthquake rumbles around you!
Although these three rooms have a dark and sinister vibe, we braced ourselves to experience the two main horror themed rooms – Howitz and Butcher. As with any room escape adventure – half of the magic is knowing NOTHING before you enter, so we will try and keep any spoilers at bay but if you want to experience either of these rooms for yourself then stop reading now!
Howitz takes place in a haunted toy shop and the spooks were very active during our visit. At times, eliciting some real screams and shouts of fright from us, as things would move of their own accord, or fly around the room. There were some really unique experiences and effects, and one poor member of our party will now probably be terrified of ever sitting on a toilet again in his life! As the story unfolded – we discovered more and more rooms and annexes and we started to doubt we would ever actually get out. Fortunately we did, and with just 9 minutes spare we escaped!
We weren’t so lucky with Butcher- the serial killer themed room that was like something out of the SAW movies. We powered through many of the first puzzles then got completely stuck on what we later found out was to be the last real clue we needed to solve. But we did have an excuse – by this time one of our team had already elected to leave as they were too scared (they only survived 17 minutes) and the remaining three of us were so distracted by the bangs, screams yells etc. of the serial killer on his way home that we just couldn’t focus on the clue. So, with the hour up, we had to put our hands in the air and concede defeat.
The key thing to mention about both of these adventures were the lack of keys and combinations that are so common in room escapes. Granted we got completely lost with one combination in Butcher, but most puzzles and clues relied on physical props, activities etc. This felt really differently from the more linear key/lock, number/combination process we usually encounter.
Once we had calmed down from the scares of both experiences, the team took us for a little tour of the new room escapes they are working on, and we can honestly say they look really impressive already. The new Victorian themed parlour room hides an ingenious killer twist and a new more family friendly room will be online soon. Although with Escapologic – we hate to think what their version of “family friendly” is – they let children inside Horwitz, and we were genuinely terrified in there!
If you are a fan of scare attractions and are looking for something scary to do outside of the main Halloween season, then we strongly suggest you start checking out room escapes. The two we experienced at Escapologic were some of the scariest things we have ever done - so scary in fact that one of the team had to be pulled out early. If that isn’t a great recommendation – then we don’t know what is!
Smug after surviving Howitz!
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Despondent after no escaping from Butcher
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Links:
Official Website: www.escapologic.com
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