It’s a regular day of the week, and instead of returning to your desk after lunch, you find yourself locked in a white van. Or trapped in a rather eerie, abandoned toy shop.
Escape rooms have swept the nation, and with good reason: with an ever-increasing variety of imaginative scenarios to explore and complex brainteasers to solve, the best escape rooms offer a creative alternative to the average night out or team-building activity. Though very fun, there are many more benefits to escape rooms than immediately meets the eye. Participating in tasks like those within the quests develops motivation – visitors can see a goal and start looking for any number of ways to reach it. The experience can also improve your imagination and ability to think in an abstract way. The brief is simply that the team needs to find their way out of the room, how you go about that is completely down to you.
Escape rooms can also improve participants observational skills. 60 minutes may seem like a lifetime to find your way out of the room, but to succeed, groups will need to keep a lookout for clues, codes, keys, and more.
We’ve searched the best escape rooms in the UK on komnata.co.uk, so whether you are planning a visit to an escape room for a hen or stag do, work social, birthday or just a fun evening, book yourself into one of these epic adventures to experience something a little different.
Sherlocked
For those with classic taste, what better escape room to try than one inspired by arguably the greatest fictional detective. Soon to be located on Tooley Street in London, enjoy an intimate evening of escape with your ‘partner’ – there is nobody else in the room but you two, and you must work together in Sherlock-Watson style to win the game, making this a great idea for a first date in the capital. Sherlocked will be landing with a bang in London very soon, and comes recommended by the New York Times.
Sant. Angelo’s Castle
If you, your partner, or friends are history buffs, slip into the immersive reality of Sant. Angelo’s Castle on Drury Lane. Hailing from the times of the Great Inquisition, the dungeon of Sant. Angelo was the background to a rather dark tradition – sentenced prisoners were given the chance of redemption, if they could solve the mystical puzzles within one hour. Historians claim only one person managed to escape this dreary place, and now it’s your turn to try. What could be better than becoming the main character in history. Suitable for 3 to 5 people, from £27 per person.
Doctor Frankenstein
A step into the pages of a literary classic, the Doctor Frankenstein escape room will spook and intrigue in equal measure. Some say that the inspiration for the character of Dr Frankenstein came from a certain Johann Conrad Dippel, a German scientist who was born in Frankenstein castle. Could that be true? During this unforgettable adventure, you will go back in time to an era of steam power and airships. With just one hour to revitalise a homunculus and to unravel the age-old mystery of Frankenstein’s monster, follow in the scientist’s footsteps and complete his final experiment. Suitable for ages 12 years and above, for 3 – 6 people, from £27 per person.
The Maze of Hakaina
Whilst some people are attracted to familiar stories, both fictional and true, for their escape room experience, the Maze of Hakaina offers a completely different immersion into a mystical adventure. For centuries it has remained hidden, a distant dream lost to the perils of time. But now, the Maze of Hakaina has arisen again and will be coming to London at the end of summer 2019. For now, the courageous amongst us can book a 15-minute prequel, ‘Hakaina’. Walk in the footsteps of ancient samurai warriors, moving cautiously yet quickly through the labyrinth in order to save the innocent child who wandered into the maze. Suspenseful, dramatic, and long-awaited, the Maze of Hakaina comes to London in Autumn 2019, but visitors can get a taste of the action with this 15-minute prequel.
7 Sinful Pleasures
Coming soon to London is an escape room not quite like any other… perhaps perfect for couples, but definitely not first dates, is 7 Sinful Pleasures. With rumours of influential people in the city all congregating in secret to let go and experience the boldest of forbidden pleasures, it is your mission to seek out the most scandalous area in town to investigate this very delicate case. Trace them down, and expose their real faces to the public. In this reality, all pleasures are guilty. 18 years and above, coming to London soon.
The escape-room games industry is booming and we don’t see it slowing down anytime soon here at Luxury Lifestyle Magazine.
