It is about time someone brought one of these to the beautiful city of Brighton & Hove. It was while having a final get together before we left that one of them had a look on Groupon and found one. The Escape Room in Brighton for a group of 4 for £32 (usually £75).
Most of us had never done one before, so it just had to be done and also meant the opportunity to let you guys know about it in more detail. Don’t worry though no spoilers will be shared in this post (much to the delight of Thomas the co-owner when I mentioned to him I would be writing a review).
Firstly, let’s get someone out the way, I have lived in the Brighton and Hove area my whole life and when looking at their website their address states 21 Regency Square, Brighton
Perfect, I know where that is I was thinking, so what could be the problem! There was a car park right there which is about £3 for a two-hour stay.
Oh then the joys of trying to find the building itself. There are no visible signs outside (unless you are within 5 feet and looking directly down). At the end of the street one side you have number 20 and then over the other side starts at 22. So where is 21? Have no fear readers and fellow detectives, after a quick phone call I was directed to the Escape Room, to which the entrance is located in the basement of 22 Regency Square.
But these are teething problems that I am sure will be fixed over the next few weeks.
THE UNKNOWN
Where I had never been to one of these I had made a conscious decision not to read up on ones other people had done either in London or elsewhere around the world. It was clear that it was an old flat that had been turned into a escape room. We met with one of the owners Thomas who walked us through to the room and explained the house rules. You basically get one hour to solve the murder and if you are successful with that then you can use the remaining time to identify the murder weapon. All whilst trying not to trash the room.
I must admit I was to busy trying to get a head start on the clue-hunting while he was going through the formalities of what to and what not to do.
The room itself is set in a very early 20th-century style with dark wood furniture (as you can see in the images) with a vast number of locked drawers with padlocks which required either a 3 or 4-digit combination or a key. The lock that intrigued me the most was the one that led to a separate room off the main room.
It’s tough to write about something without giving away spoilers or hints. One thing I would say though is don’t discount anything you pick up or think is not a clue. We as a team asked for three clues or which one was not needed as we already had everything required to proceed.
We managed to complete and solve the murder within 40 minutes but then took an additional 12 minutes to figure out the murder weapon to which we needed our third and final clue.
As escape rooms go, I cannot compare it to any previous experience, but one of the group who had been to a few said it was challenging and was already looking to book the next one. Who knows it may even be another one from the guys at Escape Room Brighton as after having a chat at the end, are already looking at expanding and looking for new premises and maybe even a multi-room crime to solve!
Watch this space detective.
