We’ve tried coming up with a joint top ten, and although a lot of our rooms overlap, we found it impossible to agree on ten rooms that were both deserving of this honour. So here are the lists of our top 10 escape rooms (which will change from time to time)… We’ve decided to make a Top 10 for Worldwide games (soon to be uploaded) (which doesn’t include the UK) and a dedicated Top 10 for the UK.
Gord’s UK Top Ten (in alphabetical order)
| Room | Location | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Battle for Britain - Escape Plan Ltd | London | Even though it's been a number of years since we played this game, I still have fond memories of it. The set build is great, the puzzles are satisfying, and the ending...wow |
| Escape Room Cottage | Tewkesbury | Is this the best escape room in the UK? No. Is it one of the most fun experiences I've had? Yes. It's a whole house that you can rent out, and spend an entire weekend (or longer) puzzling. |
| Explorer's Diary - Hounds Immersive Experiences | Crawley | Hounds are great with immersion and their games masters are second to none. Explorer's Diary was a great set and it felt like we were acting out our best lives as Indiana Jones. |
| Loot the Lanes - Pier Pressure | Brighton | Loot the Lanes is a bit of a legend in enthusiast circles. The set is truly beautiful and the puzzles are plentiful. There's a reason this game has such a sterling reputation. |
| Monuments - Cave Escape | Nottingham | An escape room set in a real life cave! How cool is that?! Monuments had everything I loved about escape rooms; great puzzles, a fun story, and lots of cool spaces to explore. |
| Mr Copplestone's Curiosity Shoppe - Escape Quest | Macclesfield | Escape Quest operate in a different way to most companies, as only one game is open at a time. When you play, you'll understand why - and you definitely should play. An amazing set that is rammed full of puzzles! |
| The Great Loudini - Escapable | Wakefield | It's a kind of magic... Months later and we still have no idea how they did some of the things they did in this game. The best set? Not really? But a great experience? Hell yes! |
| The Reading Witch - Deadlocked Escape Rooms | Reading | A two-hour homage to european horror escape rooms, what's not to love? The perfect balance of scares and puzzles make this a must play experience (even if you don't love horror, give it a try) |
| The Shrewsbury Express - LevelUp Escape Rooms | Shrewsbury | Absolutely insane experience. The Shrewsbury Express was a stupendous amount of fun and I loved every minute of it. Exceptional hosting and the right amount of whimsy makes this a firm favourite. |
| Trapped for Cash - Mindworks | Worthing | If you grew up watching 90s gameshows, then this is a must play as it has ALL the vibes. Lots of puzzles, great hosting, and an entertaining AI - it's the most fun thing to do at the seaside! |
Liz’s UK Top Ten (in alphabetical order)
| Room | Location | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Loot the Lanes - Pier Pressure | Brighton | I have loved every game we’ve played at Pier Pressure, but Loot the Lanes is something special. It’s not your typical heist game, the set is stunning, and the puzzles are perfection. Honestly, there’s a reason why Loot the Lanes has been (and still is) ranked as one of the Top Ten games in the UK on Escape the Review since it was opened. |
| Mega Bite - Clue Cracker | Tunbridge Wells | I thought I’d be singing the praises of Temple Quest forever (and it is excellent) but Mega Bite was just plain fun! Honestly, you can’t go wrong with whimsical zombies, and the finale to Mega Bite ramps up the fun. |
| Monuments - Cave Escape | Nottingham | I was impressed with Cave Escape’s first game, but I fell in love with Monuments. The game is actually built into the subterranean caves under the building, and they couldn’t have picked a better story to fit this setting. Of course, if you ignore the cave, Monuments still has fantastic puzzles, a fast paced story, and a beautiful set, making it a game not to miss. |
| Mr Copplestone's Curiosity Shoppe - Escape Quest | Macclesfield | I typically prefer narrative led, story driven experiences and thus don’t get on particularly well with a collection style game. I’ll make an exception for Mr Copplestone’s Curiosity Shoppe though. The set is stunning, the puzzles are clever and plentiful, and the atmosphere makes it just a lovely place to be. |
| Sub Terra - Co-Decode | Swindon | Even over six years after playing Sub Terra, it is still firmly cemented amongst my favourite games. The set is beautiful, the puzzles are clever, and fit their surroundings, and the story drives the game forward. Really it’s everything that makes a game perfect in my eyes. |
| The Comms Room - Escape in the Towers | Canterbury | The Comms Room is (still) quite possibly the most immersive escape room experience I have had in the UK. The story, the action, the puzzles. Everything tied together perfectly to create an absolutely unforgettable game. |
| The Reading Witch - Deadlocked Escape Rooms | Reading | Deadlocked have created something really special here with their 2-hour live actor, immersive horror game. Reminiscent ot the horror games found throughout Europe, but with the signature Deadlocked puzzles, and a very impressive set for the space. |
| The Shrewsbury Express - LevelUp Escape Rooms | Shrewsbury | Is this the best game in the UK? Probably not. Is it the most unhinged? Absolutely. The Shrewsbury Express is a non-stop, magical express ticket to totally bonkers fun. |
| Trapped for Cash - Mindworks | Worthing | Trapped for Cash was nothing like I expected, in all the best possible ways. Our host is really what made this game special, but the game is just non-stop for the entire time, filled with a fantastic variety of puzzles, physical challenges, and oodles of fun. |
| Viking - Extremescape | Disley | Viking is a perfect example of how to make an epic game in a smaller space. The puzzles flow, the set is fantastic, and the ending is just the cherry on top of an already fantastic escape room sundae. |