Do Stuff Escape Games: Hostage Hideout (London)

A complete night out! Escape room and burgers all under one roof

The last thing you heard, as you scrambled to safety through an unmarked door was that they had taken hostages…

You are in a safe place, but you must find the clues and solve the puzzles to escape the room.

A last minute call asking if I wanted to ‘do a room’ was all the encouragement I needed to add this to my diary. Unfortunately Liz was working so she missed out, but there was no point us both missing out, right?

We arrived at the location in Battersea the required 15 minutes early and there was a small waiting area where we were given our briefing before being shown to the room. If we were even earlier we could have gone into the pub and waited, but more on that later.

The briefing explained that we were there to kick ass and chew bubble gum save hostages and get out alive. This mission was set in a nondescript area of a shopping mall.  Once you get into the room proper there is a more thorough briefing that sets the scene nicely.

Once in the room we all split up and worked on various puzzles, or at least tried to. It wasn’t a particularly hard room but there was one thing we mistook for part of the building and didn’t realise it was part of the game – although it became obvious once we were told.

This was a fun room and although basic at times it still has enough to keep you going, although I wouldn’t recommend playing with too many people. We were a team of four and it got a bit cosy at times even for us.

PUZZLES

The puzzles as stand alone puzzles weren’t bad, although if you want a room that gives complete immersion you won’t find it here as the puzzles felt rather separate from the story and what you were there to do.

Later on in the room however, there was one puzzle which we all thought was great and really enjoyed. We hadn’t seen it done before and after the game we turned to Google to find out how it was done (spoiler alert: it was magic).

The first part of the room isn’t linear so you can work on a lot at once, however you really need to take in everything in the room as all is not as it seems. The second part was a bit more linear so for bigger groups people may spend time waiting for others to solve puzzles.

IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN

This was a very basic set but I’ve been in some pretty shady shopping malls (mostly small town America) and this didn’t feel too dissimilar to them. Yes the set is basic and arguably cheap but it works so you can’t really complain about it. Just don’t go in expecting to be wowed by it, as you definitely won’t be.

GM/CLUE SYSTEM

Clues were delivered by walkie-talkies which fitted nicely with the theme. If you needed a clue you could ask, or there may be a friendly nudge as and when needed to keep you on track.

ANYTHING ELSE

Definitely make sure you check out the pub as their food is pretty good, especially the burgers!

Success / Failure

Final Rating:

Team: 4 players (escaped with 15:29 left)

Address: The Grove, 279 Battersea Park Rd, London SW11 4NE

Website: https://www.dostuffescapegames.com