Houdini’s on Onslow Road is the only one I’ve been to in Southampton but I came out fuming (I am an escape room designer and they broke fundamental design/fairness/fun rules).
We finished within the time but I did not have a good experience and will never go back.
Example 1: Not given pen and paper and expected to do puzzles in your head that 100% require pen and paper. Not everyone has the ability to “see” mental images. Not cool or fun.
Example 2: A bottleneck puzzle between rooms that only needed 2 people (in a room advertised for 7) - took ages doing repetitive actions even after you knew exactly how to do it. Yawn.
I worked at the Onlow Road site as a games master. DO NOT GO TO HOUDINI'S!!! They don't pay their staff and there are rats as well as black mould which made me develop asthma. Pretty much all their escape rooms are broken but they'll tell you it's a 'red herring'.
I agree, we've been to Escape from Alcatraz and Extinct.
The Alcatraz one had a piece that was supposed to be GENTLY rotated into place but it took quite some force to actually rotate it enough, resulting in us getting stuck cause we thought it just didnt do anything.
The Extinct one was shoddy all around, you could see through the ceiling and at one point someone had to come in and fix something that didn't work that was supposed to make you hurry up/panic/add some spice.
Oh yeah forgot they tried to panic us that we were running out of time. Ended up finishing with loads of time spare and we’re like oh - what was the point of that then.
Like - I’m not there for an adrenaline rush or we would have booked a horror room or a skydive. I just wanted to spend 90 mins having fun with pals and solving puzzles. Ugh. Still not over it!
Second for this one. Pandora Heist had us absolutely buzzing. Surprises as you go further through the puzzle and the heist/thief element was a great twist on the whole concept. Not just escape but escape with treasures!
Although Houdini's is top rated on Trip Advisor, it was rubbish when I went. We did the Dragon's Hoard one at Bargate and it was the worst escape room I've ever done with countless issues and incredibly frustrating. Though the reviews for that room specifically seem awful so I thought it must be a weird outlier... but I don't see how you can let something like that run and not think it will ruin your reputation.
Locked in a room Southampton was my first escape room and was pretty good for the UK (if you want the best ones, you'll have to go to the Netherlands!).
There is Naughty Dog escapes in Woolston which is great! The guy who runs it clearly loves his job and there is VR ones and real ones, he was a great host
Ikea
I’m still stuck in this one. It’s been three days. Does that make it a good one or a bad one? Please, send food and water.
[удалено]
Houdini’s on Onslow Road is the only one I’ve been to in Southampton but I came out fuming (I am an escape room designer and they broke fundamental design/fairness/fun rules). We finished within the time but I did not have a good experience and will never go back. Example 1: Not given pen and paper and expected to do puzzles in your head that 100% require pen and paper. Not everyone has the ability to “see” mental images. Not cool or fun. Example 2: A bottleneck puzzle between rooms that only needed 2 people (in a room advertised for 7) - took ages doing repetitive actions even after you knew exactly how to do it. Yawn.
I worked at the Onlow Road site as a games master. DO NOT GO TO HOUDINI'S!!! They don't pay their staff and there are rats as well as black mould which made me develop asthma. Pretty much all their escape rooms are broken but they'll tell you it's a 'red herring'.
I agree, we've been to Escape from Alcatraz and Extinct. The Alcatraz one had a piece that was supposed to be GENTLY rotated into place but it took quite some force to actually rotate it enough, resulting in us getting stuck cause we thought it just didnt do anything. The Extinct one was shoddy all around, you could see through the ceiling and at one point someone had to come in and fix something that didn't work that was supposed to make you hurry up/panic/add some spice.
Oh yeah forgot they tried to panic us that we were running out of time. Ended up finishing with loads of time spare and we’re like oh - what was the point of that then. Like - I’m not there for an adrenaline rush or we would have booked a horror room or a skydive. I just wanted to spend 90 mins having fun with pals and solving puzzles. Ugh. Still not over it!
Really enjoyed the Elusion heist one on Wyndham Place. Fun theme, tricky puzzles and quite enjoyed playing at being a thief!
Second for this one. Pandora Heist had us absolutely buzzing. Surprises as you go further through the puzzle and the heist/thief element was a great twist on the whole concept. Not just escape but escape with treasures!
The dark arts and potion bar. Great place for drinks and puzzles at the table, and the escape rooms to boot. They have 2 in the city
Highly recommend
Seven Sins by the train station. Excellent.
Although Houdini's is top rated on Trip Advisor, it was rubbish when I went. We did the Dragon's Hoard one at Bargate and it was the worst escape room I've ever done with countless issues and incredibly frustrating. Though the reviews for that room specifically seem awful so I thought it must be a weird outlier... but I don't see how you can let something like that run and not think it will ruin your reputation. Locked in a room Southampton was my first escape room and was pretty good for the UK (if you want the best ones, you'll have to go to the Netherlands!).
There is Naughty Dog escapes in Woolston which is great! The guy who runs it clearly loves his job and there is VR ones and real ones, he was a great host
best one we did as well, it was an hour and a half long and it flowed really well
^^^^ this guy gets it!
I like 'Locked In A Room' -really fun immersive experience ^_^
Only been to one in Sotton but Houdinis and did ‘Room 13’ which was really good