FIFTY ESCAPE ROOMS! Can you believe it?
I didn’t actually realise it was my fiftieth room until I’d already arrived at the venue, which means there was no time to organise an escake (for those less engrossed in the escape room scene, it’s customary to have a cake at milestones).
However, I was very pleased to be coming back to one of my favourite escaping companies in Leeds, Locked In Games, for my fiftieth room. Pleased that the room itself is one of the best I’ve done there. I was impressed by Hotel Heist and American Die-ner, but a little less enamoured with their Locked In Space game. I think The Hidden Book is the best game I’ve done at this company.
But most of all, I was excited to be doing my fiftieth room with my bestie Ellie – and despite having done tons of games as a four with our partners, this was our first duo room.
The Hidden Book
It’s Victorian London, and the air is thick with fear: a spate of poisonings have been reported across the city. Every victim is different, but each crime has one thing in common: an empty vial is found by the body. There is only one suspect: the old shopkeeper of the magic shop on Drury Lane. With the shop closed and no sign of the owner, you risk entry late at night to reveal the truth behind the crimes. Entering the magic shop, it looks undisturbed. You’d suspect nothing, were it not for the missing book which usually lies open on the counter. Where is this missing book? What did it contain? And does it prove that the old magician is the perpetrator or, in fact, completely innocent?
~ Locked In Games
Theming
I had been lucky enough to get a sneak peek at this room under construction. Despite being pretty impressed overall with the quality of their previous rooms, I do think this room really stands out in quality.
From the moment you step inside the escape room, the detail is impressive. You start outside “ye olde magic shoppe”, which gives off strong Diagon Alley vibes, with brick walls and lampposts. It was quaint and curious, unmistakeably small-town British.
And once we got inside the “shoppe”, it was truly immersive.
Not having lived during the Victoria era, it’s hard to say how realistic it is, but it felt very accurate – and yet, with an added touch of mysticism. I particularly liked the old-fashioned till and the weighing machine! Despite the room being full of knick-knacks and oddities, there weren’t really any red herrings – the signposting around the room was good, though it was definitely a lot to take in at first.
And most of all, as you might expect from a room with a strong magic theme, there was plenty that felt magical to interact with. I won’t say too much…
Puzzles
…leading on from the magical element in the theming, this was carried through strongly into the puzzles.
Rather than locks, keys and codes, much of this room relied on non-traditional inputs. And where you did need an input, it was often a strange symbol rather than a letter or number.
There were some real puzzlers, and we definitely spent some time working out how to solve several of them, but all of the puzzles were very interesting, logical and varied. I’d say it was the hardest of the rooms that I’ve done at Locked In Games, although we were complimented upon our escape for the speed at which we’d cracked some of the trickier problems.
A word of warning: the first puzzle is probably the hardest one in the room. We were stumped there for a while. Don’t get stressed out! It does speed up from there.
Summary
This room was full of surprises and a magical experience. Would recommend.
Theme: 4.5/5 | Puzzles: 4.5/5 | Difficulty: 4/5
Clue system: ask verbally and receive clues on a screen
Success: yes, 9:27 remaining
