New area of the country, and lots of new escape rooms to explore! During my week off between jobs, I decided to go for a bit of a daytrip into my nearest big city, Birmingham! Just half an hour away by train, it’s easy to get to and the second biggest city in the UK.
I’ll be honest, when I was looking for other activities to do during the day, I did come up a bit short. But there was one escape room that came up as a top recommendation multiple times: the Legend of Miyalock at Clue HQ Birmingham!
Clue HQ
I have visited a Clue HQ before in Harrogate, to play Cell Block C. It wasn’t my favourite room, but it was quite creative, so I was interested to see what they managed with all the potential that a magic theme offers.
Their Birmingham branch is located underneath a railway bridge near the Snow Hill station. Inside, the lobby is dimly lit and atmospheric, with the railway arches incorporated into the interior design.
We had one of the warmest welcomes I’ve ever had at an escape room, with our GM Luke and his colleague Lauryn chatting about our favourite previous games and hyping us up for the room we were about to do. Then Luke led us upstairs – “up the mountain” – to Miyalock…
The Legend of Miyalock
The Legend of Miyalock tells of a treasure hidden deep within a mountain, shrouded in magic and mystery and guarded by the spirit of the dragon – Malaki. Long ago, Malaki sought to destroy this world but a young girl named Miya used her magic to entrap the dragon within the mountain. Thousands of years later, the Collective League of United Explorers (C.L.U.E.) has finally stumbled upon the hiding place of this legendary treasure – but they may have unearthed something much more dangerous. Retrieve Miya’s wand, master the magic of the past and join the fight to defeat Malaki once and for all to claim the treasure of Miyalock for yourselves.
~ The Legend of Miyalock, Clue HQ
Theming
Initially it appeared that the theming was solid, but not exceptional.
However, as the room opened up and showed its secrets, it became apparent that the immersion from this game went beyond the props and items on display. For example, audio played a big part in this room, which is always an exciting surprise.
There is a particular input you use for interacting with the magic symbol that is super satisfying, and this really allows the room to become very interactive. And the finale… I really can’t say too much, but it was one of the most creative finales I’ve ever seen.
The room did show one or two signs of wear, but not in a way that affected the gameplay. Unfortunately, one of the puzzles in the first room had been broken by a guest earlier that day, but the GM told us about this before we started the room. It didn’t impact us at all (although it did look like quite a cool puzzle, so we were disappointed to miss it).
Puzzles
I wouldn’t say that this is a difficult room, just a very varied and interesting one. There are one or two padlocks, but everything else is run on magic (somewhat literally). We only got significantly hung up on a couple of puzzles, and pretty much breezed through the rest – but don’t let that put you off.
There is substantial variety in terms of the types of puzzles you’ll be solving. And particularly in the last section of the game, they were a joy to solve.
Summary
There were rumours that this room was shutting down, but luckily it appears to still be available to play. And long may that continue – make the effort to get here if you’re in Birmingham and in a clue-y mood.
Theme: 4.5/5 | Puzzles: 5/5 | Difficulty: 3/5
Clue system: in-room screen
Success: yes, 17:15 remaining
