We’re slowly making our way through the backlog of games we played before creating this blog. We’ll never get round to reviewing every game we’ve ever done, but in quiet weeks where we’ve not played anything new, we’ll go back through the archives to do a write-up of some of our favourite games.
This brings us back to the end of July, when we headed to Make Your Escape Derby, first to play The Signal, and then to take on the 4-10 player challenge Spellbound… as a team of two!
“In the witchcraft trials of 1607, two women were convicted in Derby despite protesting innocence. For centuries, their woodland cabin remained untouched.
Now their story continues: one of mystery, deception and magic…and you will become part of the legend.
Work together as a team to solve the puzzles and escape.
Something wicked this way comes…”
Wow! This room is beautiful – an absolutely stunning, hand crafted wooden cabin that fills its large space with some authentic, magical props and decoration. The room is based around real Derby stories, and the theme coupled with the design of the room creates a stunning environment to play in.
The actual game was tricky, but a lot of fun. As mentioned earlier, the game is recommended for teams of 4-10 players, and I can see why. The overall aim of the game is to complete a number of puzzles that all work together to create a really immersive finale. Having a big team number will be helpful, as all the puzzles can be worked on at the same time. It’s clear why a team of two or three players would be at a disadvantage, as there is a LOT to do in the room. The room’s puzzles were nicely mixed, in both difficulty and activity.
Overall, we loved this game a lot – fun, challenging, but doable puzzles mixed with a beautiful room and thorough storyline creates a perfect experience.
Host: We don’t remember who our host was, but they did a great job – clues when needed and a well delivered brief.
Clue System: Clues were delivered by a screen, with extra hints and story coming from a picture frame…
Success? Yes! Despite thinking this would be a definite failure as a team of two (4-10 players recommended, remember!), we escaped in 53.06
Website: www.makeyourescapederby.com
Lock Us Up 
We had this room recommended to us by Brit of an Escape Habit…she loved it…so high praise means we need to check it out. Thankfully after speaking to the owner we were allowed to play as a team of 2.
Spellbound was a lovely room. I normally prefer linear games but not in this case, they’ve done it so well. If you were stuck on one puzzle you could head off and try another. It means you can play the puzzles that match your strengths too…so I’m on words, Jamie is on maths! A great beginning to the room too….you’ve got to solve a puzzle to actually get into the main section…very clever and perhaps easier with fewer members due to space…but brilliant either way.
Loved the finale too…as Jamie said, all the separate puzzles provide you with one word that you need at the end to put together…. it’s hard to explain without giving anything away… But a great ending. Just a really well themed room with great puzzles that fitted the theming. Brilliant!
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