WE all feel like escaping reality sometimes (particularly in the current climate!)
Even for those who have thus far evaded the escape rooms phenomenon, there’s no denying they have grown massively in popularity over recent years and it’s a concept we’re now all familiar with.
For my family, it is not so new however. We’re seasoned ‘escapees’ now having succeeded – and failed – in a wide variety of themed rooms over recent years.
So it was with a sense of cautious optimism that we signed up for Mutiny, one of the new Tulleys escape rooms which recently opened around the corner from us at Hatton Adventure World in Warwick.
As the name would suggest, the game adopts a pirate theme and after a short introduction and scene setter, we were ‘locked’ in and left to our own devices – and wits – to make it out again in under an hour.
It’s daunting how quickly those seconds tick down and you realise there’s no time for a casual approach to the game. We are straight in identifying the clues and cracking those all-important codes, leaving no stone unturned. Or so we thought. . .
It was slow progress at first as we tried to make sense of the maps on the wall, a jigsaw of symbols and various other puzzles and codes. And it’s difficult to measure success because you don’t know how many rooms await, each with its own new set of challenges and puzzles.
Avoiding spoilers, I’ll leave it at that – but let’s just say – Mutiny throws plenty at you!
The theming is among one of the better escape rooms I’ve encountered and difficulty level was about right for our family of four (youngest 14) – although having been informed it is the easier of Hatton’s two rooms, I do worry for our next visit as we only made it out with literally seconds to spare! And you really do feel the pressure.
Clues are available on request (parrot fashion!) and don’t be too proud to use them sometimes when, as we did, you hit a mental block on certain puzzles. But you’re in control of the game so can ask for as much or as little help as you need.
Exhilarating and frustrating in equal measure, successfully completing this quest requires top teamworking and communication skills as well as lateral thinking in abundance.
And it’s teamwork that really is at the heart of a successful escape. As those minutes disappear and the pressure mounts, it’s important to play to each other’s strengths. Divide and conquer but also work together when required for the best chance of results – or you’ll definitely have mutiny on your hands.
Mutiny is one of the best fun escape room experiences we’ve enjoyed as a family – (there’s even hidden bones and a firing cannon and physical challenges!) and, in what is fast becoming a crowded market, would highly recommend it.
They offer vouchers too so a nice idea for a Christmas present for that impossible to buy for person. Details here.
