During the last week of December, we were kindly invited over by Exciting Escapes in there Basingstoke branch to experience one of the multiple games they have to offer. Exciting Escapes is a escape room business based at two locations, Southampton & Basingstoke. Opening in 2016 in Southampton, they were quickly voted to being the number 1 most fun activity to do across Hampshire! Having hosted over 12,000 guests since opening, we were very excited to see what they had to offer.
Offering three different experiences in Basingstoke, we thought we would start with one of the original rooms they opened with. A hidden past - "The year is 1957, the Cold War is compromising domestic and international relations and dark secrets are surfacing from even the most innocuous places. British Intelligence have captured a spy from his flat in Basingstoke – whilst they interrogate, you must investigate. Everyone has skeletons in their closet but some are bigger than others. Can you uncover his secret before enemy agents arrive to clean up the mess – you included!"
Easy to find within Basingstoke Town Centre, we were introduced to our game master who explained the mission in hand and our goal. We watched a mission briefing which explained things in more detail before venturing off into the room.
The room was very well themed and matched the 1950's theme. The room wasn't cluttered and had enough room to move about and complete all the puzzles needed to. It included a range of puzzles that required patience, skill and knowledge. Although, we do believe some of the puzzles were quite hard in the room compared to most escape rooms. However, this is balanced out with clues that they can help you out at anytime by asking.
We didn't manage to escape in the time given and we were amazed at how much there was left to do. For an escape room which does not use a large amount of space, they managed to incorporate some many puzzles. They also have two identical rooms of this game, so you can race with another team or group of friends.
With tickets costing £15 per person on off peak days, this is a great value escape room which is fun for the family. You can buy tickets over on the website!!!