Secret Studio, London - Escape from the Golden Hinde (London)

 

Hi all

After checking out Borough Market, the next escape room venue that we checked out on our Europe trip in January 2023 was Escape from the Golden Hinde.  This was a really unique room, as it is located on a ship in dry dock in London. The room is run by Secret Studio.  By day, The Golden Hinde can be viewed by the public – it is effectively a museum piece; by night, at least on some nights, Secret Studio rents out the ship for its escape rooms. 

The Golden Hinde is a replica of the ship of the same name which was launched in 1577.  The replica ship, which was built in 1973, has circumnavigated the globe and has travelled more than 230,000km before being berthed in London as an educational museum.  The replica ship is where the escape room fun is had. Here is what we thought:

The Golden Hinde – Room 279 (London)

The Golden Hinde was an excellent experience (and by far our favourite room in London)! This room was perfect for families, as the game masters ensured that everyone was involved.  

The Golden Hinde is as much an escape room as it is an interactive experience. During out adventure, we crossed paths with at least 4 different actors throughout the experience, each of whom played their roles very well. This was also one of the few rooms where we enjoyed alcoholic (and non-alcoholic) drinks during the experience.  We really liked that the storyline was educational and kept true to the story of Sir Francis Drake (or perhaps the real story of Sit Francis Drake, who we met during our journey). The puzzles were all excellent and the theming was simply off the charts. 

There are some dark areas of the ship, but this was still a family-friendly experience. Players are provided with beanies (ie helmets) to wear throughout the experience, as there are many low-hanging beams overhead. I found the helmet annoying to wear (as well as a lot of crouching), but that was the only downside at all to the experience. The actors are great (and especially great in engaging with children) and the puzzles were first rate too.

 

Where:                        St Mary Overie Dock, Cathedral Street, London

Duration:                    60 minutes

Themes:                      2 themes

Cost:                           £48 per person

Overall Rating:           Brilliant themed, highly interactive piratey goodness

More details:              https://www.escapeintime.co.uk/goldenhinde/

Clue Quest London - Review of Revenge of the Sheep, CQ Origines and PLAN52 (London)

Hi all

After checking out Finland (Helsinki and Rovaniemi), Prague and Paris, the fourth and final stop on our European adventure was London.  As well as fitting in a number of West End shows, we also managed to hit up a few escape rooms (although to be honest, I was surprised that London doesn’t have a single TERPECA nominated room). 

The first venue that we checked out while in town was Clue Quest. We had initially booked just 2 rooms, but we managed to escape in good time and given it was a mid-week booking, they were able to fit us in to play a third room.  Here is what we thought of the 3 rooms that we played at Clue Quest:

Revenge of the Sheep – Room 276

We really enjoyed Revenge of the Sheep (in fact, it was our favourite room at Clue Quest in London).  The theming was nicely done and we really enjoyed the puzzles.  We got off to a good start and flew through the first section of the experience, but the second section was more challenging and slowed us down. We found that having good eyes for detail really helped in this room, as there was a reasonable amount of hunt and seek fun and small details around the room that were very easy to miss.  We really liked the theming and the backstory and puzzles were very strong. Our girls had fun too (this was a very family-friendly room with no jump scares or even dark areas) – both girls were engaged the whole time and they each solved their own share of the puzzles.

CQ Origines – Room 277

CQ Origines was a fun room as well. The theming was great and it reminded me in some respects of Lab Rat in Los Angeles (which I played back in 2019). Lab Rat was a better room (both on scale and uniqueness), but we did have fun at CQ Origines. The strongest aspect of the room is the theming, which was really nicely done. We enjoyed many of the puzzles, although I found the room flow was a little stilted and some of the puzzles weren’t entirely logical (or perhaps could have done with a little more signposting). There was also a reasonable amount of hunt and seek fun, which our girls enjoyed.  The room is family-friendly (although a little dark in some sections).  

PLAN52 – Room 278

PLAN52 was the third and final room that we played at Clue Quest in London. This was another fun room that we all enjoyed. I felt like the puzzles in this room were probably a little harder than in the other 2 rooms. The theming in this room was not quite at the same level as Revenge of the Sheep or CQ Origines, but it did not detract from our enjoyment. Much like the other 2 rooms, we needed very strong attention to detail and a good eye for spotting things in PLAN52 – with each of times that we were stuck, we couldn’t see what was right in front of us.  I thought this room had a better flow than CQ Origines, but ultimately Revenge of the Sheep was the standout here for us.

Overall comments

We really enjoyed all 3 rooms at Clue Quest and we were grateful that they managed to squeeze us in to play the third room on the day.  They were also kind enough to give me a free magnet with our team photo (because the day that we played was my birthday).  All three rooms were family-friendly and the game masters were all great. If you are in London and found yourself with only enough time to check out one of their rooms, Revenge of the Sheep is the pick.   

Where:                        169-171 Caledonian Road, London, N1 0SL   

Duration:                    60 minutes

Themes:                      4 themes

Cost:                           £35 per person

Overall Rating:           Nicely-themed, family-friendly rooms

More details:              https://cluequest.co.uk/