STAFF REVIEW: ESCAPE ROOM

Last Friday, we were lucky enough to be invited to Escape The Vault on London Road, Brighton just a 20 minute walk from the office. Charlotte, Willow, Gemma and I all headed down to the escape room. We were all looking forward to this experience as we have never been to an escape room before.  

The Bank Heist Escape Room tested our capability and minds. We arrived at Escape The Vault, which was hidden inside a coffee house. The entrance was so vibrant and lively, and you could tell this was no ordinary coffee house! The exterior was bright and colourful, almost resembling artistic architecture. The interior was filled with ornaments and objects hanging from the ceiling, such as game controllers. This gave the room a playful atmosphere. Unlike the typical plain and simple coffee shops, it had a modern twist to it.

As we entered, we were kindly greeted by the escape room co-owner Will, who was very welcoming and gave us a brief overview of what the escape room would entail. He explained the theme of the escape room, which was based on a robbery. The aim of the game was to use the clues and hints around us to enter the room and eventually rob the vault. Will mentioned that we would be in contact with “Tezza” who was our partner in crime. Once we provided him with our mobile number, we were sent a video to watch - the game had begun! The video was from Tezza explaining he was here to help us, but he didn’t have the patience for any “time wasters”. We were given 40 minutes to undergo this mission. We thought was plenty of time, but we soon began to realise that we may have underestimated the challenge - and overestimated our ability to solve the clues!

The first stage of the escape room required us to unlock the caged door to enter the room. This is where we needed to put our thinking caps on and get our heads in the game. There were various clues around us, and we attempted to break in several times before we realised we were entering the number incorrectly. Charlotte entered the PIN and voilà, we were in!

Once we entered the room, the game became more intense. We were greeted by the countdown clock, and realised we only had 30 minutes left. Time was ticking! We rummaged around the room to find all the clues we could, but eventually we had to message Tezza for hints. At each station, we were given code words that we could message him, so he would know which part we needed his help with. Once he gave us hints, it all came together. We were on a roll! But time was against us. It came down to the last few seconds and we could not figure out the final clue. We were so close!

Overall, the Bank Heist Escape Room was an amazing experience and really put our minds to the test. Once we unlocked one stage, we felt intrigued as to what and where the next clue would be hidden. The atmosphere really set the scene; the room was dark with a bright red beam coming from the countdown clock. This experience is something new, fun and different. A huge thanks to Will for this amazing experience and I will definitely go again with family or friends.