UK Escape Games – Molly O’Grady’s Murder Mystery

UK Escape Games – Molly O’Grady’s Murder Mystery.
Location: Mansfield
Game Date 24/06/2017.
Team: Amy & Ian

I don’t often talk about waiting areas/toilets in my reviews (maybe I should?) but I have to give special mention to UK Escape Games, in a bit of a two fold situation. The Waiting Area is GORGEOUS, with a sort of rustic/steampunk vibe… distressed metal and shabby chic leather couches. Really cool… The toilet situation however, is not cool… the only toilets on site are at the theme park next door, which would possibly cause a problem if the Theme Park is closed, and would make a miserable walk if it were freezing cold or raining! Bear this in mind when visiting UK Escape Games… (but don’t let it put you off!)

Theme:
“It’s A Classic Murder Scene. Steve Davies has been killed in his favourite pub, Police have found the body but have been unable to locate the killer. Intelligence has told us that the killer will strike again in 1 hour. Can you stop the killer becoming a serial killer.”

The theming was quite impressive, a small yet fully fitted out pub! Very immersive, everything was authentic (including the pool table) so detailed yet nothing was a red herring or misleading.
A very creative use of space led to us exploring the upstairs of the pub, this game truly kept on going and going!
It was clean, yet very, very small. It would be a small squeeze in places of 4 players. I can’t imagine playing with a maximum team size of 8!

Game Play:
The Game Play was very good, a classic mix of observation, physical, riddles, logic, and searching… with a little bit more of a lean towards searching and physical.
The use of technology is integrated very well, with the technology supplementing the puzzles and not being the sole mean to why the puzzle is implemented.
A room with a great flow, entirely linear, but the puzzles are such that more than 1 person can work on them at the same time, and/or they most certainly encourage team work!
The puzzles were all in theme to the room, logical & solvable on their own. Each have a great ah-ha moment
There’s a useful meter in the room which gives you direction in what needs to be done, this is great as a mental “checklist” to where you’re up to within the room and how much more needs to be done!
All in all a very good room, I would recommend NO MORE than 4 players for both enthusiasts and newbies, this room is small and quite cramped in places, any more than 4 and you’ll really be standing on each other’s toes.

Clue System:
Clues were delivered via a screen (and lots of running up and down stairs)
One thing of note is that there is, in the first half of the game no-where to write anything down. I feel there should ALWAYS be at least a whiteboard/chalkboard to jot on.

Game Host:
Bailey was our Game Host and was good, friendly and read our game very well, giving us hints and also reaffirming that we were going in the right direction with our game.

Did we escape?
Yes, in 52 minutes!

Website: https://www.ukescapegames.com/
Price:
2 Players £40
3 Players £54
4 Players £68
5 Players £80
6 Players £90
7 Players £100
8 Players £110