Hinges, not actors.

We started in 2019 in a former print works with one room, two of us, and a great deal of plywood. Both of us came out of theatre — set carpentry and lighting respectively — which is why the rooms are built the way they are, and why none of them contain a person in a mask whose job is to run at you.

The premise we work from is that a monster is more frightening as evidence than as an appearance. A door that has been barricaded from the wrong side. A tally scratched into a beam that stops. A radio that answers a question you did not ask out loud. By the time a creature walks into shot the tension has usually already gone; the good part is the twenty minutes before, when the room is telling you something and you have not finished assembling it yet.

Everything in our rooms is mechanical, electrical or acoustic. Nothing in any of them will touch you, and nobody will be hiding in one.

What a session actually looks like

You arrive fifteen minutes before your slot. Someone takes your coats and bags, runs through the rules, and — importantly — will answer honestly if you ask how intense a given room is. People are often embarrassed to ask. Please ask. We would much rather have that conversation in the lobby than have someone quietly miserable for an hour.

Inside, you are on radio to a games master for the whole session. Clues are free and unlimited. There is no scoring penalty for using them and no leaderboard asterisk. We are not trying to beat you — a group that gets out at fifty-eight minutes having asked for four clues has had a much better evening than a group that sat stuck on a padlock for the last twenty and left annoyed.

Every room has a clearly marked release on the inside of the door. You can leave at any point, for any reason, without explaining yourself, and the door will open. That is not a puzzle. It is a door.

Age and intensity

Minimum ages are listed per room and we do hold to them. They are set on content rather than difficulty: The Hollow is 8+ and is genuinely suitable for children, Bloodmoon is 16+ and is not. Under-16s need an adult in the room with them.

Accessibility

The Cellar Door and The Hollow are step-free throughout and can be completed from a seated position; both have doorways wide enough for a wheelchair and neither requires reaching above shoulder height. Bloodmoon has a raised section with two steps and no alternative route. Deep Signal involves one low, narrow passage and is the least accessible of the four.

Puzzles across all four rooms can be solved without colour discrimination. Deep Signal leans heavily on audio; if you have significant hearing loss, tell us when booking and we will run it with the transcript panel enabled, which costs you nothing and slows the room down by about five minutes.

If something here does not cover your situation, email [email protected] and describe it. We would rather adapt a room in advance than have you find out on the night.

Frequently asked

Do we need to book the whole room?

Yes. We do not put strangers together. The price is per room, so a group of two pays the same as a group of six — worth knowing if you are deciding whether to invite two more people.

What if we do not get out?

Roughly a third of groups do not, and it is fine. When the clock runs out you get walked through everything you did not reach, which is usually the bit people enjoy most anyway.

Can we drink beforehand?

One is fine. We will turn away anyone visibly drunk, without a refund, because the rooms contain moving parts and we have had to replace a dumbwaiter once already.

Is there anywhere to leave a bag?

Lockers in the lobby, free, and we hold the key while you are in.