Escape rooms, or exit games, challenge teams of usually two to five players to discover clues, solve puzzles, and accomplish a specific goal (such as escaping) in a set period of time. Most escape rooms are cooperative, although there are a few competitive options too. Oxford offers several excellent escape rooms and challenges. This is the complete list and our review of each.
What is a Escape Room?
The participants in a escape room play usually as a cooperative team. There are different rules for each location, but you usually have a fictional location like a prison cell, a space station, or a dungeon, and challenges related to it. The game usually begins with a brief introduction to the rules and what you are required to do to win (for example, steal the Queen’s jewels and escape the room!). After a short briefing, everyone enters a room area and a clock is started. The time to finish a room is usually 45 to 60 minutes. Different puzzles allow the players to progress the game. These are usually more mental than physical. Different skills can be required for different puzzles – for example, mathematics, geography, and logic. If players get stuck, they can usually ask for hints from a gamemaster. If players achieve the goal within the time limit, they win!
Why Are Escape Rooms So Popular?
Escape rooms first became popular in Europe, North America and East Asia in the 2010s. Many were inspired by “escape-the-room”-style videogames. Although this informally became their name (escape games, room escapes, live escapes, etc), not all of them require you to find the exit. Escape games are also not necessarily confined to the room, as we will see in this article.
Oxford's Most Poplar Escape Rooms
Clue the Looking Glass
Alice is missing Nobody knows where she is. Or do they? Clue the Looking Glass is an outdoor escape room in Oxford. You have to follow an immersive adventure based in a treasure trail style. During your experience, you will interact with real characters and enjoy humorous moments. You can play in teams of 2 to 5 people. This outdoors escape room combines the thrills and puzzles of a typical exit room with an adventure you can follow using your phone. This game is perfect for friends, families, and team-building events.
Learn more: https://www.solvethecity.co.uk/oxford/
Escape Hunt Oxford
Escape Hunt offers several escape room experiences and outdoor adventures packed with excitement. Their escape rooms right now are: Doctor Who World Collide, Blackbeard’s Treasure, The Fourth Samurai, Escape the Wild West, and Alice in Puzzleland. The outdoor adventures are Time Cops, Operation Mindfall, and Magic Portal. These rooms are perfectly executed, original, and perfect for birthdays, stag & hen does, and team building events in Oxford.
Learn more: https://escapehunt.com/uk/oxford
City Mazes Escape Rooms Oxford
Work as a team to solve puzzles and search for clues in a bid to beat the clock in Oxford’s City Mazes escape rooms. Their experiences are suitable for 2 to 10 people (aged 9+) and for all skill levels. Their Oxford escape rooms include: Professors Predicament (skill level 4/5, follow the spiders to save the wizarding world!), Operation Spaced X (skill level 4/5), Star Breaker (skill level 5/5, deal with the cosmos!), Hostage Hostel II (4/5, players 12+ years old), and Atomic Agency (4/5, set in the 1960s).
Learn more: https://citymazes.com/oxford
