Spring 2023 is finally here, and with it comes a fresh crop of tabletop games ready to take the world by storm. But there’s one genre that’s been steadily rising in popularity and creativity: puzzle games. From collaborative escape room experiences to head-scratching solo challenges, these games are proving that there’s more to the tabletop world than just rolling dice and moving pieces.
And where better to find these innovative and engaging puzzle games than on Kickstarter? Crowdfunding has become the go-to platform for independent designers and publishers looking to bring their ideas to life. With its passionate community of backers and the ability to fund projects directly, Kickstarter has become a hotbed of creativity in the gaming industry. So let’s dive into some of the most exciting puzzle game Kickstarters we’re looking forward to in Spring 2023!
From Enigmailed (one of our absolute favourite creators) comes a new experience: Escape the Book Nook. A miniature diorama escape room that snugly fits on your bookshelf. Escape the Book Nook is due to launch on Kickstarter some time in May.
Launching at the end of March, Dysturbia is a trio of play-at-home puzzle projects from homunculus SPIEL. Choose from a book, an advent calendar, or a weekly calendar, and unravel the mystery solo or with friends. You can learn more about the games, and this upcoming Kickstarter from their website here.
Missed Tale of Ord? Yeah, us too. But fear not – the original creator of the rare and expensive experience are working on a Remastered edition, called Threads of Fate: A Puzzle Tale. Little is known about this Kickstarter, except that it’ll launch some time in April.
From murder mystery company, A Killing Affair, comes a murder mystery game ‘from beyond the grave’. Unlike a classic murder mystery, Blind Faith will be a tabletop game containing evidence players must sort through and solve to ‘crack the case’. We’re intrigued! Blind Faith launches Tuesday 21st March. Get in early to secure an earlybird bonus.
Not as much is known about the latest Detective Society project, since it was officially announced 6 months ago in October 2022, but we’re excitedly awaiting more news about it soon. The Detective Society are best known for their murder mystery series, and a few smaller, family games launched on Kickstarter in the years that followed.
Have we missed one you’re excited for? Let us know in the comments!
If you’re still reeling from missing Puzzletember (yep, me too), fear not! Sherlocked have just announced the launch of another fun puzzle activity taking place on their social media from now until the end of the year.
To celebrate the launch of their upcoming in-person escape room “The Alchemist” in Amsterdam, these 6 puzzles will be dropping every Thursday at 5pm UK time on Instagram.
6 puzzles, over 6 weeks… And MORE than 6 fantastic prizes to be won.
Each week there are two chances to win a prize:
For the first to solve, immortal glory!
One speedy solver will have their name immortalised in the new escape escape room
Randomly selected, a special puzzle game, including:
In addition to the weekly prizes, one player who submits the answer to the final seventh puzzle will receive VIP tickets to play The Alchemist, including a behind the scenes pass and a stay at a local hotel, the Zoku, in Amsterdam.
This week, a teaser puzzle went live. Whilst there’s no prize for it, successfully solving it will give you a clue as to what to expect from the rest of the series. Give it a go by tapping the link below:
How to Take Part
To take part, sign up at sherlocked.nl/alchemist and set a reminder over on Instagram. This way you’ll be notified when each puzzle goes live and be in with a chance of winning that first to solve prize.
Calling all escape room enthusiasts! ER Champ is BACK for 2022. It’s bigger and better than ever, and team The Escape Roomer cannot wait.
What is ER Champ?
The Escape Room Championship (or ER Champ for short) is an annual escape room championship crowning the world’s best escape room players. Since the lockdown, the competition has pivoted from it’s in-person origins in Poland, to a digital event anyone can play from anywhere in the world. Instead of locks and keys, the puzzles are cerebral and require pointing and clicking, deciphering passwords, and inputting data into your browser to ‘escape’.
Throughout the ER Champ, thousands of teams of 2 – 4 players compete for the fastest time over a series of eliminations, then the finale. This year an estimated 800 teams will compete for the title, but only 100 of the fastest teams will make it through from eliminations to the finale. Competition is tough!
Last year in 2021, 823 teams took part but CKCOS from Taiwan won, with two Japanese teams taking second and third place. Sadly, none of the teams from The Escape Roomer made the finale. But perhaps the real finale was the friends we made along the way- or perhaps we’re just going to double down on our efforts for this year.
Want to take us, and 800+ other teams on? You can sign up right now. Participation is completely free and can be done at any time by heading to the ER Champ website.
ER Champ Dates for your Diary
Make a note now! There are two rounds to the ER Champ and you won’t want to miss it.
ER Champ Pre-Game Livestream: November 5th 2022 at 3:30 PM UTC
ER Champ Elimination Competition: November 5th 2022
ER Champ Finale Competition: November 26th 2022
ER Champ Winners Announced: November 30th 2022
ER Champ 2022 Prizes
This year the first, second and third placed teams can enjoy the following prizes.
1st Place: A set of Nintendo Switch Lite consoles and $200 voucher at Board & Dice
Why are we The Escape Roomer, writing an article about the best things to do in London which AREN’T escape rooms? Probably for the same reason as you’re reading this – we have all been burdened with various friends, relatives, and co-workers who want to do ‘something fun’ in the city, but aren’t that into escape rooms! Can you believe it?
Not to worry though – we have you covered. Here are our top 10 things to do in the capital in the summer of 2022 that will scratch that immersive, co-operative itch for you, without resorting to locking your loved ones in a room for an hour.
First up…
Monopoly Lifesized
Image (c) Monopoly Lifesized
I’m personally not a fan of Monopoly – it’s one of my least favourite games and I can’t think of the last time I played an actual game. However, Monopoly Lifesized is in fact nothing like monopoly… Or at least it has none of the bad parts.
For starters, the board has been grown to actual size but reduced to only 12 properties. You play as a team of up to 6, facing up to 3 other teams. Every other turn you role the dice, land on a property, and enter the mini-room to complete a challenge! These challenges are very escape room-esque and vary square to square. Unlike other experiences you may be familiar with, you have a decent amount of time to play and enjoy these – and get your head around them! Plus did we mention there’s a themed bar and restaurant on-site?
We had an absolute blast and will definitely be returning. The only downside? The price runs a little high when compared to escape rooms, and given the experience is still only an hour.
The Grid is what you get when you cross an escape room with cocktails and honestly, what’s not to love?! Our Chief Mairi recently visited this mashup from We Are Lollipop, and you can read our glowing review here! There are many similar cocktail/puzzle experiences across London for example the recently opened H-Division, but The Grid is our favourite and is as close to a physical escape room you can get. It’s got an underground rabbit warren of cyberpunk-like environments, wacky bubbling cocktails, a host of brilliant characters, and a slide.
Location: Southwark
Price: From £32 per person, which includes 2 cocktails and a welcome drink of your choice each!
One of our favourite things to do in London on a sunny day is an outdoor puzzle trail. We recently covered off our favourites in a post here, so for the purposes of this article we’ll just mention one of our personal favourites – Hidden City. These are the first trails I did pre-pandemic and I love everything about them… From discovering hidden facets of busy streets, to exploring completely new areas where there’s is mystery around every corner.
I particularly enjoy Hidden City for how they integrate the real world into their trails and the style of puzzles. Plus they almost always offer a delicious treat for teams who manage to solve all the puzzles and make it to the finish line. If you’ve only got a day or two in London and want to be guided around by Sherlock Holmes or an Evil Queen whilst exploring the great outdoors, then look no further.
If you prefer something a little less active, why not try out one of the many board game cafés London has dotted around. The best known and one of my personal favourites is Draughts Waterloo. Based in Leake Street tunnels, Draughts is perfectly placed for transport, serves some delicious food and drinks and have quite literally hundreds of games in their library. I love the atmosphere here, and it’s one of my favourite places for a fun time with friends. When you visit, be sure to ask them what puzzle games they have available! Draughts’ second venue is located in Hackney.
Board games not your thing? Prefer something a little more active? Then you should check out Electric Gamebox! Electric Gamebox have absolutely exploded in size recently. Going from one small venue in London Southbank to hundreds across the UK and the USA. The Southbank venue has a special place in our heart as it’s the venue we’ve played at, but wherever your nearest site is located you’ll be sure to find an excellent a variety of games, from puzzles to physical, all played out in a 3D space using a visor. We had great fun making absolute fools of ourselves and we were all kept on our toes throughout.
Location: Southbank or Wandsworth
Price: From £11 for children, £16 for adults (Off-peak)
Take things a step further and go fully immersive in VR. Otherworld is my favourite VR venue – the location is suitably sci-fi themed, with individual pods and even fancy Japanese toilets. It’s an excellent spot to take larger groups and there’s sure to be something for everyone. There are an abundance of games to play from first-person shooters to relaxing painting games and even some puzzle games. If VR is your thing then they also offer a loyalty programme where you can convert your virtual points for real-world food and drinks! Closer to Battersea, you can also check out DNA VR. A similar concept, and just as fun for a trip to a fantastical alternate world.
If you’re looking for something even more unique and varied, check out ‘SENSAS’. This is a multi-sensory experience where for two hours, you will embark on a series of challenges like nothing else in the world. Whilst nothing like an escape room, you’ll certainly be pushed to your limits with a series of zones all designed to test your senses: Taste, Touch, Smell, Sight and Sound. Was it fun? Did we have a good time? Would we recommend it? The answer to all of these questions with SENSAS is a resounding YES. In addition, by surpassing yourself, you will collect a number of SENSAS Charms which will be converted into a donation that SENSAS makes for its partner charity supporting people with disabilities. Have fun and do good in the world? We love it.
If you’re looking for something similar but more relaxed, why not head to Dreamachine – similarly touted as an immersive, sensory experience, but for this one only your mind will be moving!
London is well known for the West End, so if you’re looking for a perfect non-escape room activity, you can’t go wrong by heading to see a show! To appeal to your sense of mystery, we recommend the world’s longest-running play: The Mousetrap. This is the classic murder-mystery play, written by the Queen of Murder Mystery herself.
If you prefer your mystery plays even more interactive, we also recommend another Agatha Christie play – ‘Witness for the Prosecution‘, which brings the audience into the play via the set design.
Finally, if something a bit more light-hearted (and family-friendly) is what you’re looking for I highly recommend checking out ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ – one of the funniest and cleverest plays out there. Fun fact; one of the original creators is also one of the creators of ‘The Mystery Agency‘ play-at-home escape rooms!
Evans & Peel Detective Agency
Photo (c) Evans and Peel Detective Agency
If you want drinks with a side of deception, Evans & Peel is the place for you! This is possibly one of the best speakeasies in London (and their website boasts that they serve they officially serve the World’s Best Old Fashioned – we can attest, it’s delicious!), but still a relatively unknown hidden gem for many! Put on your best dress and conjure up an excellent case to take to the detectives and if they deem it interesting enough, the bookcase will swing out and you’ll be invited into the hidden bar. When we visited, we took the case of the missing whiskey bottle and pointed the finger at the second group of friends joining us. You can either choose to do nothing more than enjoy the atmosphere, live music and refreshments, or throw yourself head first into the ‘mystery’ you’ve created by interacting with the hosts, the detectives and other visitors around you.
Immersive theatre isn’t everyone’s cup of tea but there’s no doubting that there are some outstanding immersive theatre events taking place in London this summer. We’re particularly looking forward to Phantom Peak, the wild west town with a mystery that’s due to open in August. If that’s not your thing, over in the centre of Camden Market you’ll find Tomb Raider: The Live Experience inspired by the infamous Lara Croft video games (though take note, it’s heavy on physical activity and light on puzzles). At the Tower of London there’s a brand new immersive experience by the creators of the brilliant War of the Worlds Immersive, this time themed around Guy Fawkes and called The Gunpower Plot featuring Tom Felton! Finally, one of the highest-rated companies, Punchdrunk, is back with their Trojan-inspired experience. You can’t go wrong with Punchdrunk, so it’s sure to be something special.
With that, we conclude our roundup of the best non-escape room things do to in London this summer.
Have we missed your favourite activity? Let us know in the comments below.
If any of your local escape rooms or VR cafes offer “VR escape rooms”, there’s a chance you’ll have spotted a game or two by the video game developer, Ubisoft. Well known in our industry for creating the (fantastic) Beyond Medusa’s Gate, The Dagger of Time and Escape the Lost Pyramid, Ubisoft have a reputation for high quality, cinematic escape experiences set in the video game universe(s) of Assassin’s Creed and Prince of Persia. Which is why when they announced last month that their newest VR escape room experience was set in present day France, we were surprised! Surprised, but still excited.
Save Notre Dame on Fire
In 2019 the Notre Dame cathedral in the centre of Paris, France caught fire and was almost destroyed by the blaze that lasted 15 hours. In their latest adventure, Save Notre Dame on Fire, Ubisoft have created a virtual reality puzzle experience that puts players in the shoes of the first responders and firefighters who were sent to the scene to put out the flames and save the historic building.
The player’s mission (should they choose to accept it), is to venture into the building and recover the “crown of thorns”, an incredibly precious relic stored within.
Where previous games in the Ubisoft VR experience were based on video games, this one is based on the film “Notre-Dame On Fire” by Jean-Jacques Annaud. The experience is supported by first hand accounts of the firefighters on the scene, and experts on the building’s architecture, history, and the events that unfolded in 2019.
After extensively researching the Notre Dame’s structure in order to recreate the building in Assassin’s Creed Unity, the video game developer had been actively involved in the reconstruction effort. After hearing of this, the film’s director Jean-Jacques Annaud contacted Ubisoft with a proposal to use their vast library on Notre Dame to create a new kind of virtual reality experience.
In an interview, Ubisoft’s Senior Vice President Deborah Papiernik explained that the company made the choice to create the game as an escape room VR experience rather than an at-home VR experience as a move to bring the game to the general public. She explained,
“Home VR is still growing, and we wanted to do something for the larger public… The social aspect is central to the experience”.
This also ensures that players who don’t have at-home VR equipment can still head to their local escape room and experience the game.
On Ubisoft’s website, they indicate that part of the profits will be contributed to the Notre Dame’s reconstruction:
“Part of the benefits will be donated to the organization in charge or reconstructing Notre-Dame de Paris, giving everyone a chance to contribute to its rebirth.”
Solve Puzzles, Escape the Building
Save Notre Dame on Fire is a virtual reality experience for 2 – 4 players and will last up to 1 hour long. Unlike traditional escape rooms however, there’s no timer. No big clock looming over the team. Instead players will be forced to work fast on their feet as the building quite literally collapses around them. Players will not only solve puzzles to rescue the crown of thorns, but they’ll also need to work together to extinguish the flames and escape the building once they’ve recovered the precious relic.
Throughout the game payers will explore the choir with the altar, the transept, the gallery of Chimeras, and the bell tower. Players will be expected to climb, run, jump, toggle switches, and use everything they can find to navigate the space. In deciding where to send the players around the physical experience, Papiernik recounted a story of one of the firefighter’s experience. He had grabbed the crown of thorns where it was exhibited, made it out, and then the cathedral told them “That’s not the real one, that’s the copy”.
“The real [crown of thorns] was hidden in a safe, unknown to most people, and retrieving it proved to be a puzzle worthy of an escape game!”
Where to Play Save Notre Dame on Fire
Presently, it is the intention of Ubisoft that the new game, Save Notre Dame on Fire will be a game available at all existing escape room and VR venues that offer Ubisoft escape games. This roll out has begun with a few companies around the UK already offering the new game, including Chesterfield VR. We expect to see the name pop up at a lot more escape rooms around the company, and if in doubt you can check out the full list on Ubisoft’s website here.
Today is launch day of the much anticipated ‘Cerebral Puzzle Showcase‘! Here at The Escape Roomer, we absolutely love a good puzzle game, and this Steam showcase is absolutely packed with them. Running from the 19th to 23rd May this showcase is full of demos, livestreams, and even discounts for plenty of games that are designed to make you think!
Dungeon and Puzzles is a dungeon adventure themed Sokoban game. The movement and direction are restricted, and the adventurer’s ability can be changed by equipment at hand. Think through every step, destroy every monster and find a way to the end of the dungeon where the treasure awaits.
Why we’re excited: We love a dungeon crawler, but the added puzzle aspect takes this to the next level! This game has what you’d expect of a dungeon games – dungeons, monsters, and weapons! However, you really have to think through your decisions based on the movement and abilities they grant.
A critically acclaimed roguelite where you can REWIND to find the optimal path through monsters, treasure and secrets. Quick to play. No grinding. No filler. Deep gameplay.
Why we’re excited: This is a dungeon crawler with less emphasis on the ‘crawling’ – instead of repeatedly dying, reloading, dying reloading…in ‘Dungeon Rescue’ the whole point is to rewind time and do it better, which is a great concept and very ‘Groundhog Day’! Also, you’re a dog. What could be better?
The ground starts shaking, light bulbs are breaking – and something rather unusual is happening right behind the walls of your very room. Equipped with nothing but wit and courage, you slowly descend into a world inhabited by avian folk and seemingly deadly furniture monsters.
Why we’re excited: From cute to creepy, this game is a quintessential point and click with a touch of unnerving!
A difficult puzzle game about isolating yourself. Build a safe place, huddle up and get cozy.
Why we’re excited: This is the introvert’s dream. This whole game asks you to rearrange the room to create a little hiding spot for yourself. Sounds simple right? It seems like there is a lot more to this game than it appears!
Moncage is a unique puzzle adventure game where you explore a fascinating world trapped inside a mysterious cube. With each face displaying a unique scene, you’ll have to leverage the illusions and discover the hidden links to solve the puzzle.
Why we’re excited: Everything revolves around you… Revolving a cube, which sounds simple but the beautiful scenes within and how they interact with each other is bound to get your scratching your head pretty quickly!
Carto is a charming adventure game wrapped around a unique, world-altering puzzle mechanic. Use this power to explore mysterious lands, help a quirky cast of characters, and guide Carto on her journey back to her family.
Why we’re excited: We love the cute art style and story mixed with interesting puzzle and adventure elements!
Yugo Puzzle is a minimalistic, challenging, and satisfying puzzle game. You move jelly blocks left and right to combine them with the same color. It may sound easy, but it can be challenging. Enjoy lots of mind-blowing moments.
Why we’re excited: Sometimes the most simple-looking games have the most interesting mechanics, and we’re looking forward to getting our head around this one!
You can sign up for all the news about the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase this week by heading to the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase website. Check out this post to read our top 8 new releases of the showcase, and keep an eye out for another up-coming post where we’ll be detailing some of the fan favourite games in the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase.
Here at The Escape Roomer we’re no stranger to puzzles no matter the form – room, box...or treasure hunt?
Last year Alex Horne released the fantastically titled ‘Bring Me The Head Of The Taskmaster‘ book and with it launched a global treasure hunt that has taken over hundreds of minds globally, as well as spawning a Reddit community and, naturally, a few of us here have also been obsessed.
It turns out that Alex is a very lovely man – each month he hosts a Zoom for those treasure hunters who crack the code, and has kindly allowed us to send him some questions of our own!
Hello Alex! Thank you for taking a break from a busy day of assisting to answer some eager questions from us, and congrats on your recent awards! We have been avidly following the Taskmaster Treasure hunt and would love to know how you came up with the idea?
I’ve always enjoyed treasure hunts, inspired, I think, by Easter Egg hunts as a kid. I like chocolate. A lot. I also like interactive things like Escape Rooms and The Crystal Maze. So it was a fairly short leap to get to making a Taskmaster Treasure Hunt. I must admit, however, that I didn’t know about Masquerade when I thought of the idea. I genuinely thought I was the first person to put a treasure hunt in a book!
How long did it take to create the treasure hunt?
It took about a year of lockdown. It was a useful distraction for me and, I hope, my two helpers, Dan Trelfer and Owen Powell. We would send ideas back and forth, stretching our brains and confirming if things worked or didn’t.
👆 Dan Trelfer & Alex Horne on Dan’s Vlog 👆
How did you come up with the puzzles? Are there any you’ve had to change as the hunt progressed?
I suppose I came up with the puzzles in the same way as I come up with Tasks from the show – I shut my eyes and hope for the best. There’s no plan or formula. They just sort of fall out of my brain. And ever since we left the confines of the grid in the book, we’ve been super-flexible. Readers have been far smarter than we gave them credit for so we’ve had to adapt every single time another clue is needed.
Has anything surprised you about the hunt?
I couldn’t believe how quickly people solved the 100 questions in the book. Unbelievable. I expected people to help each other on things like Reddit, but I was definitely – and pleasantly – surprised by just how far and wide the hunters would be spread. I’ve been in touch with people from every continent.
Bring Me the Head of the Taskmaster community
What’s been your favourite experience from the Treasure Hunt so far?
I host a zoom once a month for people who’ve found the details for that. It’s really fun to meet people who have invested so much time into something so silly.
Is there anything you didn’t manage to squeeze in that you wish you had?
No! It’s all there! My only regret is that I haven’t been able to film the whole thing because there have been some fantastic visual moments.
Is it too late to join the hunt?
Absolutely not! There are people joining all the time and everything is still possible to solve.
Do you have any advice for puzzle-makers out there?
Find a friend to test your puzzles on. You WILL make mistakes! You need to check and check again. Finally, be ambitious!
The hunt is quite puzzle-y, so you must also enjoy escape rooms, right?
My family and I love escape rooms. They bring the best and worst out of us, but they are always a valuable experience.
What’s the best/most enjoyable escape room experience you’ve had?
We spent a wet few days in Galway before the lockdown and the escape rooms meant it was one of our favourite ever holidays. They were simply laid out but well planned and brilliantly run. Also, we escaped (after just a couple of hints!)
If you had a magic wand (or an Assistant’s Assistant) what sort of escape room would you love to experience?
I’d like to go in an escape room set on the moon please.
You’ve just launched Taskmaster Supermax +, which is the first time a television show has essentially launched its own worldwide streaming service. Can you tell us a bit more about what to expect?
Well, it’s a curious experiment but the main idea is that it’ll be the ad-free home for all things Taskmaster. We will keep putting things up on Youtube, but EVERYTHING will eventually be on the Supermax+ platform: the international shows, extras, bespoke content and, of course, every single episode ever.
So you’ve got the Taskmaster Treasure Hunt, Taskmaster TV show, and The Horne Section…what’s coming next?
I’m literally going on holiday in 4 hours. I can’t wait – and nor can my wife!
Thank you so much for your time Alex! We hop you have a well deserved holiday! There is still time to get your hands on the book and join in the hunt, or just try out some of the challenges!
Hopefully The Escape Roomer team will soon be the owners of a silver bust… 😉
For the past six months something very exciting has been brewing among some of our favourite escape room creators. We’d heard rumours- well no, more like whispers that a mysterious book like no other was being written by an A-team of puzzle creators.
So when the news of “The Book of Dreams: A Puzzle Anthology” finally dropped, we could not wait to find out more! But the wait is nearly over, as it’s with great excitement that we announce the Book of Dreams launches on Indiegogo on the 17th of March 2022 at 6.30PM GMT.
Intended as a “love letter” to the global escape room community, twelve respected puzzle game and escape room creators have come together to make one fantastic story told across twelve parts and absolutely packed with puzzles.
No matter your experience level, the Book of Dreams has been designed to suite players of all puzzling prowess. So there’s quite literally, something for everyone!
The story of The Book of Dreams follows Lucy, a young girl who becomes trapped inside her dreams. Just like any great adventure, our hero must travel through each of the dreams and solve the riddles and puzzles in order to escape her sleepy fate.
“Once upon a time, on a warm summer evening, that seemed like any other evening that came before it, 10 year old Lucy climbed into bed. After a long and exciting day, she was ready for a long rest, and fell asleep, Little did she know, that her adventure was just about to begin”
Above: The team at Sherlocked showing off the Augmented Reality aspects of their chapter.
Meet The Team Behind The Book of Dreams
The Book of Dreams has been produced by Lee Ballan and created by twelve creators from around the world. Each creator represents something unique about the escape room industry – whether it be digital games, online puzzle hunts, physical, award winning escape rooms, or tabletop puzzle games.
All connected with their immense love of this industry of ours!
Meet…
Anna and Ace Ellett – BlueFish Games Errol Elumir – Cryptex Hunt Phil Hill – Cryptic Enigmas Charlie Bond and James Hamer-Morton – Deadlocked Khiara Foss and Logan Giannini – Enigma Emporium Summer Herrick – Locurio Elyssa and James Warner – Paruzal Games Rita Orlov – PostCurious Anna Lysova and Lisa Levina – Scarlet Envelope Francine Book, Victor Van Doorn and Terry Brochard – Sherlocked Nick Moran – Time Run, Spectre & Vox Midnight Quests – The Pyramid
100% Profits Donated to Doctors Without Borders
Initially the project was planned to be announced later in the year, but the creators have decided that because of the situation in Ukraine, the project is being pulled forward in order to donate 100% of the profits to Doctors Without Borders.
Doctors Without Borders are an international, medical humanitarian organisation working in more than 70 countries around the world. Their medical teams act fast to save people’s lives in conflict zones, natural disasters and epidemics – including in Ukraine.
How to get involved
The Indiegogo campaign goes live today, and you can head to the page here or “Like” their Facebook page to receive all updates on the project.
Here at The Escape Roomer, we cannot wait to pledge and learn more about the project as it unfolds! See you in your dreams, puzzlers…
With just under two months to go until the Lara Croft themed Tomb Raider: The LIVE Experience launches in London and let me tell you we are so darn excited! Which is why when a nine feet tall statue of Lara Croft herself popped up in Camden, just outside one of our local haunts, the countdown well and truly began!
“Standingself-assured at the entrance to the attraction, we hope Lara Croft inspires people to embrace their own spirit of adventure as they take on the LIVE Experience.”
Dallas Dickinson, Franchise General Manager for Tomb Raider at Crystal Dynamics
The new statue is a little taste of what to come, and incorporates the hero of the experience, archaeologist Lara Croft in all her glory. With iconic plaited hair and double pistol holders, I’m immediately transported to falling off cliffs over and over again in the early 00s on my first console.
She’s been built in collaboration with Crystal Dynamics and made entirely from sandstone, fitting the style of new experience launching in Stables Market later in the year.
CREDIT: LITTLE LION ENTERTAINMENT
About Tomb Rader: The LIVE Experience
Tomb Raider: The LIVE Experience is an immersive experience like no other launching in April 2022. Created by Little Lion Entertainment in collaboration with Paramount Pictures and Square Enix, the experience brings to life the feeling of playing the famous adventure games for up to 8 players at a time. So far we know there’ll be portions of the experience taking place on on a sinking ship, in the jungles of Costa Rica, hunting for treasure in an ancient tomb, and of course be absolutely packed with puzzles. It sounds like pretty much all you want out of an escape room but with that huge production value we expect (and love) from the creators!
Little Lion Entertainment are best known as the creative team behind one of London’s most popular attractions: The Crystal Maze Experience. Their newest experience will have the same adrenaline fueled energy but will be stepped within the lore of one of the best known gaming franchises.
Whilst not a lot is known about the experience just yet, some of the early concept sketches have been released to the public. From these, we can spot some of our favourite levels and environments and can’t wait to see the full thing in person.
CREDIT: LITTLE LION ENTERTAINMENTCREDIT: LITTLE LION ENTERTAINMENT
Tickets to Tomb Raider: The LIVE Experience start at £66 per person. They are on sale now and can be purchased by visiting www.tombraiderlive.co.uk
Today, treasure hunters in London have a brand new challenge to get stuck into: The Pouroboros Hoard! It’s been a fair few months (or years even) that we’ve had a fun real-life puzzle hunt to get our teeth stuck into. I blame the pandemic. But with spring on the horizon and lockdown finally eased in the UK, bright things may be ahead.
The adventure is brought to you by Enigmailed in support of their upcoming Kickstarter launch, Notable Remains.
The Pouroboros Hoard is a collection of genuine Roman coins, stowed within a unique wooden chest. You need to identify the hiding point of the hoard (which has been signposted) which is in a public space within three miles of Trafalgar Square.
Enigmailed
The new challenge follows the success of the company’s previous Kickstarter: Pouroboros and takes players across iconic locations in London in search of the treasure. However, players can still take part from anywhere in the world (and win!) without having boots on the ground in the UK’s capital.
The best part? More coins will be added over the course of the hunt for each week the treasure remains undiscovered!
The treasure hunt is a series of clues using what3words to encode nine unique locations within London. Once players have cracked the codes and identified all nine locations, the next step is to triangulate the information to reveal the mysterious location of the Pouroboros Hoard.
The nine locations are identified by playing Pouroboros game, which was released this month after the successful Kickstarter run. Whilst this may give early backers a little head start – anybody can get started for free by heading to this link here.
The first person to correctly identify the location of the treasure in an email will win the Pouroboros Hoard! That winner (and the answer) will be publicly announced at the beginning of the Notable Remains Kickstarter.
About Notable Remains Kickstarter
Not a lot is known about Notable Remains Kickstarter yet besides a tantalising image and description, but the countdown is now officially on. What we do know is that it;ll involve maps, remote islands, and of course: treasure!
You can follow their Kickstarter by heading to this link here.
Challenge Accepted!
If yo’re itching to get started and don’t want to wait a single second more, here’s the TLDR handily prepared by Enigmailed:
