Escape Reality Glasgow: Conspiracy | Review

Escape Reality Glasgow: Conspiracy Review | You have arrived at the apartment of your friend, Richie Walsh, who you have not heard from for several days. He has always been interested in extra-terrestrial activity and the like, but upon arriving it is clear that things have gotten out of hand. As you explore his flat, you learn the extent of the vast and insidious conspiracy, and Walsh’s inadvertent involvement in it. It becomes apparent that he has been abducted by someone, aliens or otherwise – who seek to whisk away anyone who knows of their existence – including you!

Date Played: June 2024
Time Taken: 26:10
Number of Players: 3
Difficulty: Easy

I am once again both surprised and delighted to be able to wholeheartedly recommend an Escape Reality game. Conspiracy isn’t just fun, it’s also packed with charm and clever moments. A good story, plenty of hidden details and fun little puzzle moments. In short, it’s a hidden gem and it gets a big round of applause from me.

Okay, so the fact I’m only now playing a whole two years after it opened is my bad. Conspiracy has actually been recommended to me many times, including way back in 2022 when it first opened (and when I first moved up to Scotland). Each time I was like “meh, I’ll play it one day“. To be blunt, Escape Reality just wasn’t that high up on my list of escape rooms. I’m glad that changed though. Fast forward to today, where it isn’t an afterthought but the whole reason we planned a mini escape room trip to Glasgow.

So what exactly is Conspiracy?

Conspiracy is the second-newest game, after Star Crew, at Escape Reality Glasgow. As I mentioned in my other review, its by a new designer, Fran and their team, who are making waves in the Scottish escape room scene with delightfully inventive and trend-bucking experiences. Conspiracy is the first of the “new games” (followed by Star Crew and Ritual in Edinburgh) and by extension the room that proved that this specific team was good at designing games. In some ways this means it’s a super inventive, stand out room. The set design and story is wholly original and the puzzles delightful. In other ways, the room holds back it’s punches, it’s aimed at a commercial audience, doesn’t take big risks, and so errs on the side of maybe a little too easy.

What has Richie got himself into now…

In terms of the theme, Conspiracy really shines. Okay so, not news to anybody who regularly reads my reviews but sci-fi is my all time favourite genre of escape rooms… And yet few rooms are able to do it well. Good sci-fi rooms are typically high-tech, and high-tech puzzles have a tendency to get broken and worn very quickly. Conspiracy however perfectly straddles the line of “sci-fi” but is “low tech” meaning it’ll have an impressive longevity.

When you first step into the space you emerge into your friend Richie’s room. Richie is a big sci-fi fan, his walls are plastered with cuttings from newspapers and movie posters. On his shelves are models of sci-fi characters, and several famous spaceships hang from the ceiling. Richie’s room is in short, cool af. I’m glad he’s my friend. Because the room is just your friend’s room, a little wear and tear would be good over time. Even as the escape room opened up into more than just Richie’s room, we were impressed with the scenery and set design. It’s a sci-fi room through and through, but it’s not flashy shiny chrome like you see on the TV. It felt more real and more alive.

You see, Richie is really really into sci-fi. So when he starts talking about aliens, you think “typical Richie lol”. Except this time… He goes missing. More than meets the eye to this mystery? Perhaps. Whatever thread you decide to tug on, it all begins in Richie’s room, sitting at his desk, rifling through his stuff.

As a quick side note: Going back to the subject of wear and tear: When we played, the room had recently been renovated. It’s at this point 2 years old, but I understand we played a new version of it. Exactly what those renovations were wasn’t clear – I looked up reviews of folks who played it pre-renovation and it seems like our experience was more or less the same. So perhaps just minor aesthetic updates. A new lick of paint here, a replastered wall here. My friends at Room Escape Artist recently wrote about the phenomenon of game renewal ahead of a reviewer visiting (not a bad thing, just a thing), but worth mentioning as the room did feel particularly well maintained on our visit.

Solutions in the Sci Fi

In terms of puzzles, I’d say Conspiracy isn’t particularly challenging. The game is probably best played at a more relaxed pace taking time to understand the story and admire the environment than racing through. In terms of that gameplay, it unfolds in equal parts linear and non-linear. Some moments the three of us needed to work together, and other times we split up working on separate things.

In terms of clue delivery, as with all Escape Reality games, you can request a clue via the iPad. We didn’t use the iPad at any time during the game but we did opt for an (optional) clue at the beginning of the game to get us started. This clue was delivered as a part of our briefing into the room by our Games Master who, by the way, was one of the designers herself, Fran.

If I had only one criticism it’s that we flew through the room way too quickly. It’s just a shorter room, that’s for sure. I also got this impression from the other Escape Reality Glasgow game we played, Star Crew, which we finished in a near-record 26:35. The non-linear parts likely contributed to our particular team racing through this in under 30 minutes. That and there was one moment where we solved a puzzle and did not need to use the solution anywhere since we’d already moved past it.

If I were to recommend this to enthusiasts I might gently suggest they see if they can play Conspiracy and Star Crew to back almost like a prequel-sequel thing. Putting the two rooms back to back would work thematically, and would make the whole thing feel like one very long room than two short ones. It would depend on the group, but I imagine a good enthusiast group would be out in an hour, maybe an hour thirty tops. Which in my opinion (reeling from several holidays where the rooms averaged 2-3 hours long), is the perfect time to spend in an escape room.

Game Design Credits

Last but not least, Escape Reality Glasgow are diligent about crediting their designers too, something I wish more escape rooms would do. With that in mind, I’d love to paste the list of designers as an extra shout out to them:

Writers: Chris, Eithne and Fran
Tech: Nick
Music: Sean Actor
Filming: Richy (Deep Storm Productions)
Decor: Linette (Penney Lane Studios)
Construction and Honourable Mentions: Kit, Ella, Andrew, Richard, Keith, Brian

Escape Reality Glasgow: Conspiracy | The Verdict

So, would I recommend Conspiracy at Escape Reality Glasgow? Yeah. Definitely. Glasgow has a handful of great games and now there is (in my opinion) not one but two at Escape Reality making it well worth the trip. More than that, the team are just really nice. Every time I’ve visited now, despite the slightly corporate lobby and underground space, our Games Masters have always gone above and beyond to make us feel welcome.

This would be an excellent escape room for a newbie team, or an enthusiast looking to impress non-enthusiasts. It showcases some of the very best things that make escape rooms so damn fun. If you prefer to play with an enthusiast group, I’d suggest pairing it with Star Crew.

In terms of nearby food and drinks, Escape Reality Glasgow is located in Merchant Square which has a range of nice good options. It’s also located a 4 minute walk from my favourite bakery of all time – TheDorkyFrench. It also happens to be vegan. So if you’re travelling in specially, then go get a croissant or two and enjoy it on my behalf.

Conspiracy can be played at Escape Reality Glasgow.

Please note, we were not charged for our experience but that has not affected our review.