Mindworks: Trapped for Cash | Review

You’re the contestants on the last ever episode of the smash hit 90s TV game-show, Trapped For Cash… the only show where solving puzzles can earn you big money! In this unique twist on the traditional escape room format, can you escape the final round to walk away with the cash? Featuring everyone’s favourite AI game-show host, Rich Goldman!

Date Played: January 2026
Time Taken: 51 minutes 44 seconds
Number of Players: 4
Difficulty: Hard

After two rooms at Mindworks that had been a bit hit and miss, we moved on to their headline act, Trapped for Cash. This is one of the highest rated rooms in the UK, with a fairly unique concept, and I was excited to see if it lived up to the hype.

Spoiler alert: it absolutely did.

Welcome to the Show

From the moment we arrived, our gamemaster was fantastic. They had perfect energy, stayed in character from the start, and briefed us really well on what was about to happen. The premise is brilliant: you’re contestants on the final episode of a 1990s gameshow, and you need to earn as much money as possible by solving puzzles.

The twist? You have 45 minutes to complete as many puzzles as you can, with each one adding money to your pot. The amounts increase with each puzzle you solve, building the pressure as you go. Then, in the final 15 minutes, that money starts draining away, adding urgency to escape as quickly as possible to save your winnings. I absolutely love this collection style of game. Rather than the traditional focus on escaping as quickly as possible, you’re motivated to work through as many puzzles as you can, which takes away some of the time pressure whilst still keeping things exciting.

The room itself perfectly captures the gameshow theme. The design is spot on, managing to fit an impressive amount into the space whilst making it feel exactly like being on a gameshow set. Our host, Rich Goldman, is an animated AI character who felt alive rather than static. It was fun and well done, adding to the overall atmosphere without being intrusive.

Let’s Play!

The puzzles are where this room really shines. There were lots of them, and every single one was different and unique. More importantly, every puzzle matched the theme and included fun easter eggs and references to classic gameshows. There was a Deal or No Deal puzzle where we had to weigh some of the iconic boxes to determine a code. There was a Blockbusters puzzle. There was an I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here puzzle linked to animals and their prey. The attention to detail and the sheer variety was brilliant, and I found myself grinning at each new reference.

What I particularly appreciated was that each puzzle was pretty easy to figure out what to do, meaning you could put your time into actually solving it rather than standing around trying to work out what you were meant to be doing in the first place. There was also a clear indication of whether each puzzle had been solved correctly, which kept things moving nicely.

For our team of four, the room worked brilliantly. There were two active puzzles at a time, so we split into two pairs and barely spoke to each other throughout the first portion. Everyone was constantly engaged and working on something, which is exactly what you want. The only slight technical issue was that sometimes it wasn’t completely clear which puzzle had been triggered, but this was a minor hiccup in an otherwise seamless experience.

We walked away with £201,107 out of a possible £250,000, and were told we were only the third team ever to complete every puzzle in the first portion. I’ll admit I was quite proud of that!

The Final Round

The final 15 minutes were more challenging, but in a slightly different way. The space became much more cramped and linear, meaning we were all working together on the same task rather than splitting up as we had been. It was also harder to figure out what we were meant to do. We’d actually figured out what was required fairly quickly, but then physically struggled to do it. We felt like we would have had to put in more than reasonable effort to complete the task, which is often a sign that you’re doing something wrong. Despite the great vibes throughout the rest of the experience, there wasn’t really a big moment at the end either, which felt a little anticlimactic after such a fun build up.

Accessibility

This room is not accessible. It’s located up some steep stairs and requires a lot of bending to reach lower puzzles. There is a crawling section for one puzzle which is also dark, though only one person needs to do this. There are at least two colour based puzzles and one audio puzzle, but again only one person needs to complete these sections.

Trapped for Cash | The Verdict

This is one of the best rooms I’ve played for a while, and for good reason. The gameshow theme is really fun and executed perfectly, with tons of easter eggs and references that made me smile throughout. The collection style gameplay kept all four of us engaged and busy, and the sheer variety and quality of the puzzles was impressive. Our gamemaster brought excellent energy to the whole experience, and the set design made brilliant use of the available space.

At thirty pounds per person, with a discount for booking multiple rooms, I think this is definitely worth it and I’d highly recommend this room. I’d even suggest people travel to try it, though perhaps not a huge distance. It’s a brilliant, unique experience that deserves its place among the top rated rooms in the UK. Just don’t expect a huge finale, and be prepared for the final section to be a bit more frustrating than the joyful puzzle solving that precedes it.

Trapped for Cash can be booked in Worthing by heading to Mindworks’ website here.