Secret Studio: The Emerald Phantom | Review

The Emerald Phantom Review | A diva, a director and a deputy stage manager desperately need your help to investigate a peculiar theft – what is happening on the set of The Emerald Phantom?

Date Played: May 2025
Time Taken: ~60 minutes
Number of Players: 4
Difficulty: Moderate

The Emerald Phantom is one of the newest escape rooms in London, and in fact our very own Karen played it a few months earlier when it first opened. Since opening, the team have taken on plenty of feedback  – both constructive and positive – and made The Emerald Phantom a truly great game. So, when I had the opportunity to come down and play it whilst on a London Jolley with my cohosts at The Infinite Escape Room, I was super excited! Our first in-person escape room together, and what a great one to play.

Before we get started on the review, you can listen to the whole episode we produced here:

In it, we interview Oscar and Andrew who were designers and our hosts of the escape room, as well as discuss our thoughts on the room in general.

About The Emerald Phantom

In excellent immersive spirit, the instructions are delivered by email ahead of time – we were to find a certain door, on a certain street, and ask for a certain person at it. Our hosts, the enigmatic Andrew and Oscar greeted us and led us into Secret Studio’s Lobby where, after a quick bathroom break, we were briefed into the room.

Our mission would be simple, to figure out who- or what The Emerald Phantom actually is. Film… Train… Ghost… Person… Or something else entirely. In order to help us out, we were given the secret identities of extra in the play and handed our scripts. It was time to go undercover in The Emerald Phantom.

We were led to a changing room and from here, the game began. Between the four of us, we had our parts to play and quickly found our costumes and our lines. This part seems to be optional- there’s no particular requirement to dress up and act out your lines, but since we had actors with us in our group, we did. And whatsmore, that didn’t detract from the actual puzzling, of which there were plenty.

The Emerald Phantom is a room that balances both puzzles and narrative well. The story is so important to what’s happening, and if you don’t stop to take it all in it might pass you by. But equally there were so many collaborative “aha!” moments that worked well at our team size. We encountered some logical deduction puzzles, some physical puzzles, puzzles that required collaboration across the room, searching and finding puzzles, and so many more. The room similarly balanced technology and padlocks quite well – some really clever moments of tech, and plenty of tactile padlocks too.

In terms of the room’s decor, the room was themed well. It had plenty of authentic, antique-like props. Costumes, to old mirrors, to strange wooden contraptions I can only imagine are involved in film production of old somehow. In fact, one of them we managed to break! Whoops- though don’t worry, not permanently! Having objects that are a little older and rougher around the edges does mean heavy handed players will be more likely to cause damages, but equally the items are meant to look a little well-used. It works with the vibes.

In our experience, we didn’t ask for any clues, so we can’t comment on how the clue system worked, but we felt very well looked after by both our Games Master Oscar, and our host Andrew. In fact, we chatted to them both for a while after (which you can hear in the podcast episode above), and it was fantastic picking their brains inbetween rooms. The two are clearly super passionate about what they do, and it was great picking their brains.

The Emerald Phantom – The Verdict

Secret Studio is one of the first, and best loved escape room companies in London. They’ve been around for a really, really long time, and they work with interesting venues, like the Golden Hinde. So I’m excited for them that they’ve opened something new, but more broadly it’s pretty rare we get a new room opening up in London, and when it’s good it’s a win all round.

However I also appreciate this room might not be for everyone – when another writer at The Escape Roomer played it when it first opened – they didn’t have the best experience. This may be that the room was just not quite ready for players, or it may be that specific parts won’t click with absolutely everyone. The Emerald Phantom is a narrative heavy room, and it’s a little different from anything else you’ll play in the city.

In terms of who I’d recommend this room for, the room is playable by players of any age but the themes are complex, so I’d recommend it for players aged 13 and up. It’s not scary, and there’s only one moment of claustrophobia which can be avoided by players who’d prefer not to.

And did we enjoy it? Absolutely! And so did my team at TIER. A great addition to the London escape room scene, and a solid room in and of itself.

…And what was The Emerald Phantom in the end? Well you’ll just have to go and play yourself to find out!

We were not charged for our experience, but this hasn’t affected the contents of our review in the slightest.

The Emerald Phantom can be booked by heading to Secret Studio’s website here.