Let’s face facts: Bristol isn’t as cool as it pretends to be. It’s full of nerds who love board games and jigsaw puzzles—why do you think Chance & Counters has been such a big hit? That’s why we can’t think of a more perfect activity for Bristolians than a head-scratching escape room that demands linking odd connections and seeing things from a new perspective. See if you and your mates have the collective brainpower to defeat all these incredible escape rooms in Bristol in record time.
1. Locked In A Room
I love a company that says what it is in its name. Locked In A Room offers four separate escape rooms on the harbourside – ranging from the difficult to the very, very difficult. Choose between the world-threatening Infinity, time-travelling Parallax, the wild and wonderful Jungle, and Wallace & Gromit’s first-ever escape room!
With identical rooms for each, head-to-head battles offer an unforgettable experience for bigger groups too. But whether it is a corporate event, a friendly stag or a family birthday party, you’ll find a world of tests, puzzles and clues to solve in under 60 minutes. Locked In A Room costs £25 per player (minimum 3 players per team).
2. Bristol City Exploration Game
Think of this as an outdoor escape room around Bristol. You’ve got to work together as a team to solve location-based clues on your phone and unlock secrets of the city in this exploration game. Plus, it’ll take you via Bristol’s best pubs, bars and cafes as you play, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to recharge. To get your tickets for Bristol City Exploration Game – Mystery Walk with Pub & Coffee Stops head here.
3. Houdini’s Escape Room
The world’s greatest escapologist lends his name to this escape room. Located within Tenpin at Avonmeads in Bristol, Houdini’s offers two escape rooms of differing difficulties from £13.50 per player. Can you compete with Harry himself and break free from the constraints of Houdini’s Last Secret? Or swing into to mystery of the Mayans with Temple Raider: Curse of the Golden Idol – which only has a 38% success rate!
4. Escape Rooms Bristol
Escape Rooms Bristol isn’t for the faint of heart. For fans of the Saw series, star in and play out your own horror movie in these award-winning horror escape rooms. It all starts with the first chapter, Hell In A Cell, set in a 19th-century prison cell in the depths of Bristol’s Old Crown Courts, where you’ve been taken prisoner by a sadistic serial killer known as Pig Face.
But, this horrifying, immersive experience now boasts three escape rooms in Bristol including a dystopian future-set The Execution and The Doctor and his twisted experiments. These are easily Bristol’s scariest escape rooms. Can you hold yourself together and prove you’re worthy of freedom in a series of challenging puzzles?
5. Escape Hunt
Whether you’ve always dreamt of being a pirate or a samurai, a Cold War spy or a vampire hunter, Escape Hunt offers a range of exciting themed immersive experiences – including escape rooms and city hunt adventures. You can even test out puzzle-solving abilities from the comfort of your own sofa, with its numerous play-at-home games.
But you’re for escape rooms in Bristol – and you’ll find some of the best at Escape Hunt. You know the drill: Find clues, solve puzzles and escape before the time runs out. But what sets it apart is its in-depth storytelling. Live out your Indy fantasies and race against time to find a lost Aztec diamond, or escape Blackbeard’s ship before it sinks into Davy Jones’s locker.
6. Clue HQ
Describing itself as a ‘live escape game’, Clue HQ is suitable for everyone from hardcore gamers to friendly families. There are three unique escape rooms to choose from: Bunker 38, where you must break out of an underground bunker; The Betrayal of Cluetankhamun, where you delve deep into a long-lost tomb; and a somewhat timely race against time to defeat AI before it defeats us in A-I-9.
7. Riddlr
Riddlr was founded by two puzzle-obsessed friends and boasts four escape rooms – each providing a mix of storytelling, problem-solving, and hands-on interaction. Working as a team, there are a range of themes, difficulties and genres to tackle. Face your fears with horror-filled frights of Séance; head back in time on an 80s-themed adventure with Decade Runner; or sink to the ocean depths with Captain Nemo’s Nautilus. Riddlr also offers several Print-and-Play games full of head-scratching puzzles to solve from the comfort of your own home.
8. City Mazes
With sixty minutes on the clock, City Mazes in Bristol has escape rooms for every age and ability – as you try to escape from an abandoned office, underground bunker or creepy hostel. Best of all, there’s a Stranger Things-inspired escape room that plunges the depths of the Upside Down in this sleepy American suburb.