Who doesn’t love problem solving and being locked in a room in their leisure time? Exactly. Since the escape room phenomenon took off a decade or so ago, the number of places to experience the aforementioned temporary imprisonment has swelled, and now you can choose from a variety of themes, from wild west to zombie apocalypse.
There’s an escape room for everyone, in short, and here are the best in town…
Escape Hunt
Very much a choose your own adventure situation, Escape Hunt at the Corn Exchange has a wealth of escape experience options, from a Doctor Who themed sci-fi puzzler to the hunting down of Blackbeard’s lost treasure. They also do ‘city hunt’ sessions too, in which you’re let loose around town, solving puzzles as you go.
Unit 19, Corn Exchange, Exchange Sq, Manchester M4 3TR
Lucardo
Backdrops at the Lucardo escape room in Ancoats include a spooky orphanage, a classic prison escape, murder mysteries and a gem heist, all under one roof. There’s also a branch over in Rawtenstall.
Virginia House, 5-7 Great Ancoats Street, Manchester M4 5AD / 33-35 Kay St, Rossendale BB4 7LS
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Crystal Maze
Surely the escape room that started it all, this faithful facsimile of the classic Channel 4 puzzle series (Richard O’Brien and his frantic harmonica sadly not included) is a grand day out, with the Medieval, Industrial, Future and Aztec zones to be bested before you’re leaping about in the dome trying to catch flying gold and silver tickets. Would you start the fans please!
St Johns, Lower Byrom St, Manchester M3 4FP
Breakout Manchester
Breakout features a number of scenarios, from a magical emporium, a ‘cursed carnival’, an unsettling motel and a bank robbery, in which you and your party have to find your way into a locked vault and plunder it for cash and valuables.
87 Newton Street, Manchester. M1 1EX.
Escape The Van
While being locked in a van might seem like the beginning of a harrowing movie plot, this mobile escape room will come to you. The story and all the answers are inside this converted van, which can be ordered to your door for escape challenges of varying difficulty. Compete in twos, or in teams, for sessions from 10 to 60 minutes, with themes from World War II code-cracking to a sinister lab.
https://www.escapethevan.co.uk/
DNA VR
Melding virtual reality with mind-bending puzzles, this futuristic escape room has various games to immerse yourself in. You can be an elven assassin, defending a village from an orc invasion, or throw yourself into the zombie apocalypse in a ravaged desert landscape. There are also options to ‘free-roam’, taking in several scenarios in one visit.
30 Brown St, Manchester M2 1DH
Zombie Uprising
An immersive zombie-based experience out in the wilds between Ashton and Oldham, Zombie Uprising is not for the faint of heart. This fast-paced live action situation is more of an escape room run riot, with you and your team evading the undead ‘infected’ and aiming to reclaim the outbreak zones. Exhilarating.
Ashton-under-Lyne, OL7 9RR
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