When the LeftLion team were invited to Escapologic for a competitive, team-building afternoon, it seemed too good of an opportunity to miss, but what mind-bending and mysterious fun awaited...
Nothing brings a group together like competition…
When the LeftLion office were invited to try the escape rooms at Lister Gate’s Escapologic, some of us thought that we knew what to expect. Over the years, most members of the team have enjoyed one of these team-building, brain-scrambling adventures, sometimes together, but the experience at Escapologic, it turned out, would be a relatively new one.
None of us quite anticipated how downright disorientated we’d be, walking out onto the streets afterwards wondering, quite frankly, what the hell just happened, but knowing that we’d had an excellent time all the same.
One of Nottingham's most prolific escape rooms, Escapologic now boast eleven puzzle rooms in two buildings located on Castle Gate in the centre of the city. You can choose experiences ranging from the historical (Robin of Locks-key), horrifying (The Butcher), futuristic (Epicentre), or freaky (Violet), but running throughout all the rooms is a high attention to detail in both the immersive settings and tricky, inventive puzzles to solve.
Arriving at the venue, we were divided into two teams, with each assigned to a different escape room. A competitive spirit buzzed in the air as we wondered which group would emerge first. Team one, composed of co-founder Jared Wilson, partnerships manager Adam Pickering, head designer Natalie Owen and editorial assistant Caradoc Gayer, were herded into an old-worldly, completely circular, Victorian-era front room. This escape room was called Curio, a mind-bending escapade into the home of Alexander Curio, explorer and eccentric, whose trinkets acquired on his travels, the team was told, had led to strange and surreal happenings in-and-about his house.
After prodding every stuffed bear in the vicinity and ransacking each drawer in sight, they found their way into a slightly bigger and somehow scarier room.
Team two, on the other hand, composed of co-founder Al Gilby, editor Sophie Gargett, head of distribution Dom Martinovs and intern Charlotte Pimm-Smith, found themselves in an abandoned toy shop. This was opening room of Howitz, the old haunt of the enigmatic Eli Howitz, and was undergoing some scary supernatural happenings (which unfortunately left Sophie slightly anxious about loud noises for the rest of the day).
With the door locked behind them, Team Curio were faced with all kinds of machines, puzzles, apparent red-herrings in the circular room, from a radio playing the shipping forecast to a giant, spinnable compass in the corner. After some frantic and slightly directionless searching through drawers and boxes for useful items, they eventually unlocked a secret door to the next room, Adam taking a Victorian flat-cap through with him for good measure.
The Howitz team were faced with flickering lights and eerie, haunting fairground music as they explored the space.
The Howitz team, meanwhile, were faced with flickering lights and eerie, haunting fairground music as they explored the space. After prodding every stuffed bear in the vicinity and ransacking each drawer in sight, they also found their way into another room, this one somehow scarier. After much debate over who would brave crossing the threshold first, Al led the team through the door to face a new challenge.
With the unrelenting clock ticking away, the pressure ramped up as our teams hunted for their clues, each faced with just an hour to complete the whole thing. The Curio Team needed a few disembodied hints from a nearby radio (provided by the lovely Escapalogic staff) to find their way into a third room, which strangely enough adjoined the first. Here they were required to solve a complex puzzle involving a map, to which Jared stepped up to the plate and figured out the solution, more than proving his mettle as LeftLion boss while the other three team members milled about slightly confused.
A room over, Team Howitz tried everything short of bargaining with the spirits to escape the haunted crypt. With walls moving and shelves shifting, they gradually moved closer to freedom—or so they thought. The opening of another door revealed a compact water closet, in which a toilet demanded their sitting down. One by one, the team crossed the doorway into the bathroom and awaited the spirit to deem one of them the ‘Chosen One’ to undertake the next task. Fatefully, fearful intern Charlotte was selected for this job, her screaming blocking out the room’s unnerving soundtrack as she ventured into the adjoining room, solo.
Giddy with their success, Team Howitz were photographed outside their room and patiently awaited Team Curio’s surfacing. Team Curio were sadly unsuccessful in their bid to escape
After reuniting, and with the final stretch in sight, Team Howitz banded together in the cell-like enclosure. Having scoured the walls and contemplated possible exit strategies, the final task became clear, and Team Howitz emerged victorious. Greeted by their Escapologic guide, the team was given a timecard, revealing a finishing time of 45 minutes! Giddy with their success, Team Howitz were photographed outside their room and patiently awaited Team Curio’s surfacing.
Team Curio were sadly unsuccessful in their bid to escape and were ushered out by their guide, still with three tasks to go, by which time Al had already left early. Sophie of course lauded her team's victory over Team Curio; successfully convincing them that Al had been kidnapped mid-escape room by an evil clown. It was a suitably irreverent end to an exhilarating afternoon for the whole team.
The experience was fully immersive and the perfect team-building exercise, whether for a corporate offsite or a group outing, you will not leave the building disappointed. The attentive staff and complex codes make for an excellent day out, even more so in larger groups if, like us, you crave the competition, teams can go into different rooms to see who can escape the fastest.
Looking for a fun work party, family event or team-building experience? Book an escape room at escapologic.com
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