We headed on down to Escape Time Burton to check out The Basement horror-themed escape room, did we survive?
I’m a huge fan of horror escape rooms and with Halloween around the corner, I just couldn’t wait any longer and instantly agreed to a horror escape room that my girlfriend had spontaneously booked as a surprise.
Knowing full well she was terrified of all things horror she didn’t realise that this particular escape room not only was one of the scariest in the midlands but also contained a live actor.
After a rather nervous trip (for her) to Burton, we arrived at Escape Time and was greeted by Rachael at the door.
We sat ourselves down in a screening room and watched a tutorial video followed by a little story intro for the room.
The story went as follows:
Many years ago the bodies of a family of three were found in cold blood with no explanation to this day for their deaths.
Rumour has it the house they had once lived in was infact haunted and overrun with evil spirits.
Do as they said and you lived… ignore them and an unexplained and unsolved death is what would await you.
Brave enough to enter the house you have so far ignored the spirits and found yourself in the basement area.
A cold gust of air has just passed you and the door has slammed shut behind you.
The spirits have warned you to leave and have instructed you that if you have not left within the hour you will face the same consequence as the previous occupants.
Setting free the evil spirits from the house is your only hope but with the spirits clearly understanding your intentions they will not take kindly to this!
Are you brave enough to stay and release the spirits in time? Or will you be their next victim?
The Basement Escape Room
The Basement is a room aimed at the 16+ demographic so instantly knowing this I felt that my other half would be more comfortable in a more tame environment.
An 18+ room would have been another story entirely but it still didn’t stop her from hiding in a corner the second we entered the room and I absolutely don’t blame her.
Upon entry into the room, you are given a lantern as your only source of light and the room is filled with fog.
This effect obstructs your visuals and created a stunning atmosphere but instantly upon walking into the room I was met with my first heart in mouth moment.
Questioning if a particular prop was real or not was quite an intense way to start an escape room but I live for this stuff, so I went closer to investigate.
Throwing caution and hesitation of my own safety out of the window I went for a look around.
Now don’t get me wrong I was laughing for a solid 5 minutes of how scared my other half was but then put my serious face on and we got on with the task at hand.
The Puzzles
The puzzles themselves are certainly much different from many other escape rooms out there.
Some puzzles were somewhat straight forward but others made absolutely no sense whatsoever and needed multiple hints (printed on paper) to be added to the room.
The fact they already had pre-printed hints on paper for those who just didn’t get it tells me that many people have struggled at the exact same points that we did.
Other tasks were more physical involving putting your hand into things or going to explore darker corners of the room with jump scares aplenty to keep you on your toes.
If maths (without a pen and paper) isn’t your strong point one particular part of the room will have you feeling pretty dumb but if you’re a whizz with numbers you’ll be fine.
Some puzzles weren’t puzzles at all but tasks you had to complete to be rewarded with a prop that you needed to progress.
The hint system was clever as the game master called us by name to complete tasks and it felt more personal as a result. On the flip side of that, we knew the game masters voice so it detached me from the experience ever so slightly.
I remember going to an escape room in Leicester where a voice-changer was used by the Games Master and this kept me within the story and fully immersed.
Personally, with how scared my other half was I think in this instance the natural voice of the game master was comforting in a weird sort of way so I’m thankful for that.
The Basement Escape Room Theming
Theming was absolutely spot on and the darkness amplified all of the little details that have gone into this room and there was a physical ‘lift’ section of the room that had some wonderful underfloor effects added.
Certainly one of the more impressive escape room additions I’ve seen.
These screens (image below) gave me Blackpool Pleasure Beach Ghost Train vibes and certainly added a comforting (for me) atmosphere to proceedings.
I personally thought the digital screens spoiled the old, rustic nature of the room but that’s just my personal preference.
An interactive old school frame or those regal frames made from spandex-type material where you can manipulate the image with your hand/face from behind would have been cool.
Overall
The Basement was a great escape room, for me, after the initial heart in mouth moment the tension certainly carried nicely throughout.
The live-actor interaction mixed with the atmosphere of the room certainly added an intense atmosphere that would terrify many.
I have to be honest when I say that some of the puzzles didn’t really hit home for me and the limited light within the room certainly made certain tasks way more difficult than they needed to be.
I personally would simplify the letters puzzle they had in there that certainly took far too long for us to complete and for the less smart (me) I’d have some sort of chalk or similar in the room to help with the maths puzzle, we wasted 10 minutes on that puzzle alone!
The hints were wonderful and the interaction from the games master with the room was fantastic and I’m glad to say we both escaped.
Granted my girl was a little shook up after the experience but it was nothing a good bubble juice and sushi platter couldn’t fix straight after.
Thanks to Rachael at Escape Time for allowing us to take photos of your wonderful room.
You will absolutely need to be brave to attempt this one and I was so proud of my girl for not only getting through it but solving puzzles whilst terrified!
If you’re feeling brave I’d go and check it out.
If you’re a fan of horror, go for it.
If you’re a fan of theming, go for it.
If you have a scaredy-cat in your group and want a sadistic giggle, ABSOLUTELY go for it!
Prize Draw Bonus
Feeling lucky? Escape Time also has a prize room where for £5 you can spin a wheel to win a prize. A prize is guaranteed every time but that’s not all.
You can enter a code (of your choice) into the safe and if it opens the lock you can win money and more!
Finally, you drop a coin down a maze and if it lands in a prize slot you can win more prizes and 25% off your next room.
We managed to win a cap, keyring and 25% off our next room for a mere £10.
Bargain!
The cap wasn’t great quality but I would say that as I wanted the T-Shirt and I’m still salty about it.
For more information on Escape Time you can visit their official website at https://www.escapetimeburton.co.uk
Don’t believe me? Check out other great reviews for this escape room over on Tripadvisor
