Manchester Scare Factory served up their brand new event for 2024 and we were invited down to give our honest review of this city centre event, here’s our Time to Die review.
Manchester is home to two immersive scare mazes this Halloween season as two mazes lie in wait for willing participants and it’s just a five-minute walk from Manchester Piccadilly train station along with an indoor bar and hub space to chill out and relax before you face your fears.
Now I thought one of the mazes was called Time to Die due to the big ‘Time to Die’ sign hanging at the entrance of the maze but it’s not, the maze is called ‘The Die Is Cast’ and the second maze is called The Toymaker.
The Die is Cast experience will involve a “Dice Master” who watches everyone’s step as they fall deeper into his “gargantuan labyrinth of fear”.
Meanwhile, The Toymaker follows the “creator of monstrosities” who is after some new “spare parts”. Guests who set foot into his other world will need to try and escape but are warned “this encounter will drive even the toughest souls to the very edge of sanity”.
The hub space itself was great with a whole range of affordable drinks on offer, toilets and just a nice chill space to hang out in between mazes out of the rain but we came for mazes, so here’s our review of them both!
The Die is Cast
A very industrial setting doesn’t play into the storyline for The Die Is Cast as you’re sent into a maze of random stop-and-start scenes that play out like a Dungeon attraction, walk a little, meet a new character, stop, listen to them speak, on you go.
For me, these types of attractions aren’t scare mazes, they’re walkthrough interactive attractions, at no point was it scary or immersive, it felt like a walk around a warehouse and with all of the metal / industrial theming you wouldn’t want a jump scare maze in this particular space as there were sharp objects and metal just about everywhere but on this occasion it just didn’t hit home for me.
Toymaker
What The Toymaker did so much better than The Die is Cast is tell the story well, you’re in a warehouse where toys are made and brought to life and the scenes didn’t hold you for ages to deliver the dialogue you were immersed in the story being told and there was certainly a lot more to take in and enjoy throughout this maze.
Toymaker also included a wonderful little effect towards the end that had the room quite literally spinning, it was good fun and certainly was the highlight out of the two experiences but the question is, was it worth it?
The two experiences will run from Friday 4th October right through to Saturday 2nd November. Tickets, priced at £32, and for me this is quite steep.
I didn’t feel as though I got £32 worth of value from the two mazes whatsoever.
It’s a city centre attraction in a huge warehouse so overheads must be steep but sadly I couldn’t in good conscience say that the price is worth what you get as an experience.
Theming felt very industrial and relied too much on pieces of cloth danging from above but what I will say is that the costumes were superb in both mazes and the acting of certain characters (the girl who played Barbie especially) was spot on.
If you have a bit of cash to splash and want a spooky vibe before your night out then go for it, but other than that there are more affordable events out there that immerse you into the stories a bit more.
For more info on Time to Die Manchester then please visit
