The team behind Pirate Escape in Whitley Bay have added a new location to their arsenal of escape rooms in Northumberland Escape Rooms. Located in Morpeth, they currently offer 2 rooms which a third currently being constructed. The Matter of the Hatter and The Stolen Magic are both open and we popped along to play The Stolen Magic. Upon arriving we were greeted so wonderfully. We had a good chat about escape rooms in general and its always great to be able to have a chat with owners about rooms in an enthusiastic way. They also explained that The Stolen Magic was the harder room of the two they currently offer, We were excited to get going. The story of the game is simple:
There has been strange goings on in Wizards Way, a book of dark magic has been stolen. You and your team of dark wizard catchers have been sent to investigate. You have 1 hour to investigate what’s happening and recover the stolen magic.
Upon entering we were greeted by a small street with three shops. We set to work on working our way through this linear room. I'm going to talk about the way this room looks first. Its a very pretty room. The set does make you feel like you're on a small street. The shops look like actual shops from the outside and it all just works to build a believable little world.. Inside the shops, it looked and felt like shops, just without cash registers. You can tell that it was built on a budget but at the same time it looks really impressive and they should feel really proud of it.
Next., the puzzles and I'm going to be honest, We sucked to start with in this room. We managed to get into the first shop quite quickly but then our brains seemed to stop and we had to have a couple of hints throughout the game. The puzzles are really great and very creative. With it being a magic themed room, the puzzles are all involving things you would find in a magical world, so brooms, potions, wands and books so there actually feels like a purpose to the puzzles in that room. There's a wide variety of puzzles throughout the game so there is something to test every part of the brain. All culminates to a very fun finale that I haven't seen done in the way they do it and it makes it fun.
I really enjoyed The Stolen Magic. Its got detailed sets, some great puzzles and really makes the brain work. Its a fun way to spend an hour (Or less) and Its definitely up there as one of the better games in the North East.
For more information and to book tickets you can visit the Northumberland Escape Rooms website.