I have done two of the rooms- Detective's Office and Madchester, both were very fun to play. Rooms feature a great variety of well-thought puzzles, so we definitely felt challenged. Time just flies by, an hour feels like 5min. The game masters both times were incredibly helpful and found witty ways to give us hints without being too obvious. Props only add to the experience! I have to say I have received an email saying that this location will be closed, so hurry up! read more

First of all I think it's great that no one has posted any spoilers on here for the benefit of those who haven't experienced Breakout yet. Even on social media, you'll find it difficult to discover exactly what's in store. The secrecy is one of their best marketing tools. Located up an unassuming set of stairs accessed from Brazennose Street next to Veeno, you arrive into their 'holding area' and await further instructions. They currently have six different themed rooms (two are the same so you can race against your friends in an identical game room). They each have a difficulty rating so you can decide when you book which one you'd prefer to try. Once a room has been featured for a while they change it to something different. Having tried it twice so far, we failed the five starred 'Sabotage' but escaped the four starred 'Virus'. But it all depends on how you work together and communicate as a team. There's no physical activity apart from dashing around the rooms trying to solve the puzzles and codes - it'll certainly work out your brain though! A terrifically different and well organised operation, we've already booked to come back here to try another room. Tip: it's proving extremely popular, so be sure to book online well in advance. read more

Breakout Manchester is a really different and fun night. We headed along as a team of 5 for a friends birthday. Having a quick drink before at Slug and Lettuce, to settle any nerves (we wanted to win) we headed to the venue. The reception area is just a room with couches and some rubix cubes bare but this adds to the unknown feeling we felt! We were taken into a room briefed on what we had to and got on with it! Really enjoyed the Madchester room and luckily we managed to escape - a team of 5 being a good number! The room really made you think using different logic and curiosity to guess clues. read more

Breakout Manchester - Escape Games Near Me - Manchester, XGM

This venue is my favorite of escape rooms. Many people seem to be able to escape, but I found it impossibly hard to even enter. Back in 2014, I found myself in a predicament which the staff were kind enough to sort out for me. I promised a stellar Yelp review, which shapely only took me 7 short-years to do. Escape rooms hadn't made it across the pond yet and I was just so excited to do one, I booked a room. Unaware of geography, I booked a room in Manchester. I sent the following message to Breakout Manchester shortly after booking what I was sure to be an epic time: I just made a booking for three in the detective room for Thursday, 24th July at 16:00 but failed to realize prior to doing so where exactly Manchester is in relation to London, England. I saw that the directions indicated it was a fifteen minute walk from Oxford train station and confused that for Oxford tube stop. Geography was never my greatest subject in school and I'm a silly American who just now realizes that I couldn't possibly make it to Manchester for the booking I foolishly made with your organization. I am writing to plead with you for mercy in my request to have the booking refunded. The error was viciously mine, but the good will is yours for the taking if you would honor my request. They refunded my ticket in exchange for my permission to publicly shame me, which they did in the friendliest way, and I definitely deserved it. I think of them often and will one day journey to Manchester just to try to break out of a room I wasn't even smart enough to enter. read more

We were late starting with no explanation which was a bit weird but I can hardly lecture others about being late. Breakout is brilliantly set up. I did the detective-themed room during our Yelp event but this time tried Virus. I literally contributed nothing to the entire hour. It is very difficult and one glass of wine I'd had beforehand basically completely impeded my ability to of any use at all. We were incredibly far from getting out and in fact were even further then it looked because somebody guessed a code at some point. I did enjoy it though and it's great for something a bit different. It's not majorly my thing and have no desire whatsoever to try the even more difficult rooms but absolutely worth a go. read more

Had a thoroughly enjoyable time at Breakout in what seems to me to be quite a unique idea in the city centre. There are 4 different rooms each with their own theme. The aim of the game is to escape in under an hour. I was in the Sabotage room. Can't go into details as that would spoil the fun for others. It was also really entertaining to see how different people took to the challenge, some want to rush into things and try hundreds of options whilst others prefer to stand back and quietly figure things out. I'd definitely like to return to Breakout with either a group of colleagues or some friends, or both! read more

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An escape game where you are locked in a room for 60 minutes and have to try and breakout! You have to solve puzzles to find the next clue towards getting out. I went with a group of 5 and we all really enjoyed ourselves despite not quite getting out in time :( We did the murder mystery room. There's also a virus outbreak room and a Manchester room (apparently the hardest). We did this for a friend's birthday and it was really an enjoyable night. She loved it, well we all did! It's completely different from anything we've ever done before so very refreshing. The staff member we met was lovely and very sympathetic when we didn't in fact breakout. This would be great for older kids too as it's tricky but doesn't really require knowledge. read more

I don't normally award five stars as I'm not easily impressed....but when I am...well!! What to do in Manchester that doesn't involve alcohol? (FYI they will turn you away if you rock up intoxicated) Look no further than Breakout! If you're old like me and were a fan of The Crystal Maze, you're gonna love every minute of the sixty you'll spend in here. I'm not going to give too much away but you're locked in a themed room (we chose the hardest, 'Madchester', which boasts a mere 5% breakout rate) and you have one hour to decipher all the clues and unlock the room. The 'gamesmaster' tries to help you via a screen on the wall but it does help to have some logical thinkers on your team! We did start off quite relaxed about it all, but as the last few minutes ticked by, we were in a state of panic-induced hysteria! Unfortunately we did get locked in and I'm writing this from the Madchester room, as I'm still there now ;-) I also refused the offer of being told the answers as I definitely want to play this game again! Simply awesome. read more

This place is awesome! Breakout is Manchester's real life escape room game and it is incredible fun. Breakout host a series of games, where you are locked into a room and given one hour to escape, or essentially 'Breakout' by solving puzzles and riddles (don't worry - there's no physical activity involved, it's all mental, so is great for anyone!!) I'd heard amazing things about this place, so I couldn't wait to get in there. You tackle 1 of 6 different rooms in groups of 4 or 5 and after a short health and safety briefing (admittedly, this got me a little bit nervous for the game) we were carted off into separate rooms. The room I played was called 'Virus'and, I won't give too much away, but basically the world has been infected by a deadly virus and we had 1 hour to try and find the anti-virus before we too became infected. That's all we were told, and then the door closed and the 1 hour on the TV screen began to count down. It. Is. Great!! It has you using your brain like you probably haven't used it for years, to solve puzzles, riddles and clues in order to find your way around the room. It was tense at times, but so much fun! Unfortunately, we never made it out in time - DEAD. read more

Second time lucky - I escaped!! This is a fantastic concept, getting locked in a room with your nearest and dearest and given an hour to escape. I've now tried the Virus room and the Madchester room - both required different thought processes, involved different types of puzzles & clues and had very different concepts so definitely worth returning to try different rooms. I much preferred the Madchester room but I think it's just the way my brain works (also probably because I escaped so I have a little pride still intact!) I would definitely recommend this to anyone, although do note it gets booked up very quickly! The max number is 5 per room, but they have two identical rooms (Inception) so you could go in and race against each other to get out! The reception area could do with a little bit of work, there was no one there to greet us when we arrived and everyone just looks a little lost, although I guess this added to the suspense and feeling of the unknown which got our adrenaline pumping. Also no toilet as far as I could see - this needs fixing!! read more

We went to these escape rooms as a group and I was pretty excited - I've done a few before so was intrigued to see what a different brand escape room was like. The location is great, right in the heart of Manchester and there's a large waiting room with couches. We arrived right on time however we were kept waiting for nearly 15 minutes to actually get started which I found really frustrating - I think something had happened with the group before us, but we weren't really told and just left in the waiting area. So that was a bad start. We were doing the "infiltrate" room which had been slightly changed to have a Christmas theme. The premise is that a group of you is locked in the room, and you need to escape. Without spoiling it (it has this info on their website!) one of your group are locked up in a jail, so you need to free them as part of the room. I believe that part was meant to happen quite quickly but our team member was locked up for about 15 minutes which I'm sure was pretty frustrating for her! My gripe with this escape room was that too many of the puzzles were too similar - relying on 4 digit codes to unlock padlocks. Again, I'm not giving anything away but there was at least 4 locks in the room with 4 digit codes, so every time you'd find one you'd had to try all the locks and then it felt more like chance rather than skill. It would have been nice to have a bit more variety in the puzzles. Anyway, we did solve the room and escaped with 9 minutes to spare. The taking photos at the end/celebration was pretty low key and again, was a bit of a dampener - the guy couldn't work out how to take a good photo which was a bit weird. All up, this place was pretty good and we had a laugh, but a few little complaints make it a 3-star night from me. read more

SO MUCH FUN! Honestly the above could be my entire review but I'll expand for those who aren't aware what Breakout is or who aren't convinced. The premise is very similar to "locked room" games that you play online, except it's real life and you're in a team. When I'm flying solo I really don't enjoy games like this but in a team it works a lot better. A few of us from work did it as a faux team building exercise, and I actually think it served that purpose quite well. We chose the Virus room. A virus has turned people into zombies the world over. You are trapped in a lab where scientists have been working on an antidote. In order to break out and save the world you must find it within sixty minutes. But, you know, no pressure. We asked if there would be any "zombies" in the room during the game and were reassured that there wouldn't be, though apparently there were a few when they did Halloween specials! Obviously I won't give anything away about the game but it is a lot of fun. There's a good mix of easy and hard things to keep you motivated. We broke out with three minutes to spare, at which point I totally lost my cool and started jumping around and screaming. I'm not sure how accessible the building itself is but the game (at least the room I did) is supposed to be mental rather than physical so you don't have to be able-bodied to do it. My only minor complaint would be that a man who was playing one of the other games walked into our room at one point looking for the toilet. The member of staff organising our game couldn't have been more apologetic and it wasn't such a big deal, it just took away the suspension of disbelief for a few minutes. Prices are reasonable. For a group of five we paid £13 each which felt totally worth it. My overall opinion is - get yourself there! read more

Having never done a breakout/escape room before, this was pretty cool. Business group of 24 in 6 teams with 4&5 difficulty at the High Street location. Communication with staff in planning the activity was great (even though it was an 8 hour time difference), and they recommended a restaurant/pub for dinner after (PLY). Very challenging and fun. read more

This place is awesome!! Did the Virus room along with two friends!! The staff running this place are so friendly and creative and really make the experience!! Its crazy how you get so absorbed by the experience and by the last 15mins on the clock your adrenaline is pumping, manically running around the round trying to solve clues and crack codes on time to make it out!! Thankfully we made it out with a mere few seconds to spare... our egos were safe and nicely boosted by a victory photo which the tem posted promtly on their facebook site! I would definately recommend this as a group activity for friends, colleagues or families (provided kids arent too young as the clues are dam hard haha) Can't wait to get back and try another room sometime soon!! :) read more

Breakout Manchester - woooo we broke out!! - Escape Games Near Me - Manchester, XGM

A long-time fan of the Town Hall venue, we went along to try a new room - Facility X! A little concerned when I was locked in a disused toilet cubicle before the game started but it was all part of the experience!! One of the best escape rooms I've ever done - very, very creative and clever clues and the operator was helpful when we were getting completely lost... If you like the previous rooms give it a go! read more

Breakout Manchester - There's still space for the obligatory smug photo! - Escape Games Near Me - Manchester, XGM

60 min locked in a room, no laws broken and a lot of fun had. The basic idea behide break out is pretty simple, you go into one off 4 rooms and while in there you have to solve the puzzels to get out. I can't give more you detail then that with out spoilers. I highy recommend this place - get it booked and enjoy! read more

A fantastic opportunity to try something new :) I came with the yelp herd and allowed myself to be bullied into the hardest room available,aka the Madchester room...after a couple of health and safety rules from the quirky lady we were in... I'm trying not to give too much away here but it was a very fun puzzley room in which we had 60 minutes to escape from...it was not until the end that the screen in the room kept flashing madly with hints as we were so close, and over thinking it...by the way, if you do happen to half guess the code (like our team did ) and get out with 20 min to spare they will send you back in the room as you need to complete all of the puzzles in the room ...so we did so with 6 min to spare... The adrenaline rush you get it is fantastic, and the team of people that run this make it awesome. I think i will come back with a a group of friends to try another room, as there are at least four others, a dectective room, virus , sabaotage and infiltrate..this would also be great for your workplace to arrange some 'team building' activities outside of work. Overall a most enjoyable experience, which without the people I was with, I would most likely be still locked in the room.. read more

You've read those books, seen those movies and played those games that transport you to a terrifying post-apocalyptic world where everything that could possibly crumble, has crumbled and we're, all but doomed (no I'm not talking about the impending general elections). All of them, however provide a path of salvation, where the future of humanity hangs by a little thread. There is hope and the weight of carrying this hope lies on the shoulder of one braveheart or a group of bravehearts, an unlikely hero, who saves the day (I told you, it wasn't the elections). This is how we were made to feel, when we entered the Virus room. Us, the Elegant Elites as Jonny chose to name us (although we were expecting him to strike the fatal blow shouting "here's Jonny"). This was just one of the four rooms out of which you are given the chance to break out of at (no prizes for guessing) Breakout Manchester. The idea is simple. Your team gets locked in a room. You have 1 hr. You need to solve puzzles, figure out clues, open locks, find stuff and ultimately escape the room before the time is up. Crystal Maze, without the crystal or the maze. However the success of failure of a concept as simple as this lies in the back story and how convincing the set up is. A few years ago we ran around on the streets of Leeds, one summer's evening. It would have been downright pointless and I wouldn't have done it, had we not been playing 2.8 hrs later, the Zombie adventure. As we were led into the room we were given a convincing back story about some deadly virus playing demolition derby with humankind and we could save the race if we find the cure and escape (sorry, break out) in 60 minutes. To make things real, the temperature of the room was turned down a little and creepy post-apocalyptic music was playing. There we "blood" stained lab coats and gas masks to enhance the experience. Trust me, it was the quickest sixty minutes of my life, that I thoroughly enjoyed and at the end of which I realised, the purpose of life is not always about winning, it's about enjoying the journey and giving the best I can with what I have. There were other rooms called sabotage, manchester and john monroe on offer that night. The hosts were amazing and very informative. They laid down the rules in no uncertain terms, which was good. What makes it click for now is it's a new concept and it offers something different to the paintballing and gokarting activities as in there is very little physical activity involved. However if the story lines do not change then the novelty is likely to wear off. The biggest challenge for businesses like this is the need to keep reinventing themselves and I sincerely hope they do. Based on my experience, I'd say, give it a go, if nothing it makes one realise the value of sixty minutes! read more

Came here with a group of 9 coworkers, which we split into two teams competing against one another in the same room. I don't remember the name of the room, but it was a 4* difficulty room. I hadn't ever done this before, but a few of my coworkers had, and they said in comparison to others this room was very creative and had great challenges and tasks. The "operators" were great, giving just the right clues at the right time to nudge us along without giving anything away. Ultimately, this is one of the coolest things I've done and I've definitely become addicted! Will have to return to do some of the other rooms!! read more

Visited here last night with work! It was tremendous fun! We were in the Facility X room, apparently its the easiest room but given we didn't break out I beg to differ. It challenges the brain and forces you to work as a team, it's a bit like crystal maze with no crystals. I'd absolutely go back here and try to break out again! read more

Ace way to spend an hour (or hopefully less than an hour). Instructions are clear, rooms graded quite well I think, been multiple times to Breakout, only failed to escape once (Madchester). Well worth the money read more

Really fun! First of all, I love an establishment with a working website that has an easy booking system and Breakout has one! Due to the weather situation, we had to do some last minute replanning for our team building day out and managed to books two different breakout rooms at the same time. We were greeted and given clear instructions by the many friendly staff members. We were split into two teams for the two different rooms - one easy and one with a 10% success rate (due to our last minute booking, we didn't have a choice but if you book early, there's a range of difficulty levels and themes). The rooms were well-decorated to the themes and were a lot of fun! Afterwards, the staff took a photo for us too! We loved it so much and will be looking to go again! Great activity for groups of friends or work do's when it's raining outside! Would highly recommend! read more

By far the best thing i have ever done in a long time. This being my second time doing this type of thing with the same place i was even more amazed then the first time i did it. Me and my friends took part in the Captured room and i have to say as far as i'm concerned that was the closest you can get to being in the movie Saw. The puzzles are complex and fun at the same time with the added stress of racing against the clock. I would 100% recommend this to anyone who was looking for something to do. read more

Booked the 'Vacancy' room for me and my two friends, when we first got in we were worried it was just going to be one small room but turned out to be a few different rooms which was good! Got a bit stuck on a couple of the clues but managed to move onto other clues which helped us to get further. My advice would be if you can't work something out move on to something different because we wasted a lot of time on one clue. It was clever though and I think had we not done that we probably would have broken out. Really enjoyed this room but I think the clue we go stuck on was really difficult to work out so even when our guide told us what it meant, we still couldn't see it! Would have been a much better experience without this though! I would definitely go again and would recommend this room to others, just make sure you don't spend too much time on one clue!! All in all though a fun experience! read more

This place is brilliantly unique good idea! We had such fun when we played last week, the games are well thought out, staff are really friendly and it's addictive. We didn't breakout but it has us hooked and we will coming back :) read more