Looking for something different to do in your city? Do you like puzzles and mentally challenging yourself? Or, if you have a group of friends, do you like going up head-to-head to see who can demolish the other first in a battle of wits?!? If the answer to any of the above is "yes" then by all means give Can You Escape? a go!
Location-wise, Can You Escape is located very conveniently next door to the Holyrood 9A, so I personally was feeling nice and mentally limber with the help of a delicious pint beforehand. For myself and the group of 7 I was with, because of our numbers we were escorted to the downstairs to a special escape room setup where we split ourselves into two groups. This was a bit surprising as we'd assumed we'd all be working out the puzzles together, but actually it worked out pretty well as a challenge--honestly, who when presented with the chance of creaming their rival band of friends takes issue??
At the start you're presented by one of the staff in costume with slightly cheesy but good laugh spiel that includes the backstory of your particular quest. They lay out the rules (don't rip apart anything inside in an attempt to solve your puzzle, for example) and the things you need to do in order to accomplish your goal: escape the room (obviously). Codenames and team names are issued amongst yourselves, an a before-photo is snapped, and just as your adrenaline begins to pick up with the excitement of a cheeky challenge the doors are opened and in you go, locked in to puzzle and logic your way out once again!
What follows are all sorts of toys and hints and puzzles set up in a room that you must work out the meaning to in order to unlock several achievements to reach your goal. There's a clock on one wall ticking down your hour that makes the time constraint feel even more real--not only that, but for us there was a wee window that you could peer into to see your rival team's progress, and a bell went off every time they unlocked something ahead of you, making you really pick up those heels!! The puzzles are tricky but not unbeatable, and by the end of your time you'll either have lost, emerged triumphantly, or in the case of our team been only a minute behind our rivals (the shame!!) in finding our way out, which I guess technically makes us losers... in a sense... But we did beat the clock, okay?!
Seriously good fun if you're looking for a good value (it was something like 12 quid split between the seven of us, not sure how much the smaller escapes are!) and a novel idea to partake in! Not only that, but the tiny keychains with our escape room photos sent out as a freebie was so excellently adorable, one's hanging from my keychain as we speak. A lovely memento to take away :) Bravo Can You Escape, what a fun evening! read more