Escape Reality Edinburgh - "The Asylum"

Updated: Mar 21

LOCATION:  Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom

Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

📝 ETR DECODER

🔑 GAME: The Asylum
📅 DATE PLAYED: June 4, 2019
🎬 GENRE: Horror
🧠 DIFFICULTY (Based on 2 ppl): 6/10
👥 TOTAL # OF PLAYERS: Up to 6PPL
🕒 LENGTH OF TIME: 60 Mins.
💰 PRICE: £20-27/PP (pending on the group size)
☎️ BOOKING TYPE: Private
🔓 ESCAPED/ COMPLETED?: Yes

Video above is property of Escape Reality Edinburgh

Escape Reality Edinburgh is our second stop in Edinburgh, Scotland. They are a franchise that's currently located in 12 different cities all over the world. The Edinburgh location is quite spacious. There's plenty of seating to rest in the lobby area and we love their 3D looking backdrop poster that they use for victory poses. They currently have 6 different escape rooms at this location and a pop-up VR experience that was recently added! We only had time to try one of their rooms and of course it had to be... “The Asylum”.

This is the first time we’ve used a hint system like this, but they are quite technologically advanced. Each puzzle has a QR code next to it so that if you do get stuck you can scan it and a clue will pop up on the iPad. But you cannot continuously use it as you do get locked out for a period of time. The "pros" are that there’s never a delay in getting hints from the game master. The "cons" are that you’ll be seeing these QR codes throughout the room which kind of takes a little bit away from the immersive atmosphere. Speaking of which, they did an amazing job with the room design! It was also quite fitting for us that the storyline of this Rolling Hills Asylum is an actual asylum with a haunting history in New York. As tourists from NY, we found a deeper connection with this haunted room. Right when we entered, I felt a chill down my spine and of course my first question was: “Are there any live actors? You should just tell me now as I’ve been tricked many times before". The game master said “No” with a smirk as sometimes they do go in and give the “victims” a little scare, but they stayed true to their word this time probably just to save themselves from my high-pitched screams. A lot of the props and décor stayed very true to what an asylum would have. The room was pretty linear in terms of puzzles although there were a few moments where we were able to split up and tackle different puzzles or find items. It was a very straightforward gameplay with no red herrings. We got out with two people and plenty of time to spare. I do want to remind the players that you do have to scan that final QR code outside the room in order to stop the time for your game as we forgot to do so and that probably added an extra minute to our clock (Hey! Every second counts!).

Escape Reality Edinburgh is probably the largest escape room location we’ve been to in Edinburgh. With that said, you know they have a lot of different surprises in their rooms since they have the space to create them. They can easily host corporate and large party events. The other 5 escape room games currently at this location are “Jungala”, “Tortuga Pirates”, “Machina”, “Nosferatu” and “Alcatraz”. We can’t wait to return one day to try their other games as they all sound and look amazing!

*Check out our YouTube video above for a sneak peek of the location, interview with the maanger, the room and more!

Video above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

BOOK NOW

(If you do decide to try this game, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!)

**We don't want to go into detail and ruin any surprises for you, but you want more info like if the room is a multi-room or what other additional tips we can provide to you, feel free to email us.

Disclosure: We thank Escape Reality Edinburgh for comping our tickets for this game. Although complimentary admission was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.