Houdini's Escape Room Experience - Southampton, Onslow Rd Reviews Summary

Teamwork and Host Interaction

Pros:

• "It certainly made us work as a team, and two hours later, we are still talking about it."
• "We always have great fun at Houdini’s and the game masters are always fantastic!"
• "Our games master, Charlotte, ably assisted by Nat, was superb, setting the scene perfectly and providing exactly the right amount of support at appropriate moments."
• "The host Georgie aka Babs was fantastic and really put us at ease."
• "Our host, Eloise, was excellent. She was very funny and gave us just the right amount of assistance when we needed it."
• "The hosts were very friendly, location had plenty of parking, local to the centre so easy to make an evening of it."
• "Our games master Xavia was great. Not only were they really useful but also very friendly and funny."
• "Our host Nathan was also incredibly knowledgeable and friendly. Thank you to you for a lovely evening!"

Cons:

• "Only slight recommendation was the guy on reception could have been a bit friendlier and made us feel a bit more welcome."
• "girls who worked there were nice but not particularly helpful with questions we had or particularly theatrical with their acting as a part of setting the scene."
• "Place was filthy, dusty, litter on the floor, bins over flowing."
• "Although a few of the puzzles went over my head, they had very well placed clues, so we used others and we found keys by chance."
• "I booked for 6 of us for my sons 17th birthday. We found the host unenthusiastic and not attentive at all."

Game Design and Puzzle Quality

Pros:

• "We completed Dragons Hoard with Charlotte as our game master and we had an absolute blast!"
• "The game it’s self was really good fun. The clues really got our brains working and it was so much fun solving the puzzles."
• "It was a thoroughly absorbing experience, full of fiendishly difficult clues which needed all the collective brain power to solve and excellent props."
• "Fab time playing the dragon based escape room - super immersive and a great activity for a group on a rainy Sunday."
• "Great fun playing Room 13! Really enjoyed the layout of the room."
• "A really fun experience! The puzzle was well rated and had fun solutions!"
• "Atmosphere is kept as soon as you step through the door, greeted by lovely receptionist and game master was Gloria."
• "Such a fun experience!! We did Creepy Carnival today as a group of 4 and managed to escape (despite our fear overriding our common sense)."

Cons:

• "There was no detail or difficulty whatsoever. The first room we were in was a simple, bland room, not a lot of objects to look through and no red herrings to make for an interesting hunt."
• "Alcatraz is tired, parts of it not working, clues worn, screens not working."
• "The set felt very tired and poorly maintained: clearly puzzles had been removed but props were still left, some clues had numbers written in marker pen and various bits of set dressing were damaged and broken."
• "The puzzles were not well signposted and a lot were just bland or timewasting."
• "The rooms and scenarios were very realistic and it was clear a lot of effort and work has been put in to create the best experience for their customers."
• "I've never done an escape room experience before but Houndinis has set the bar extremely high."