Escape Rooms are one of the most fun and unique experiences to emerge in recent years, and by now, you already know the drill: you and a group of friends have to solve a puzzle in a locked room before the clock hits zero. If you crack the game, congratulations! You’re through to the next room. Fail? Unlucky, an escape room agent will come and collect you, losers.
These rooms are designed to test your brain power, how well you work in a team — you probably can’t add this to your CV, though — and how cool you stay under pressure.
Escape rooms can be like Monopoly if you’re playing it with your nearest and dearest; the puzzle solving coupled with the time pressure is a recipe for a family fallout, so be sure to choose your team wisely. Or better yet, keep repeating to yourself that it’s just a game, and it’s the taking part that counts, not the winning…
If you’re puzzled about which escape rooms to try in London, we’ve selected and locked in the best ones. Plus, we’ve picked the top rooms to try in each location, with themes such as horror, mystery and fantasy.
Fans of escape rooms may enjoy immersive experiences, too. These exciting and unique events range from artistic ones like Mexican Geniuses: A Frida & Diego Immersive Experience to TV and film-themed experiences like Stranger Things immersive experience and Mamma Mia! The Party. Funnily enough, we’ve compiled a list of the best immersive experiences so you don’t have to go scouting for them.
Best escape rooms in London at a glance
- The Haunted Toy Store, £59 for four
- Alice in Wonderland VR Escape Room, £49 for two
- Psychopath’s Den, from £25 each
- Spy Heroes, from £25 each
- Patient Zero 2510, from £25 each
- Hangover Déjà Brew, from £25 each
- Private Escape Room with a Zombie, from £25 each
- Return to Neverland, from £28 each
- The Temple of The Forbidden Idol, from £28 each
- The Breakout, £120 for four
- The Killer, £120 for four
- Prison Van Escape Room, £60 for two
- The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience, £150 for two
Best escape rooms in London for 2022
AIM Escape Rooms, East London
Psychopath’s Den
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You’ve probably guessed by the name that this escape room is one of a spookier genre. You and your friends have to solve puzzles to get further away from the clutches of a psychopath. With gruesome objects, blood splattering, and instruments of torture lining the room, this game is pretty unnerving.
With this room, there’s a minimum of three players and a maximum of five, unless you book via Virgin Experience Days, then it’s for you and one other person.
Buy Psychopath’s Den tickets from £25 each at Fever
Buy two Psychopath’s Den tickets for £80 at Virgin Experience Days
Spy Heroes
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Your international spy friend, James, is missing. You’ve been kidnapped by his arch-nemesis, Mr Supervillain, and are currently trapped inside James’ headquarters. You must solve all of the puzzles to save yourself and James before time runs out. This Spy Heroes escape room is fun for the whole family!
Like with Psychopath’s Den, there’s a minimum of three players and a maximum of five.
Buy Spy Heroes tickets from £25 each at Fever
Buy four Spy Heroes tickets for £120 at Virgin Experience Days
Patient Zero 2150
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Rogue scientists have created pathogens which turn humans into zombies, and the world needs your help to stop them. Your mission is to contain the bio-threat, secure the facility and escape uninfected. Oh, and you have to complete it all in one hour.
This escape room has a minimum of two players and a maximum of five.
Buy Patient Zero 2150 tickets from £25 each at Fever
Hangover Déjà Brew
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One of the more weirder escape rooms we’ve come across is this one named Hangover Déjà Brew. It’s the day of a wedding ceremony, you had a messy night last night and are currently nursing a hangover, but the groom’s missing and it’s your job to find him and save the ceremony.
This escape room has a minimum of three players and a maximum of five.
Buy Hangover Déjà Brew tickets from £25 each at Fever
Buy four Hangover Déjà Brew tickets from £120 at Virgin Experience Days
Trapped Escape Rooms, South East London
Private Escape Room with a Zombie
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This escape room has a spooky — or stressful, depending on what kind of person you are — twist: a zombie joins you in the room. As the clock ticks, the zombie’s chains are released a bit further to add pressure.
Unlike the other escape rooms, you can play this one solo, and there’s a maximum of six people.
Buy Private Escape Room with a Zombie tickets from £25 each at Viator
Prison Van Escape Room
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If, like us, you hypothesise if you could break out of prison each time you watch a film like The Shawshank Redemption or a series like Prison Break, then this escape room is for you. Trapped in a refurbished prison van, you and your fellow outlaws have to apply your street smarts to escape the van and avoid prison. After all, orange definitely isn’t the new black.
Buy two Prison Van Escape Room tickets for £60 at Virgin Experience Days
Eltham Escape Rooms, South East London
Return to Neverland
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This medium-difficulty escape room takes inspiration from J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan. Tinkerbell has flown into your bedroom in the middle of the night saying that Peter Pan has been kidnapped by Captain Hook, and you need to travel to Neverland to save him.
This family-friendly escape room has a minimum group number of two and a maximum of six.
Buy Return to Neverland tickets from £28 each at Viator
The Temple of The Forbidden Idol
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We’re hoping this next escape room has the same intensity as CITV’s Jungle Run had back in the day. After a long journey through the jungle, you’ve finally found the temple of the Enfada Idol, but your rival (Dr. Belloq) is in pursuit. You have to crack the temple’s puzzles to claim the prize, and beat your nemesis.
This room has a minimum number of two and a maximum of six participants.
Buy The Temple of The Forbidden Idol tickets from £28 each at Viator
Shaftesbury Avenue, West London
The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience
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Fans of the iconic ‘90s game show The Crystal Maze will be jumping for joy at the chance to take part in the puzzles in real-life. You’ll head through the Industrial, Futuristic, Middle Ages, and Aztec zones, before coming face-to-face with the final test in The Crystal Dome. There will be a mixture of mental and physical challenges, so get your thinking caps on and your blood pumping.
Buy two The Crystal Maze LIVE Experience tickets for £150 at Virgin Experience Days
If you fancy making a day of this experience, why not go out for a meal, too? With this Buyagift voucher, you and another person can enjoy a two course meal with a drink at Marco Pierre White’s restaurant Mr White’s, as well as tickets to The Crystal Maze escape room.
No Escape Limited, East London
The Haunted Toy Store
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Despite the 10+ age rating, the RadioTimes.com team are too scared to take part in this escape room — creepy dolls? No, thank you! If you’re braver than us, however, The Haunted Toy Store escape room challenges you to solve the mysteries of the haunted toys.
Buy four The Haunted Toy Store tickets for £59 at Groupon
Buy six The Haunted Toy Store tickets for £69 at Groupon
Enigma Escape, North London
The Breakout
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There’s not many people we know who would happily break-out their boss from prison, but in this escape room, let’s pretend you want to…
Buy four The Breakout tickets for £120 at Buyagift
The Killer
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In this escape room, the story is that you and your team have been invited to a premiere of the movie The Killer (surprise, surprise), but before the movie starts, you pass out, then wake up in a cell with a sinister message on the wall. You have an hour to break out of the cell before the killer returns.
Buy four The Killer tickets for £120 at Buyagift
MeetspaceVR, North West London
Alice in Wonderland VR Escape Room
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An escape room with a twist as this one incorporates virtual reality (VR) technology. Follow the White Rabbit to meet other iconic Alice in Wonderland characters, like the Mad Hatter and Cheshire Cat, then complete a series of tasks to triumph over the Queen of Hearts and save Wonderland. We’ve heard that if you fail this escape room, it’s off with your head!
Buy two Alice in Wonderland VR Escape Room tickets for £49 at Buyagift
How many people do you need for an escape room?
Before you carefully select your most clued-up mates to take part in an escape room with you, you need to know how many people to shortlist.
Most escape rooms let you play with between two and 12 players, and they will make it obvious on the website how many people you’re allowed per team. For example, at the Eltham Escape Rooms in South East London, each room can have a minimum of two and a maximum of six players.
For more exciting things to do, be sure to visit our best West End shows and top walking tours in London guides. And for concerts, sports tickets, festivals, and more, check out our Going Out section.