Deadlocked Escape Rooms Reading — Local services in Reading

TL,DR: Puzzle fans will adore these rooms, we can't recommend them enough!

If you are a fan of escape rooms that prioritise puzzles over scares, Deadlocked provides something special. The enthusiasm and skill of the room creators is evident in their inventive rooms. We played both The Testing Chamber and The Time Machine and were impressed by both, but The Time Machine earns particular praise for using the escape room concept in a novel format.

They have the widest variety of input mechanisms we'd experienced in a room, all of which feel appropriate to the theme of the area. All the puzzles had clear telegraphing so that it was satisfying when you had solved them and you were always confident when you had. Both rooms were designed such that teams could divide and work in parallel on different puzzles, rewarding good teamwork and communication, and never leaving any member of our group of four feeling like they were superfluous and just waiting for the others. Their attention to detail in the set dressing is a joy, and shows the diligence of their research in any area they draw on to create their puzzles. The rooms both ran in a very slick manner, which is testament to both the coding of the machines and the attentiveness of the person running your room behind the scenes. Our hosts were also incredibly cheerful and helpful throughout organising and attending the experience - excellent customer service.

We'll be watching closely to see when they release their next new room and, despite not living locally, you can bet we'll be going back for more!

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Are you an escape room enthusiast (not a padlock enthusiast)?

Do you love puzzles (proper puzzles where logic and deduction are key and you actually have to think)?

Do you love that feeling when you solve a puzzle and you KNOW you are right?

Then you should definitely visit Deadlocked.

Having played all four of the (currently) available online games during lockdown, I had very high expectations for the two rooms at Deadlocked. We live nearly 2 hours away and so planned a mini vacation to Reading to celebrate our 10 wedding anniversary and play these rooms as part of our celebrations. Needless to say, expectations were extremely high.

Charlie was an excellent host and thoroughly set the stage for both rooms. Fans of The Insiders (Google it - its worth a play) will love seeing Wexie. If you can tear yourself away from the puzzles, you can take a moment to appreciate how the room adapts to how you interact as a team. Wexie (The Time Machine) responded to our speech and Eros (The Testing Chamber) offered a hilarious take on some of our team’s choices.

James and Charlie both took the time afterwards to answer some questions I had and I really appreciated how much time and energy must have gone into these rooms. I have played so many escape rooms, but this is by far my favourite. I cannot wait to see what James and Charlie come up with next.

James and Charlie:

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My daughters 12th birthday was approaching and one of the things she had hoped for was a visit to an escape room challenge. However with Covid restrictions in place this wasn’t possible. It was wonderful to be able to take part in this sort of challenge online, even though we are in Rural Scotland. After a search around the internet I stumbled across Deadlock games and The Cyphstress. The company couldn’t have been more responsive and helpful when I asked questions about suitability, length of the game etc. I have 6 children ages 17, 15,14,12,10 and 6 and we played the game in a room with it projected onto a wall. This worked perfectly. All the children played their part and solved separate mini challenges along the way. The game just kept giving. Since this particular game was in conjunction with a brewery, we hide a prize that they could hunt for in the house after they had solved the main game. That added to the finale very well. Very well thought out and the details even in the final reveal screens and trophy where just superb. This will be a well remembered birthday for a long time. It’s a game with adequate challenge for all ages and can excite and frustrate in equal measure but it’s all entertaining! We didn’t have to resort to help after we got going. But it was discreetly available should it have been required. 100% recommended. Absolutely brilliant activity for lock down and...