Lichfield Garrick Escape Room, Review

Reviewed by Alexander Wilde

Escape the everyday, solve puzzles, beat the clock and save a life! Lichfield Garrick, the West Midland’s renowned entertainment venue, has added a thrilling new experience to their offering.

The city’s go-to theatre and studio for live performances and film was, like all providers of the arts, forced to shutter its door on and off during the pandemic. However, born out of this unwelcome hiatus was an exciting new addition. The technicians and staff applied their creativity and skills to design and construct an escape room of quality which rivals the biggest providers of this ever popular leisure activity.

For those unfamiliar with the concept, an escape room is a game in which a team of players discover clues, solve puzzles, and accomplish tasks in one or more fictional rooms in order to accomplish a specific goal in a limited amount of time. Participants usually play cooperatively and a range of skills are needed to succeed.

For this review, four of us – evenly split between novices and experienced players – visited Lichfield Garrick on a Friday evening. We were greeted by the affable A, (editor’s note – name changed to just initial) quickly getting into character he briefed us on the premise of the room, health and safety requirements and gave us time to become familiar with two of the padlocks we would need to operate in the room. I was given a walkie-talkie should we need any assistance or hints if we were totally stumped. He did also warn us that we’d need to work together as the room was very challenging and in the short time it’d been open very few contenders had solved its mystery. As a competitive group, this emboldened us!

So as not to spoil future thrills and fun, I will keep details of the plot and theme brief. On entering the immersive room, a televised police briefing begins playing: Lord Huxley, collector of ancient antiquities has been kidnapped by sinister forces unknown. The ransom, as explained by the worse for wear lord himself, is an unknown artefact hidden on his estate. You are given an hour to find and exchange this for his life.

It was an exhilarating start building the pressure and cementing the sense of urgency. Our problem-solving, lateral thinking and teamwork skills were put to the test in a variety of ingenious enigmas and trials. The challenges were multi-faceted, interlinked, blending analogue and digital. Not everything was a clue and any red-herrings were of our own creation, so when an answer came to us it was incredibly satisfying. I cannot say enough how innovative the game play was; some smart people have invested a great deal in this room.

It pains me to say that we were two solutions away from finding the artefact, thus failing. Although exiting with wounded pride, there was a fun after-game photo opportunity. Afterwards, we enjoyed analysing our performance – convincing ourselves with just a little more time or one more player we would have succeeded…

Despite our failure, I highly recommend a visit to this Escape Room. The warm welcome, pure inventiveness, range of challenges, the skills utilised and the enjoyment of the overall experience make for a first-rate outing! This room is accessible and suitable for multiple generations, age 12 and up.

It’s also worth noting, there is amble on and off-street parking nearby, all of which is free after 6pm. As well as a well-stocked and reasonably priced café and bar at the venue, there are a number of lovely local eateries and watering holes within walking distance should you wish to make a night of it in Lichfield. We did, and love the charm of the small city.

Rating: Five Stars (5/5)

The Escape Room operates on Fridays and Saturdays for up to six players. Book online at Lichfield Garrick Escape Room or contact the box office: 01543 412121.

Prices from £17.50 per person.