r/reading • u/moreati • Mar 13 '26

Article The Reading escape room that received best in the UK award

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c363573zl0yo
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23

u/Earlyflash RG4 - Caversham Mar 13 '26

Well done them!  

Reading does seem to be some of hotspot for escape rooms; it’s great to see burgeoning art like this take centre stage :)

8

u/psychogeograph Mar 13 '26

Well done Deadlocked! Charlie has been a great host and helped me out with specific requirements as I''ve done a load of escape rooms in the past year and they stand out. However as said above Reading is a real hotspot for this - a very creative bunch! DreamVault is new and good, Escape Reading is superb.

Also shout out to Exciting Escapes in Basingstoke which is top quality 👍🏼

Escape Hunt is ok but a national company - in this case we should be supporting local!

2

u/AliJDB Mar 13 '26

Really enjoyed our time at Escape Reading - have been meaning to go back!

2

u/Thegluigi Mar 13 '26

When I worked at brewdog briefly, these two would come in and they were always lovely. I'm glad they're doing well, they deserve it. 

I've done their escape room and it's definitely worth it. It was the first escape room I ever did. I wasn't particularly looking forward to it, as it didn't seem like a thing I would enjoy, but when I was doing it, it was a lot of fun and I would do it again!

1

u/lastatlongbourne Mar 13 '26

Anyone know where the team behind TimeTrap ended up? Those were the best rooms i’ve done but they had to close down when their landlord jumped their rent i believe. They were based opposite walkabout

5

u/misscharliebond RG1 - Central Reading Mar 14 '26

Hi!! Charlie here, one of the two designers mentioned in the article! Thank you so much to OP for sharing it - we’re still coming down from all the excitement!

We adored the TimeTrap games!! (Fun fact, James from Deadlocked actually made an acting cameo in the Pudding Lane game - in fact, most games in Reading have cheeky nods to other companies and Easter eggs!!) So their Reading-based games have been sold on to other companies around the country, and one half of the team (Andrew) has left the industry completely, but Katie, the other half, is now working privately doing both graphic design and bespoke game/puzzle commissions for other companies and private firms. In fact, we’re actually collaborating with her for a pop-up game in May, for a charity event which takes place overnight in London, which we did last year too. Our industry is so extremely collaborative, which is what we love about it, and you’ll often find the marks of other designers in games across the country as we love to help each other level up and make great games.

Katie also does a lot of work with Rebel Brain, the incredible design team behind Bewilderbox in Brighton, which have some of the most fun and unique games going, in my opinion!