Escape London: Area 51

Escape London invite you to travel back in time to a top-secret, 1950s laboratory investigating other-worldly happenings in Roswell. Those little grey folk look friendly…

Escape London

• Location: Shepherd’s Bush (nearest tube Shepherd’s Bush Market)
• Players: 2-7
• We played: January 2019 as a team of 2

Great things about Area 51

• The types of puzzle in this room are nicely varied, so although it uses a lot of keypads, it doesn’t feel too repetitive. There were tasks that required us to think laterally, as well as some that encouraged teamwork.
• Rather than just a few mealy, challenging puzzles that take time to solve, Area 51 mostly features quick brain-snacks that keep you moving swiftly from one mini-challenge to the next.
• The design and décor in this room is mostly on-theme and reasonably well-executed, although some elements were a bit worn and could use a bit of care.
• As on our previous visits to Escape London, we received a cheerful and professional welcome from staff, who took us through the room’s story and safety information and were happy to be flexible about our preferences regarding hints.

On the other hand…

• Area 51 isn’t advertised as a super-difficult room, but some of the steps involved in progressing through the game were just a bit too basic and unchallenging – think “see code, enter code, success!”.
• Some escape rooms aren’t particularly story-driven, and that’s not always a bad thing, but it’s nice when the ending of a game is coherent in the context of the narrative. In this case, it didn’t really make sense and was also fairly anti-climactic. A more memorable ending would be an opportunity to give this room the spark that it lacks.

Who should try this room?

There are worse rooms to choose in SheBu than Area 51 if you’re a group of 2-4 players looking for something fast-paced and not-too-challenging.

Rating – 6/10