Seven top escape rooms to solve in north London

Gaining popularity over the last decade, escape rooms are themed attractions where groups of friends must solve a series of puzzles to leave the room, sometimes playing against the clock or a rival team.

At present, all escape rooms now only allow a maximum of six participants in each room, to comply with Covid restrictions.

A tense moment at Modern Fables escape room in Broadway Market, Hackney (Image: Modern Fables)

Modern Fables

Second Floor, Regent Studios, 8 Andrews Road, London Fields, Hackney, E8 4QN
07793 762577
modern-fables.com
Prices start at £24 per person

Modern Fables' founders say they set themselves apart from other escape rooms by creating vivid stories to excite you right from the very beginning.

You’ll meet odd characters who set the scene at the escape room in Broadway Market, immersing you in a story that feels like an adventure rather than just a set of puzzles.

There are three escape rooms here. The original game is called The Escapist - an eerie game that feels like an investigation, with a character called Lavinia who appears to have gone missing.

Hypersomnia is an 80s-tinged sci-fi where you exist in a parallel universe but have lost your memory and can't remember who you are.

Then The Oracles sees you investigate the links between ancient aliens and dreams.

The games are all part of the same story, but it doesn’t matter which order you play them in.

'Games masters' work hard to react to each team during play, to make sure the experience is tricky enough to be challenging without being frustrating.

Games in the bunker at Fox in a Box escape room in Dalston Lane (Image: Fox in a Box)

Fox in a Box

14 Dalston Lane, Hackney, E8, 3AZ
02038765610
foxinaboxlondon.uk
Prices start at £30 per person
An adult must accompany children aged 14 and under

At Fox in a Box you have a choice of three adventures. You can save the world from a nuclear threat, escape from a maximum security prison, or flee from the clutches of a serial killer.

Each one is a physical real-life game, which sees players "locked" in a room where they need to use elements they find inside to solve a series of puzzles, find clues, and escape within 60 minutes.

Although only six players are allowed inside each room, there are two identical Prison Break rooms, meaning up to 12 players can go head to head in a competition.

For groups looking for a feedback session at the end of the game with insight about who has taken charge, who stepped back, who thrives under pressure, and who the group gravitates towards. Fox in a Box has partnered up with AKD Solutions, an award-winning, global learning and development consultancy, and promise a unique mix of laughter, key team building skills.

And if that wasn’t enough, Fox in a Box also has a "portable escape room" where they can bring the fun to your office, home or event anywhere in London, and provide staff to set up and run the games.

One of the escape rooms at ClueQuest (Image: © David Levene 2019)

clueQuest

169-171 Caledonian Road, near Kings Cross, Islington, N1 0SL
07798 772382
cluequest.co.uk/escape-room-london
Prices start at £25 per person off peak
Children aged nine and over are welcome

Participating teams have 60 minutes to complete a spy-themed mission at clueQuest, using teamwork and logic to gather clues and solve puzzles.

Each of their four games - PLAN52, Operation BlackSheep, Revenge of the Sheep and cQ ORIGENES - revolve around the spy-world of Mr Q, "the yellow mouse", and his arch-nemesis, Professor BlackSheep.

Family-run business clueQuest was started in June 2013 by four brothers, who wanted to leave their own mark on the brand by designing everything themselves - from the games and props, to the logos, characters and the website.

They say they believe in "the power of teamwork and laser beams", and aim to create immersive experiences and fond memories that bring all generations together.

Wizarding School escape room at Breakin' Escape Rooms (Image: Breakin' Escape Rooms)

Breakin' Escape Rooms

89 Holloway Road, Islington, N7 8LT
07484 526033
info@breakinescaperooms.co.uk
breakinescaperooms.co.uk
Prices from £35 per person for two players or £23 for three or more
Players under 16 must be accompanied by an adult

At Breakin' you are locked in a room with your team with the goal to escape within 60 minutes.

It is billed as the "perfect team activity" for colleagues wishing to spend some time outside the office, families and groups of friends who want to have a great time.

You need to use all the resources and clues you find in the room, because every object, image and sign could lead you to the next step and play a role in finding your way out.

Rooms include the Wizarding School, where you need to find a precious artefact lost for decades, Blackwing's cave where you need to defeat the villain to save the city, and The Flying Dutchman about a pirate ship where you need to find a mythical diamond to break the curse.

War on Horizon Alpha requires you to deactivate the shields on a space-fortress, and in the Butcher’s Lair you need to escape from a serial killer.

Mission: Breakout is set in the former South Kentish Town tube station (Image: Mission: Breakout)

Mission Breakout

141-145 Kentish Town Road, Camden, NW1 8PB
020 3652 8144
missionbreakout.london
It costs £28 per player
Suitable for kids aged from 9 years old
An adult must accompany players aged under 15

With its setting in the former South Kentish Town tube station, escape room games don’t get much more immersive than Mission: Breakout.

There are two rooms within this charming relic of London’s transport history.

Codebreakers sees you deep underground as the bombs fall on London, you and your team must crack the codes of the Nazi enigma machine, find the identity of the spy, and escape Churchill's secret war room?

The Lost Passenger recounts the true life story of a passenger who got off by accident in 1924, never to be seen again.

You have 60 minutes to complete each mission.

Escape Rooms is based in Lever Street, Angel Islington (Image: Escape Rooms)

Angel Escape Room

Unit 2, 3 Lever Street, Clerkenwell, Islington, EC1V 3QU
Price: £22-25
07874 369200
escaperooms.co.uk/games_angel

Escape Rooms has two venues in London Bridge and Angel, each with two space-themed rooms.

Angel Escape Room has one game called Project D.I.V.A, where you are on a starship, where the AI has gone berserk, is killing off crew, and is sending cryptic messages about its misdeeds which you need to decipher. Your job is to get on board and stop the machine by turning it off and then back on again.

The other room, The Dark Side of the Moon, sends you on a 60s sci-fi adventure where you need to stop the space Nazis who are preparing to attack earth.

The breakout room at No Escape London (Image: No Escape London)

Enigma Escape

Unit 38, 10 Hornsey Street, Holloway, N7 8EL
enigmaescape.co.uk
020 7607 8706
Prices start at £25 per person
Players must be aged over 10, and each room must have a player aged at least 15

Based in Holloway, London, Enigma Escape aims to provide unforgettable immersive, interactive, story-driven escape escape game experiences.

Participants are locked in a room with their team, and need to solve puzzles, decipher riddles and crack codes using logic and deduction to find a way out.

Room décor has been specially designed to suit the style of the chosen story, and - be warned - there are surprises.

In one game you need to help your boss break out of Hornsey Underground Prison with the help of a postman, while another involves watching a scary movie in the cinema with a killer on the loose.

Each experience involves a briefing session with refreshments, followed by a one-hour escape game challenge, and a debriefing session with photos and prizes.