Fancy code-breaking your way out of escape rooms that look as professional as film sets, all based around Newcastle’s gruesome past? Say no more…

Escape rooms have experienced a boom in popularity in recent years, and it’s little wonder why. Essentially live-action versions of our favourite films and video games rolled into one, escape rooms give you the chance to be the hero in your own story – you’re the one stuck in seemingly inescapable peril, you’re the one breaking secret codes and you’re the one leading your group of mates to freedom from almost certain imprisonment. Well, kinda.

See, The Escape Key is like your average escape room experience, only better. In every single way. Offering four different indoor experiences – each of which are large, multi-roomed games (no claustrophobia here!) – as well as two outdoor games (they were among the first in the industry to create these) and an online escape game, The Escape Key recruits acting professionals, designs film set-standard rooms, and harnesses the very best technology to make each of their challenges as convincing and engaging as possible. But what we love most? The fact that each and every experience is somehow linked to Newcastle’s own exhilarating, inspiring and often pretty darn grisly past.

Because you can’t say The Escape Key doesn’t utilise their environment to their advantage. After all, it’s an absolute dream for any slightly-spooky experience provider to be located just metres away from the city’s oldest graveyard, where the bodies of hundreds of Geordies lie – each with their own gory story to tell.

What’s The Escape Key all about?

The Escape Key is an independent, family-run escape room business. We’re all passionate about creating superb, immersive experiences for our customers and our Games Masters work hard to ensure guests always have an amazing experience.

What makes us different from other escape rooms is that all our challenges are based around Newcastle’s rich heritage and our customers – whether local or those visiting the city – tell us they really enjoy learning about the fascinating history which inspired our rooms.

As well as having strong local stories as the narrative to our games, we set out to raise the standard and create the most immersive escape rooms possible. We build our rooms to almost movie-set quality. It does take us longer and costs a lot more, but it’s so satisfying when players notice our attention to detail.

When did you first come up with the idea of opening your own escape rooms?

Back in 2015, I set up a Secret Agent Academy called Spy School, which introduced teenagers to computer programming through STEM projects using robots and drones.

One of our most popular activities was a laser maze that the young spies had to get through while collecting objects which gave them a code to a safe. I was telling my brother about it and he commented that it was like an escape room. ‘What’s one of those?’ I remember asking. The next day I played my first escape room. I loved it, but knew straight away that I could create something better and much more immersive. We decided to go for it and within weeks had found an old warehouse to lease in Gallowgate.

It’s easy to see how The Escape Key has been inspired by your real-life exploits!

Absolutely! After Africa I moved to Turkey, teaching business English. It was after one evening class that I was arrested and imprisoned for espionage! I often wonder if that was where the seed for Spy School was planted…

How do you go about making sure your escape rooms are as immersive as possible for your customers?

Our games are based around strong local stories. We film actors to present the story and set the scene in short films, which players watch before going into the game. Once inside, the players are faced with a range of puzzles and these are carefully matched to the story and era of the game.

We also go to massive efforts to create authentic-looking environments that really help take players to another world. Smart lighting, quality soundtracks and sound effects all help to further immerse the players. You can find out more about how we create our rooms in our blog.

The challenges in your experiences are inspired by Newcastle’s own heritage. How did you first become interested in the history of the city?

It was really down to The Escape Key’s location in Gallowgate, which overlooks the graveyard of Newcastle’s oldest church, St. Andrew’s. The church staff kindly let us look in their archives and that’s when we started to discover some fascinating insights into the city’s past.

Escape rooms have experienced a surge in popularity in recent years. What do you think is it about them that people love so much?

Good escape rooms bring people together to share an exciting experience. It’s an experience that can be enjoyed by friends, families and workmates of any age and at any level of fitness. Gaming is a hugely popular pastime for many, but it can sometimes be a solitary experience. Escape rooms let people participate in a live-action game where people work together for the benefit of the whole team.

What does the future look like for The Escape Key?

It’s been a turbulent 15 months for so many hospitality businesses, so we’re hoping for a period of stability which sees business returning to pre-pandemic levels. But we don’t like to stand still for too long either, so we’ve been developing a couple of great ideas for some new escape rooms too!

To find out more about The Escape Key and how to book your next challenge, visit their website, Facebook page or Instagram