Overview 

This was our first visit to the newly opened Prodigy Escapes and we were greeted by the owners Dan and Lisa. Prodigy is located on the outskirts of Exeter but does have ample parking at the venue. The venue is an easy enough walk from in the train station in Exeter. The reception is a large spacious area with school styled lockers to put your coats and valuables in whilst playing. We had a long chat with Lisa about our previous experiences in escape rooms and we talked about other venues which we had been to for them to try. After a good old chin wag Lisa walked us to our room and gave us the briefing inside the room. She set the scene well and it led to us being immersed in the story with ease.

The room was very well decorated as on old manor estate dining room. The lighting was dimmed down but enough to create an eerie atmosphere but we could easily see what we were doing without the need for torches. There was music and noises being played in the background which again added to the setting of the mood in the room. There were plenty of props in the room to enable you to be immersed as soon as you walk in and throughout there were little things to give your heart a bit of a skip but nothing that we would class as really scary so families should be absolutely fine in this room.

The puzzles in the game were quite enjoyable for us all. We seemed to settle in quite in quickly and there was a few padlocks scattered around, there was also plenty of other games to keep us entertained. About half way through we hit a little brick wall and this seems to scupper our flow and we did stumble through the rest of the game. One game in particular really did have us struggling and we spent a huge chunk of time trying to figure it out. It almost came to the point where the GM had to tell us how to complete it which really did put a damper on the room for us as the immersion had gone. Once we escaped (just) the puzzle was explained to us by Lisa and how we should have found it and we think that it wasn’t set up right for us. We really can’t say for sure if this was the case but enough of the team think it wasn’t correct when they found it but none the less, we really did struggle with this particular puzzle.

The groundskeeper was available to be called upon through the intercom as they knew the layout of the manor and we obviously didn’t. This was a nice change from carrying around a walkie talkie in an escape room. The groundsman was there to help when we really did need it. 

Round Up

The puzzles were impressive and kept us all on our toes. This added with the ambience of the room made for a really enjoyable time at Prodigy. As mentioned previously, the one puzzle really did frustrate us and left us feeling a little deflated. However, it is clear that the owners are really keen to progress the site and are currently in the process of building another new room, which we will try it out for sure. 

Team: 4 Players 

Time Escaped: 54:56

Success/Failed: Success

Company Details: 

https://www.prodigyescapes.co.uk