27 February 2024
An epic adventure is calling and we are ready to answer. Hounds Escape presents The Explorer’s Diary, a thrilling 75 minute experience which takes you back in time to Peru as you search for the hidden treasures.
To know more on who Hounds are, we recommended checking out our article by clicking here!
This was our first ever visit to Hounds Escape and out of the options that worked with our visit, our fate fell into the lap of The Explorer’s Diary. This exploration based experience aimed to take us on a fully immersive journey which is movie-like and enchanting, as we were led by one of the explorers to help discover the treasure. This room is an escape room experience but offers a fully immersive, beautiful built sets across your path, an actor which assists you throughout your time exploring and 75 minutes of suspense & intriguing moments.
In this experience, we took advantage of the maximum allowance of players in the room which was 7 players to see how this would work with the space & challenges set. Tickets would cost £34.95 per person based on two players, but if you have between 3-7 then tickets cost £29.95 per person. We believe this room is best based for groups between 4-5, as we felt the rooms were a little full with 7 of us in them, trying to go back and forth.
As always, it is best to book online for the best time and date slot as these experiences may not be available on the day. You can also head to the bar beforehand or afterwards for a drink, which we did also do when visiting to try out some Moonshine that they had on offer!
Theming & Storyline – 9/10
The Explorer’s Diary started with a very suspenseful introduction with us being gathered outside the entrance of the room as we met our actor who was dressed up as one of the explorers. After a introduction and the story so far explained to us, we entered into base camp where more was explained. From here, our guide left us and we had to start our mission like in every other escape room. Throughout the experience, we were given hints, clues and other key story moments in character which was helpful and kept us on track.
The theming throughout was very high quality and kept with the immersive environment they were trying to keep you in. From a base camp setting, to a mine cave through to a treasure room, there was lots to explore. Even with the maximum team, the sets we rummaged through and inspected, there was plenty to see and keep us engaged throughout our whole time.
The ending seemed it could have multiple options and this was very interesting to have this concept, allowing two groups to have alternate experiences, which is always fun to have and something we don’t see as much as we should. Overall, a top quality room for theme and story.
Puzzles & Flow – 8/10
The puzzles in The Explorer’s Diary were certainly challenging. They provided us with a slow start, even with a large team we did have to really think and work in our smaller teams to try and get going. Once we started to conquer a few of them, we got into the swing of things and really started to move forward. As this adventure has multiple rooms, we did have to go back and forth a few times and this did ruin the flow just a little with a large group, as there was only so much space we could all be in at once. We found the ending room one of the best and we loved some of the puzzles we had to solve.
Uniqueness – 7/10
The Explorer’s Diary has definitely got some unique elements to it, with how the Hounds company works with the use of the actor and using the blend of escape room & heavily immersive sets, it creates more of a complete experience rather than just an escape challenge. Some of the puzzles we had to solve were very different and the links to other adventure based movies and puns were very much enjoyed. The ending was also pretty unique but we will keep that as a surprise for you to experience!
Overall. The Explorer’s Diary is up there as one of the best escape experiences on offer at present. With it having the added elements of an actor leading you through certain parts, the detailed story, special effects and a whole host of unique challenges inside, it provides more than just your typical escape out of the room as quick as you can experiences. The whole package provided over an hour of entertainment which all 7 of us loved from the moment we walked into the building. The actor played their role perfectly and we felt immersed in their story.
A huge thank you to the team at Hounds Escape for working with us during this visit. We visited in summer of 2023 and they provided us a complimentary experience in return for our review, TikTok and images. Make sure you do check them out as they have plenty of other experiences if an Egyptian based exploration room isn’t your kind of style.
For a glimpse into what you may experience, check out our TikTok and for all the latest information, follow Hounds directly!
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