Escape Rooms in Southend

A long pier extending over calm water at sunset with a cloudy sky above.

So let’s talk about the fantastic escape rooms near me in Southend-on-Sea. There aren’t as many escape rooms in Southend as you might expect, but hopefully there’ll be more coming soon!

There’s a list of all the Southend escape rooms below. Accurate as of May 2024. You could just scroll down but you’d miss out on my rambled notes on the escape rooms near me which would be very sad! I’ll try to keep the list up to date, but if you know of any escape rooms I’ve missed, any new ones, or any that are no more, please ping a quick note to me on the chat button below so I can keep the list useful.

This isn’t an escape room review page. I’ll share my thoughts on the rooms I’ve enjoyed, but that’s subjective. I don’t like scary escape rooms but others love them. There are so many great escape rooms near me but search engines tend to present the same ones which means some of the Southend escape rooms don’t get the exposure they should do. Hopefully the list will help choosing your next escape a bit easier.

The very first escape room I played was on Hamlet Court Road. It was called Cell 31. A small two room escape which we played as a couple. The room would be regarded as quite a basic escape room today. Padlocks of many sorts and clever puzzles to open them. Old school. It played brilliantly and had me hooked. Designed and operated by Room Escape Southend. Over the course of the next few months we played all of Room Escape Southend’s games (Apart from their scary escape rooms or rooms with a live actor. I’m not into scares and live actors creep me out!) Each escape room Room Escape Southend built was put together with a great deal of care and attention. For a long time, their escape rooms were the only ones we played. Their christmas escape rooms became a feature of our post boxing day activities. Sadly, after a brief move from Hamlet Court Road to Victoria Avenue (where they built the excellent “Abandoned”) they have taken a break from escape rooms. We would love to see them make a return as their independent games had a real edge to them, and were one of the best escape rooms near me in Southend.

Two people standing in front of a height chart, holding signs with phone numbers and names: Karen with the number 489-350, and Craig with the number 814-528, at a booking photo station.

Four people standing together in a dark, forest-themed setting with lush green foliage in the background. One person holds a lantern, illuminating their faces. They are smiling and appear to be posing for the photo.

Fortunately there are other excellent escape rooms in Southend. Our favourites are the games at Escape Live Southend. As part of the Escape Live franchise the games are tried and tested, with next level puzzles, props, themes and presentation. Near me you’ve got Escape Live Southend, Escape Live Chelmsford, and then there are others further afield in Coventry, Stratford, Liverpool and Birmingham. Of their escape rooms in Southend we were fortunate enough to be the last team to play Dr Wilson’s Office and recently played its sequel, The Magpie Mystery. Both excellent. You don’t need to have played one to enjoy the other, but they make a nice pair. Our favourite though is Pirate Plunder. Pirate Plunder is a really happy game! Great presentation, some fantastic props, and a great feel to it. We went as a family and all loved it. If you’re looking for the best physical escape rooms in Southend, definitely play these games.

The VR Escape team were sorting out the 2023 xmas bash and wanted to play an escape room. Fortunately, there was still one escape room near me that I hadn’t played - Room 13. So we went along and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Four people sit and stand in a room with red splatters on the wall behind them. The wall has the phrase 'It's written in the walls' written in red. One person is wrapped in a white sheet with red splatters. The group appears to be in an escape room, labeled 'Room 13' and 'Escape Live'.

Group of five people dressed as pirates in an escape room, holding swords and a chalkboard sign that says 'Escaped! 11-10 Remaining,' with pirate-themed decorations and branding for 'Escape Live' and 'Pirate Plunder' in the corners.

Four people standing together in a room with red and gold wallpaper, smiling at the camera. A girl on the left is wearing a black mask and black dress. Next to her is a bald man in a plaid shirt. To his right is a teenage boy in a brown hoodie. On the far right is a woman with glasses, smiling. Behind them is a screen displaying the time 09:24. There are logos for "Escape Live" and "Wilson's Office" in the corners.

Four people standing inside a room with red wallpaper, one wearing a black top hat, another holding a large ornate key, and a third person dressed in a white fur coat with a black helmet, while the fourth person is partially obscured. There are promotional logos for 'Escape Live' and 'The Magpie Mystery' in the bottom corners of the image.

There are another couple of Escape Rooms in Southend at Escape Southend. They have Carnival of Curiosity and The Magic Prison of Azcatraz. I’ve not had chance to play The Magic Prison of Azcatraz but we played Carnival of Curiosity and had a lot of fun with it. (Well, actually I sulked a bit because part of it is low light and my old eyes couldn’t cope - but my wife and kids had no trouble. :) ) With quite a grungy feel to it it adds to the range of escape rooms in Southend.

A list of escape rooms near Southend In no particular order:

The Magpie Mystery - Crime - Escape Live

Room 13 - Scary - Escape Live

Pirate Plunder - Pirate - Escape Live

Magic Prison of Azcatraz - Prison / Magic - Escape Southend

Carnival of Curiosities - Carnival - Escape Southend

Dragon Tower - Magic / Fantasy - VR Escape

Manor of Escape - Scary - VR Escape

Depths of Osiris - Underwater - VR Escape

Space Station Tiberia - Space - VR Escape

Pirates Plague - Pirate - VR Escape

Runaway Train - Steam Punk / Wild West - VR Escape

Time Travel Paradox - Sci Fi - VR Escape

Ninja Trials - Magic/Mystical - VR Escape

The B Block Breakout - Prison - VR Escape

The Parvus Box - Science/Whimsical - VR Escape

Alien Infection - Horror/Sci-Fi - VR Escape

Screenshot of a message about enjoying escape rooms, mentioning VR elements and excitement for returning.

Google review with five stars, praising escape rooms for fun and repeat visits.

Customer review about an escape room experience, praised for its fun, variety of options, and VR or escape room theme.

As I hope is obvious from what I’ve written above, I opened the first Virtual Reality Escape Room in Southend not just because I’m a VR fan, but also because I’m an escape room enthusiast. I’m very fortunate to have such great escape rooms near me. In enthusiast circles the question of whether virtual reality escape rooms are better than physical rooms comes up fairly frequently. My answer tends to be this. There are good escape rooms and not so good escape rooms. Whether the scenery is real or virtual really doesn’t make a difference to that. In VR escape rooms the puzzles can make use of the fantastic - things that can’t be done in real life, and you can be put in places you couldn’t be put in a real room. Ultimately though - it’s all about the puzzles and how much fun you have solving them, and not just about the way in which you see those puzzles.

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Escape Rooms that use Virtual Reality

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Space-themed promotional image for Tiberia, a virtual reality escape game, featuring a meteor impact and Earth in the background.

A dark stairway inside a mansion with ornate woodwork and framed paintings on the wall. The image features the text "Manor Escape" in red with silhouette illustrations of a clock and a mansion.

Underwater scene with a large porthole showing a shark swimming, surrounded by gears and cogs, with the text "Depths of Darkness" below.

Graphic art of a clock with city skyline silhouette behind it, surrounded by a futuristic loop, with the words 'Time Travel Paradox' overlaid in bold text, all set against a backdrop of a modern construction site.

A colorful digital illustration of a game called 'LaserBots' featuring neon laser beams, planets, mountains, and a large robotic vehicle on the right side, set in a space landscape.

You might also want to check out other local escape rooms near Southend:

Southend Escape Rooms - Basildon Escape Rooms - Billericay Escape Rooms - Maldon Escape Rooms - Wickford Escape Rooms - Colchester Escape Rooms - Bishops Stortford Escape Rooms - Chelmsford Escape Rooms

Escape Rooms in Southend

Escape Rooms that use Virtual Reality

You might also want to check out other local escape rooms near Southend:

Tel: 01702 412 733