The Infinite Escape Room

The sun is setting at Stonehenge, and we must bring it back with out wits, a wasp and a jam sandwich! Part 2 in the Summer Solstice series finds the gaggle of puzzlers at Stonehenge just in time for the sun to rise. The only problem is, if they don't perform the ritual correctly, the sun might not rise at all. In this brain-melting, time travel twisting episode, we'll have to master the past, present, and future if we want to make it out in time. In this episode, we're joined by Marcus Richardson and Nathan Hicken, the fantastic hosts of the murder mystery podcast Aurelius Whitlock's Murder Museum. Puzzle Maestro: Mike Collins Solvers: Jamie Gibbs, Mairi Nolan, Marcus Richardson and Nathan Hicken Episode Art: Dom Jordan Editor: Jamie Gibbs All links to our social media profiles and our Patreon programme over at https://linktr.ee/theinfiniteescaperoom Check out Aurelius Whitlock's Murder Museum on: Apple Podcasts Spotify ...and wherever you get your podcasts usually!

The gang find themselves on the summer solstice in Wiltshire, at Stonehenge no less! There's a great festival happening to celebrate the longest day, but before they can get there they'll have to enter through the gift shop. Before the night is up, they'll have to perform the ritual to get the sun to rise again. Easier said than done! In this episode, we're joined by Marcus Richardson and Nathan Hicken, the fantastic hosts of the murder mystery podcast Aurelius Whitlock's Murder Museum. Puzzle Maestro: Mairi Nolan Solvers: Mike Collins, Jamie Gibbs, Marcus Richardson and Nathan Hicken Episode Art: Dom Jordan Editor: Mike Collins All links to our social media profiles and our Patreon programme over at https://linktr.ee/theinfiniteescaperoom Check out Aurelius Whitlock's Murder Museum on: Apple Podcasts Spotify ...and wherever you get your podcasts usually!

This week's episode is Part 3 in our special "London Jolley" series. After a weekend of escape rooms, Mike gave us the challenge of each designing an improvised 10 minute escape room on the spot, and hosting it for the other three solvers. The location? A legally distinct, formerly independent coffee chain in the heart of London. The doors are chained shut, but will we be able to escape..? Puzzle maestros (in order): Jon Saunders, Mairi Nolan, Jamie Gibbs, and Mike Collins Solvers: Mike Collins, Jon Saunders, Jamie Gibbs, and Mairi Nolan Episode art: N/A Editor: Mike Collins Note: There'll not be an unedited version of this recording, as there wasn't a lot we cut out! All links to our social media profiles and our Patreon programme over at https://linktr.ee/theinfiniteescaperoom

In the second episode of our special, in-person London series, we took a quick break for a drink at the Dirty Dicks - yes, that really is it's name, and it's great! In this episode we do Two Truths and a Lie, discuss Cold vs Hot openings in escape rooms, and give our recommendations for this month. This month's recommendations are: Jamie - The Code Book by Simon Lehna Singh Jon - Notes From an Execution by Danya Kukafka Mairi - The Electrifying Incident (2025) by Draknek & Friends Mike - Slow Horses by Mick Herron, and Prey (2017) by Arkane Note: There'll not be an unedited version of this recording, as there wasn't a lot we cut out! All links to our social media profiles and our Patreon programme over at https://linktr.ee/theinfiniteescaperoom

In this special episode, we're reporting from our first all-producers, in-person trip to London! For the first time, all four of The Infinite Escape Room hosts were in the same space at the same time. Over this and the next few episodes you'll hear all about our puzzle thoughts on some of the games we played, including: The Emerald Phantom at Secret Studio Phantom Peak Escape Arcade at Enigma Quests Clays Bar Listen out in this episode, where we've also got a very special interview with two of the excellent creators of The Emerald Phantom, Oscar and Andrew, who you can find out more about at Secret Studio. All links to our social media profiles and our Patreon programme over at https://linktr.ee/theinfiniteescaperoom

You have been eaten alive by an irradiated Koala. What a day. But don't worry, there's a pub in here! Join Jamie, Aled, Mike and Bailey as they reflect on a question that should haunt the dreams of more Escape Room designers than it probably does - What is a puzzle? AND THAT'S NOT ALL. A prize draw. A real one. With a real prize. Well, two, actually, but one of them will probably go a bit funny before it reaches the winner. Also, our recommendations for this month: As always, we closed out the episode with some handpicked recommendations from the team: Bailey – TreeApp Plant a tree a day for free by watching short ads—an easy way to support global reforestation. Aled – Piper Alley Bagpipe covers of metal songs. Yes, it's weird. Yes, it's brilliant. Mike – Hardspace: Shipbreaker A relaxing puzzle-like space salvage sim with corporate dystopia vibes. Great on Steam Deck. Mike – Slow Horses by Mick Herron A witty, gritty spy thriller about MI5's least wanted. Also a TV series starring Gary Oldman. Jamie – Maniac (Steam) GTA-style, top-down bullet hell chaos. Perfect for blowing off steam in 20-minute bursts. Hosts: Mike Collins, Jamie Gibbs, Emma Bailey, Aled Hughes Editor: Jon Saunders All links to our social media profiles and our Patreon programme over at https://linktr.ee/theinfiniteescaperoom

This week's episode is Round 3 of The House of Death Games. Jamie opens the episode by strapping a ball gag into his mouth, the team re-enact the Vicar of Dibley soundtrack but substituting The Lord for Cocaine and Bailey cracks her knuckles and absolutely slaughters the rest of the team. But will it be enough to bring her victory? Pop another Koala on the Barbie Bruce! Puzzle maestro: Jamie Gibbs Solvers: Mike Collins, Emma Bailey, Aled Hughes Episode art: Dom Jordan Editor: Jonathan David Charles Saunders III All links to our social media profiles and our Patreon programme over at https://linktr.ee/theinfiniteescaperoom

This week's episode is Round 2 of The House of Death Games. Here, Bailey has us playing a sadistic game of celebrity Obama Llama to get points in Ozman Richards' (similar to but legally distinct Richard Osman) post-apocalyptic House of Death Games . Who's in the running to escape with their life? And who's destined for the digestive tract of a radioactive koala? Puzzle maestro: Emma Bailey Solvers: Mike Collins, Jamie Gibbs, Aled Hughes Episode art: Dom Jordan Editor: Jamie Gibbs All links to our social media profiles and our Patreon programme over at https://linktr.ee/theinfiniteescaperoom

The gang has been kidnapped! Again. This time, Australia's post-apocalyptic warlord Ozman Richards (similar to but legally distinct from Richard Osman) has challenged our puzzlers to compete in his House of Death Games. To the winner? Their life is spared. Everyone else? They pass through the digestive tract of a radioactive koala. This episode covers Round 1 - Just A Minute - where contestants have to speak on a topic for 60 seconds without hesitation, repetition or deviation. Easier said than done when your lives are on the line ... Puzzle maestro: Mike Collins Solvers: Jamie Gibbs, Emma Bailey, Aled Hughes Episode art: Dom Jordan Editor: Jamie Gibbs All links to our social media profiles and our Patreon programme over at https://linktr.ee/theinfiniteescaperoom

In this new series, we put our professional puzzle design experience to good use and look at escape rooms in film and TV as if they were real escape rooms. Our inaugural episode looks at the escape room episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine - Karen Peralta (Season 3 Episode 14). This is the episode where Captain Holt, Gina, Hitchcock and Scully 'work' together to escape a nuclear bunker. Follow Mike, Jamie and Mairi as they put the room through its paces and discuss how they'd make it a better escape room experience Hosts: Mike Collins, Jamie Gibbs, Mairi Nolan

This week, Jamie and Mairi are joined by author and game designer Eloise Corvo who chats with us about her new book, Off the Beaten Path, as well as her love of Michigan, cozy murders and designing mystery games. Say hi to Eloise: Website Instagram

This week we're joined by author and game designer Eloise Corvo who's presented us with a mystery set in the world of her cozy murder Stone's Throw Mystery novel, Off the Beaten Path. Think Parks and Rec meets Clue, and you're pretty much there. Will Jamie and Mairi manage to find the missing tomatoes before Pop's big fundraiser starts? And just how chewy is the beer in this place, anyway?   Get the visual handouts and game document at https://eloisecorvo.com/spaghettisabotage   In a cool twist of fate, our escape pod friends Dani and Bill of Escape This Podcast recently played this same room! See how they got on (and give them some friendly heckling from us)   Say hi to Eloise: Website Instagram Order Off The Beaten Path Puzzle Master: Eloise Corvo Solvers: Jamie Gibbs, Mairi Nolan Episode art: Dom Jordan Editor: Jamie Gibbs   All links to our social media profiles and our Patreon programme over at https://linktr.ee/theinfiniteescaperoom

In this wrap-up Pubisode for our Nursery Crimes Arc, the team delve into the thorny subject of Improvisation and its place in All Fun Things. Whether you live life off script (hello Jon) or are a paid up member of the Order Of The Flow Chart, your strong opinion is invited!

This is the final episode of our Nursery Crimes arc, in which the time try to appease Grandfather Story by getting off the Farmer's Wife (me neither!?) in order to avoid being flayed alive. Standard fare for the Infinite Escape Room! The real treat in this room is a trio of fiendish puzzles from Dom, who wrongfoots our experienced puzzlers at every turn. Delicious Listening! This episode contains visual handouts. Head over to https://www.theinfiniteescaperoom.com/e/nursery-crimes-the-king-the-queen-and-the-knave/ to view them.

It's the second in our series of Nursery Crimes, as the gang try and navigate the murky murderous world of Grandfather Story and solve the murder of the three blind mice. This week, Mairi takes Dom and Mike to the most exclusive restaurant in town, where they find themselves serving a very hungry customerpillar. Part of the Nursery Crimes series,  released in time for World Book Day.

This week Mike leads Mairi and Dom into Grandfather Story's adorable watercolour world...to solve a murder most gruesome and avoid a fate most cannibalistic. This is how we got ants. That and the egg everywhere, as the gang try and piece together what happened to Humpty Dumpty, and why they should be so bothered about the emotional state of a stick... This episode is releasing a few days early to coincide with World Book Day. Because cuteness.

A few months ago we were guests on the Escapuzzled podcast with Corey and Helena. The original, booze filled episode was over 2 hours long (the recording was twice that again!). Here's the second half of that interview, where we go into the puzzle making process, designing games for audio and generally how we embrace chaos in all we do. Enjoy! Say hi to Escapuzzled: Spotify Apple Podcasts Instagram

This week, Mike poses the question: Is player cognitive load a help or a hindrance when designing escape rooms?  We also chat about Mairi's secret connection to the Chocolate Orange fortune, and round out the night with our recommendations for books, games and other podcasts.   Hosts: Mike Collins, Jamie Gibbs, Mairi Nolan, Emma Bailey Editor: Jamie Gibbs   All links to our social media profiles and our Patreon programme over at https://linktr.ee/theinfiniteescaperoom

It's America's Got Talent meets Crufts in this week's escape room from Mairi. Mike, Jamie and Bailey don their sequined leotards and prove that you can teach an old human new tricks as they puzzle their way to the stage to impress the intimidating Simon Howl.   Puzzle Master: Mairi Nolan Solvers: Mike Collins, Jamie Gibbs, Emma Bailey Episode art: Dom Jordan Editor: Jamie Gibbs   All links to our social media profiles and our Patreon programme over at https://linktr.ee/theinfiniteescaperoom

It's Planet of the Apes! Except with dogs instead of apes. They wear clothes and have jobs and everything. This week, Mike, Mairi and Bailey are confined to the People Park before their imminent destruction for crimes against the Canine Imperium. But one of their fellow humans has left a clue that could help them make their escape...   Puzzle Master: Jamie Gibbs Solvers: Mike Collins, Mairi Nolan, Emma Bailey Episode art: Dom Jordan Editor: Jamie Gibbs   All links to our social media profiles and our Patreon programme over at https://linktr.ee/theinfiniteescaperoom

Having narrowly escaped the opening and closing scenes of Gravity, the gang sit down for a lovely chat at the pub with Corey and Helena from Escapuzzled. They'll show us how to answer quick fire questions quickly and on fire, talk about the Escapuzzled project, and chat puzzles and escaping in their experience and the wider industry.

We're joined once more by Corey and Helena from Escapuzzled, as we try to get through Mike's shonkily equipped lab to the AliExpress ISS escape pod. Can the gang figure out Mike's fiendish pollution based puzzle, and uncover the true identity of PunPun the Panda? Not without some EditorMike apologies along the way...enjoy!

In this week's episode, Jamie hosts an interstellar disaster movie as we tackle an escape room set on the AliExpress International Space Station, post invasion of intergalactic Lutoners. We're joined by the fabulous Corey and Helena from the Escapuzzled podcast, who are inexplicably still  speaking to us after we gave them twenty seven hours of editing on their own podcast. 

Shrug off your double denim and join us for a cold brewski at The Ski Pad, where we chat about designing the rooms in our Ronald's Revenge series: 1. Great Scott! 2. Yippee Ki-Yay, Mr. Falcon 3. E.T. Get Clue --- For more audio escape shenanigans, go check out https://www.theinfiniteescaperoom.com/ Any questions, comments, indignant remarks or just want to chat puzzles and podcasts? You can email us, or say hi on Facebook, Instagram or Bluesky. And if you want to support the podcast and get fun bonuses like early access to episodes, watch live recordings and get in on our Discord channel, join our Patreon. --- Hosts: Mike Collins, Jon Saunders, Jamie Gibbs, Emma Bailey

Tumbling from the heights of Nakatomi Plaza, the gang land in an awfully familiar 1980s suburban house, in which sits a familiar little long-necked extra-terrestrial turd... Will they manage to save cinema and please the embalmed-yet-still-living-head of Ronald Reagan? --- For more audio escape shenanigans, go check out https://www.theinfiniteescaperoom.com/ Any questions, comments, indignant remarks or just want to chat puzzles and podcasts? You can email us, or say hi on Facebook, Instagram or Bluesky. And if you want to support the podcast and get fun bonuses like early access to episodes, watch live recordings and get in on our Discord channel, join our Patreon. --- Puzzle Master: Jon Saunders Solvers: Mike Collins, Jamie Gibbs, Emma Bailey Episode art: Dom Jordan --- Music from freepd.com Happy Whistling Ukulele - Rafael Krux Gothamlicious - Kevin MacLeod Magic in the Garden - Rafael Krux SFX from freesound.org male reaction cartoon surprised - 1love dropping compost bag on floor - fmaudio creaking door 02 - skyernaklea door slam no reverb - adriann Old TV sound (Original: Seven days in May) - AltF4 sci fi machine spin up - sieuamthanh bang 003 - cydon Cartoon_5" Boing - GCEffex Switch off - RICHERlandTV AERORckt_Rocket launch 9-2.Roar.Crackle.Squawking_EM_(12lrs) - newlocknew growl and roar - Jofae

Aled, Jamie, and Mike spent a day in Tonypandy, a small town in South Wales, just outside Pontypridd. While there, we took on Rhondda Escape Rooms and had a blast! This isn't sponsored content, but we had a mic in our pocket (fnar) thought it'd make a cheeky New Year's bonus episode. If you enjoy this escape room travelogue, let us know, and we might do more in the future. Happy New Year!   ---- For more audio escape shenanigans, go check out https://www.theinfiniteescaperoom.com/ Any questions, comments, indignant remarks or just want to chat puzzles and podcasts? You can email us, or say hi on Facebook, Instagram or Bluesky. And if you want to support the podcast and get fun bonuses like early access to episodes, watch live recordings and get in on our Discord channel, join our Patreon.

On the run from the sudden appearance of a cyber yeti, the gang are forced to crawl through the vents of Nakatomi Plaza in their crisp white vests, all for the benefit of the Ronald Reagan head-in-a-jar's quest to save cinema. But there is a small bit of treachery afoot, as they soon find out ... --- For more audio escape shenanigans, go check out https://www.theinfiniteescaperoom.com/ Any questions, comments, indignant remarks or just want to chat puzzles and podcasts? You can email us, or say hi on Facebook, Instagram or Bluesky. And if you want to support the podcast and get fun bonuses like early access to episodes, watch live recordings and get in on our Discord channel, join our Patreon. --- Puzzle Master: Emma Bailey Solvers: Mike Collins, Jon Saunders, Jamie Gibbs --- Music from freepd.com Happy Whistling Ukulele - Rafael Krux Funky Energy Loop - Kevin Macleod SFX from freesound.org bell ding - 5ro4 walkie talkie static - crcavol walkie talkie over - miscpractice metal piece falling - robinhood76 fire starter lighter or match - jomungus stepping on broken glass - lukacafuka air hiss strongest - beerbelly38

This week, Mike, Jon and Jamie are joined by Emma as they come face to face with the embalmed head-in-a-jar of Ronald Reagan (who can somehow still manage to smoke cigars ...). Ronald has charged the gang with saving cinema by powering up a battered replica DeLorean from Back to the Future and locating the elusive 'Ski pads'. --- For more audio escape shenanigans, go check out https://linktr.ee/theinfiniteescaperoom Any questions, comments, indignant remarks or just want to chat puzzles and podcasts? You can email us, or say hi on Facebook, Instagram or Bluesky. And if you want to support the podcast and get fun bonuses like early access to episodes, watch live recordings and get in on our Discord channel, join our Patreon. --- Puzzle Master: Mike Collins Solvers: Jon Saunders, Jamie Gibbs, Emma Bailey Episode art: Dom Jordan --- Music from freepd.com Happy Whistling Ukulele - Rafael Krux Honour Bound - Bryan Teoh Beginning of Conflict - Rafael Krux   SFX from freesound.org Polite coughing - Turbofool Synth Sparkle - komit.wav Short fart - Dsisstudios Pressing Stop on An Old Tape Machine - djlprojects FabricRipping2Stereo.wav - somewhatimmoral Sci Fi HUD Screen Select FX 1 - deadrobotmusic DeLorean DMC-12 (V6 PRV engine) - SkyernAklea Sci_Fi_Machine_Spin_Up 0 - SieuAmThanh Bang_003.mp3 - cydon    

Having saved Christmas from geographically diverse criminal gangs, we kick back in the Legless Elf pub to sup some mead, shoot the breeze about the rooms we solved, and share some of our recommendations for the month.

In the finale to our Christmas special, the last of the world's most regionally diverse mafias set the gang on a hunt across the maps. Google Maps to be precise. Will Santa be able to call in a surgical strike from low earth orbit, or will it be mandatory Welsh coal for all the kiddies this Christmas? Join Mike, Mairi and Jamie as they battle internet vandal Jon's fiendish doings.

Having...solved... Jamie's Kiwi Confederacy the gang face off against Mairi's eldritch horror of the Yorkshire Nanas. Never fear though, they've got plucky, capable and ... disposable ... elves to help them through. Original art for each episode is by Dom Jordan. You can check out more of his art over at https://domjordanillustration.com/

It's the first in our 2024 Christmas series, where the gang try and stop internationally typecast mafias from destroying Christmas. This week, Jamie presents Mike, Jon and Mairi with a nail biting conundrum - are the New Zealand Mafia really bad enough to go on the naughty list, or is all fair in love and garotte wire? Original art for each episode is by Dom Jordan. Check out more of his stuff at https://domjordanillustration.com/

This is the final episode in our Grumbledown series, in which the team successfully assassinated the predatory schoolmasters of Grumbledown's Preparatory Something or other for the whatsits...we never did quite figure out the name. Having dispatched the Latinmaster, we adjourne to the pub, The Post Plutius. Jon attempts to blind himself, Mike makes excuses for getting his Latin wrong, Jamie makes it all look easy and we all take some time to enjoy Ben's greatest hits. This is Ben's final episode of The Infinite Escape Room, certainly as a producer, though I'm sure we'll tempt him back as a solver some day! This episode features: Ben, Mike, Jamie and Jon

With two School Masters down the team are assaulted by an old flatulent man wielding a Gladius-Blunderbus. It can only be the Latin Master. Listen along as they wrestle not only with a dead language, but the incompetence of their Puzzle Master as well. There is a cannon and at the end of all this someone is getting fired out of it. This episode features: Jon, Mike, Ben and Jamie. Puzzle by: Mike (A+ for style, D- accuracy) Editor: Jon Nominated Latin Speaker: Ben

Last week the team dispatched the Latin master at Grumbledowns Preparatory School For the Monetarily Advantaged. No sooner has his Peppermint Poisoned corpse hit the ground then the team dive into the Chemistry Lab to dispatch their next school master. Much hinges in this episode, as so often in history, on the placement of a comma, and the interpretation therof!   And cheese. Lots of cheese.   This episode features: Jon, Mike, Ben and Jamie. Puzzle by: Ben Editor: Jon Withering commentary: Mike. Attack of Gout: Jamie.   Credit for Sound Effects: Hellfire.aif by Sepp Ultura -- https://freesound.org/s/66933/ -- License: Attribution 3.0 Wilhelm Splash by TiredHippo -- https://freesound.org/s/318189/ -- License: Creative Commons 0

After benefitting from early release at Timpson's prison, the team embark on their new carrers as Teaching Assistants, the infantryman of the school world (quite literally in some places). There first job is a placement at Grumbledown's Acadamy for the something something, home to quivering school boys and predatory teachers. Join them as they attempt to murder the headmaster by unusual means.   This episode features: Jon, Mike, Ben and Jamie. Puzzle by: Jamie Editor: Jon Episode art: Dom Jordan Withering commentary: Mike.

Wanted in out of the cold and put your orders in - our gang of four look back over the past three episodes. We spend some time talking about what Mairi is currently up to, and then segue into the ses spit that is X, formerly known as Twitter. Ending, as ever with some recommendations, and a little ditty. Hosts: Jamie Gibbs, Mike Collins, Mairi Nolan, Jon Saunders Editor: Ben Lavery-Griffiths Episode art: Dom Jordan Come and say hi: Facebook Instagram

Be quick and be quiet! You're on the run from a drove a sunburnt gammon headcases and you attempt to find some solace in the library. You had previously skipped passed the canteen and didn't have the chance to devour a jam roly-poly, however you quickly discover someone who has, and they aren't in the best of states... When all is said and done, sometimes the answer is inside you all along... This episode comes with a visual handout - head over to www.theinfiniteescaperoom.com to get it. Puzzle design: Jamie Gibbs Solvers: Mike Collins, Mairi Nolan, Jon Saunders Editor: Ben Lavery-Griffiths Episode art: Dom Jordan Come and say hi: Facebook Instagram

Out of the processing room and into the prison, as the old saying goes - that's where you begin this weeks puzzle. Timpson's Prison has a peculiar layout, you are split up and must not only find each other but discover how you can escape this place. Quick thinking, awkward neck bending, and a well placed utterance is just some of what's needed... This episode comes with a visual handout - head over to www.theinfiniteescaperoom.com to get it. Puzzle design: Jon Saunders Solvers: Mike Collins, Mairi Nolan, Jamie Gibbs Editor: Ben Lavery-Griffiths Episode art: Dom Jordan Come and say hi: Facebook Instagram Support us on Patreon!

Welcome back to part one of the exciting second instalment of our new format! Having escaped the rotary club you make your way to your new council house, when you wind up becoming accidental eco activists and are incarcerated at the new Timpson's Prison. Of course you begin in the processing room, which you must progress through before a hoard of 500 sunburnt gammon headcases come crashing in behind you. Your only obstacles are a furry felon and an innocuous looking door...   Puzzle design: Mike Collins Solvers: Jon Saunders, Mairi, Jamie Gibbs Editor: Ben Lavery-Griffiths Episode art: Dom Jordan Come and say hi: Facebook Instagram Support us on Patreon!

Join us as we pull up a chair and pull back the curtain on the last few episodes. We also get into why apple cake and custard is delicious, and go on a little rant about the size of IKEA beds. Hosts: Mike Collins, Ben Lavery-Griffiths, Jon Saunders, Jamie Gibbs Editor: Jamie Gibbs Come and say hi: Facebook Instagram SFX from freesound.org Bell ringing: Techienanna

The thrilling conclusion to the gang's descent into depravity as they try desperately to become members of the Rotary Club. This week, Mike sends them down into the sex dungeon, to try and find out who killed the corpse on the table ... and with what? There's a plethora of sexually depraved devices from which to choose, but will they choose wisely?   Puzzle design: Mike Collins Solvers: Ben Lavery-Griffiths, Jon Saunders, Jamie Gibbs Editor: Jamie Gibbs   Come and say hi: Facebook Instagram Music from freepd.com Happy Whistling Ukulele by Rafael Krux Horror Mystery by Rafael Krux SFX from freesound.org Spooky sound: HaraldDeLuca Fart: DSISStudios Filing cabinet: MattRuthSound Fire alarm: SpliceSound Falling scream: Robinhood76

This episode comes with a visual handout - head over to www.theinfiniteescaperoom.com to get it. The gang continues their journey through the Rotary Club village hall - this week they're stuck in the kitchen. To escape, they must ... bake an apple pie? Surely there's more to it than that? Well, Ben's back behind the wheel so you know there are a few surprises in store.   Puzzle design: Ben Lavery-Griffiths Solvers: Mike Collins, Jon Saunders, Jamie Gibbs Editor: Jamie Gibbs Come and say hi: Facebook Instagram Support us on Patreon! Music from freepd.com Happy Whistling Ukulele by Rafael Krux Isolation Waltz by Bryan Teoh Funky Energy Loop by Kevin MacLeod SFX from freesound.org Rummaging: daveincamas Match lighting: kitchen sounds Fire: Foleyheaven Wood falling: akennedybrewer Falling bag: F.M. Audio Ding: 5ro4 Gears: draelent Satisfied sound: 1LOVE  

Welcome to the first episode of our exciting new format (which feels remarkably like our original format)! This week, the gang finds themselves trapped in a village hall commandeered by the mysterious and sexually deviant local Rotary Club. To escape, they must crack Jon's intricate, almost Masonic puzzle and recite the elusive Rotary Club oath.   Puzzle design: Jon Saunders Solvers: Mike Collins, Ben Lavery-Griffiths, Jamie Gibbs Editor: Jamie Gibbs Come and say hi: Facebook Instagram Support us on Patreon! Music from freepd.com Happy Whistling Ukulele by Rafael Krux City Sunshine by Kevin MacLeod SFX from freesound.org Cell phone vibration: MrAuralization Knocking: awrecording.it Creaking door: SkyernAklea Door slam: adriann Safety lock: Robinhood76 Clock chime: phantastonia Creaky floorboard: Soundbysimmons Hammering nails: InspectorJ  

Having spent all of their money on a single nights rent the team go out to celebrate their right to exist...in the park, because they can't afford to go anywhere else. Join Jon and Anna as they pick apart Mike's thinly veiled satire of the housing crisis. Digressions include Mike's book, why Mike thinks writing books is easy but putting them together is hard, the absolute Kafka esque hell of the rental sector in the UK and Anna's love of Severance.

In this week's cataloguing of our national decline the team is arrested outside the leafy setting of The Great British Bake Off and returned to their rightful place, a cramped mould ridden maisonette administered by a sadistic estate agent and the sort of landlord that sees the death of one of their tenants as "a real headache." And like any flatshare, the team are invited to the "house WhatsApp" on their arrival. But why? And what dastardly villain would come up with such an unrelentingly bleak concept for an escape room? Mike. Mike would. And he'd do all the voices, too.

Jamie is joined at the Soggy Bottom's Up by Gord and Liz at Review the Room for a chat about last week's episode. We also get into: Colourblindness in puzzle games Which city is the best for escape rooms Why stakes matter when playing an escape room Which one of them has superhero semen vision   Our list of cool shit to check out includes: Sasquatch Sunset (Gord) Squatty Potty (Liz) Powerwash Simulator  (Jamie)

This week Jamie is joined by Gord and Liz from Review the Room to desecrate several British national treasures in quick succession. There's copious sampling of unknown white powders in this one - completely unintended, promise.

Tuck into some Snail Porridge at Heston F***ing Blumenthal's legally different pub as Ben and Jamie try to make sense of last weeks room. Topics include the psychological harm caused by Anosmia, favourite smells (petrol, bacon), the dangers of writing puzzles with similar ingredients and then relying on the team to distinguish between them, and the Victorian pleasure of Snorting Mummies. Yep, you read that right.

It's only taken five years but Jon has finally managed to start a recording ahead of time. It lasts thirty seconds and immeadiately fails. This is followed by an intro section that goes completely out of sequence and one of the most obscure puzzles we've ever done. There are no locks, no keys or codes. All that's needed is the answer to a simple question. What's wrong with Heston?   This episode features Jon, Jamie, Ben and even Jon's wife Sinead providing some piano for the ending.

Come join us at the "We've put a flag in it, so it's ours" pub, where Jamie, Mairi and Helen chat about last week's episode - The Museum Anti Heist.    We also have a brief chat about weird-flavoured beers, get into just how much stuff the British Museum has stolen over the years, and Jamie leads a call to reclaim Stonehenge for the Welsh.   Cool stuff to check out: A coincidental mammoth meat connection - Cave Escape Nottingham: Project Iceman Case Closed Edinburgh Quizzy Dan's Twitch stream Cerebral Puzzle Showcase (Steam) Also, our own Mike Collins has co-written a bloody book! Check out the Pedagodzilla book for pop culture and learning deliciousness.