Key Info
- Crawley, West Sussex, England
- 75 Minute Game
- 2 - 7 Players
- Escape Rate not Stated
- £34.95 Per Player
- Nearby Pay & Display
- 7/10 Difficulty
We Escaped In
56 Minutes & 47 Seconds
- Pete, Nate
- Jan 2024
Room Brief
You’ve heard the stories of Sir Benjamin Diggit, famous archaeologist and collector of rare and magical finds. You may also of heard of the disappearance of him and his stash. Armed with just a single page of his ruined diary, maybe you can find his hidden treasures. Pack your bags and get ready for an adventure! You don’t have long though, you’re not the only ones on the trail…
Arrival
It was just under two years ago in early 2022, that we paid a visit to the folks at Hounds to play Southern Discomfort and Questionable Ethics, two of our highest rated escape rooms to date and widely recognised as some of the best in the UK.
Safe to say then, 2 years later we were eager to make the 2 hour journey down south to give some of their other rooms a go. On this particular visit it was to play the brilliant, Explorer’s Diary (which was about to open when we last visited)!
As we remembered from our last visit, the Hounds Venue in Crawley town centre is a fantastic and modern looking set up. The emphasis clearly being on making your visit an experience. Since our last visit the bar area has received a bit of an upgrade and looked like an awesome place to have a pre-game beverage!
Immersion
Pete
Nate
If there was one thing that Hounds absolutely excel at, it has to be immersion. We’ve played so many great games with interesting themes yet many struggle to even come close to creating the theatrical experience that the team at Hounds deliver in every game.
Our game felt like it began when our host flew into the bar dressed as a British Empire explorer from the 1800s. He escorted us upstairs to the room opening and, without breaking character once, introduced us to the premise of the room and what we needed to do once inside.
Once introduced to the game, we were escorted into the Explorer’s cabin and our escape was able to begin. Safe to say, even with our high expectations, the set design of this room is fantastic. There was absolutely no mistaking that we had arrived in the explorers cabin. Every detail from the wood and linen walls right down the dim lighting has been carefully crafted to create the perfect room.
It was an attention to detail that carried through the entire experience and as our game progressed from the cabin and into other, equally as intrinsically crafted environments we were only more and more impressed.
As with Southern Discomfort, the final stage of this room is truly climactic (for some at least) thanks to the brilliant design and build of the room.
Puzzles & Challenges
Pete
Nate
Explorers Diary offered a varied and assorted set of puzzles which will leave all manner of players with an enjoyable challenge. With such focus by the game designers on the atmospheric theming, it will be no surprise to learn that we thought the puzzles also fit perfectly with the scenario we were given. We loved the blend of traditional lock based puzzles, and more technically advanced challenges to overcome.
We found the game to be linear in the sense that there was a clear running order to the overall game, however we enjoyed that each of us playing could go off and scout around the room with plenty for us all to be getting on with at one time. That being said, there were some excellent puzzles which required all of us to think together which we also particularly enjoyed.
It definitely felt like the difficulty level of the challenges increased as the game progresses into its final stages which was a great way to make escaping feel like a real accomplishment. The final set of puzzles in this game were the standout for us, completing such varied puzzles in rapid succession was a brilliant way to draw the game to a conclusion, before making a decision that shapes the games outcome.
In addition to the puzzles within the room, there are scores given for tasks achieved within the room, we managed to rack up 17 out of 20, missing just one task!
Games Master & Clues
Pete
Nate
Our Game Master Tom, took on the role of Rupert (who had a surname too long and rude for us to remember). He greeted us, saw us through the room, and said goodbye to us in Character which is now something we have come to expect from Hounds. Absolutely brilliant!
It was refreshing to not see a walkie talkie in the clue system, or an over reliance on an in room screen. Instead clues when we did need them were announced through speakers which were well hidden in the game. Thankfully, we managed to escape without needing to ask for a clue but our GM did give us a few little nudges in the right direction if we needed them. We actually thought these might have been pre-recorded messages as they did just seem to slot into the general gameplay.
Value for Money
Pete
Nate
An hour for three of us to play at hounds came in at just under £35 per person which is a little more than your average room in our experience, but then these rooms are of a much higher quality than the average room too. We felt that this was a really reasonable price.
If you’re on a budget it’s worth bearing in mind that we were unable to find free parking in the vicinity, but there were reasonably priced pay and display car parks nearby.
Enjoyment
Pete
Nate
The Explorer’s Diary was an absolutely immersive and incredibly fun room to play. Being initially wowed by the beautiful set design and then challenged with high quality and varied puzzles, we couldn’t really have asked for much more.
Another absolute triumph for Hounds. We loved this game.
Gave us very similar vibes to the Lost Treasure of Alexander Von Humboldt by The Room in Berlin. A room widely recognised as one of the best in the world. A brilliant UK option for escape room fans.
