Difficulty 3 of 5 · 48 per cent escape · 2 to 6 players · the best first room
The Night Safe
A 1927 bank vault under St Mary Street: a combination dial, a wall of safety deposit boxes, a manager's desk with a secret, and an hour before the watchman comes back down the stairs. Our most played room and the one we suggest for a first game; about half of teams get out.
Free in this room
Today, Tuesday 20 October
- 10:00Gone
- 11:15Gone
- 12:30Gone
- 13:45Gone
- 15:00Gone
- 16:15Gone
- 17:30Gone
- 18:45Gone
- 20:00Gone
- 21:15Gone
Tomorrow, Wednesday 21 October
- 10:00Off-peak
- 11:15Off-peak
- 12:30Booked
- 13:45Off-peak
- 15:00Off-peak
- 16:15Free
- 17:30Booked
- 18:45Booked
- 20:00Booked
- 21:15Free
The Night Safe was our first room and it is still the one most people play first. It is built in the old strongroom of the building, with a real steel door from a demolished bank in Newport and two hundred safety deposit boxes, forty of which open. The puzzles are mechanical and logical rather than tricky: combinations, keys, a ledger, a lamp that shows what ink cannot. Two people can do it; four is the sweet spot.
The story is simple and the room tells it: the Western Counties Bank, 1927, the manager has gone home with the key, and you have an hour to open the night safe and get out before the watchman comes back. The game master plays the watchman on the radio, and if you are stuck he has a habit of mentioning where he left his reading glasses.
About 48 per cent of teams escape, and the record is 38 minutes 12 seconds by a team of four in March. If it is your first escape room, ask for a clue early rather than late: the best teams ask the most questions, and the three free clues do not cost you anything on the leaderboard.
What is included
- Sixty minutes in a room built from a real 1920s strongroom
- A game master on the cameras and the radio throughout
- Three free clues on the walkie-talkie
- The exit door opens from the inside, always
- A team photograph with your time, emailed that evening
- Lockers for coats and bags; water in the lobby
What it costs
From £60 for two to £114 for six, any day, with 10 per cent off before 4pm Monday to Thursday. Sixty minutes; arrive fifteen minutes early for the briefing. The booking page works out the total and the price a head for your group; the rooms page shows every free slot today and tomorrow.
Questions about The Night Safe
Is it scary?
No. It is dim and atmospheric but nothing jumps out. Children from ten play it with an adult, and plenty of grandparents have escaped.
Can two people do it?
Yes, and two people escape about as often as four; you share the puzzles rather than split them. It is the best room for two.
Sixty minutes. Pick a slot.
The rooms page shows every free slot today and tomorrow, room by room; the booking page works out the price for your group. We confirm by email within the hour, and anything starting in the next hour is a phone call.