'We built the best escape room in the UK'

The creators of an escape room named the best in the UK have described how it was inspired by local folklore.

Deadlocked escape rooms in Reading has been created in the basement of a Georgian house in the town.

Judges from across the world must have played more than 200 escape rooms to nominate their favourites for the awards.

Co-owner Charlie Bond said winning was "a huge honour".

The Reading Witch game is a two hour, immersive experience which features multiple actors and rooms for players to explore as they navigate puzzles, crack codes and face the odd jump-scare.

The scale of the puzzle room was inspired by games in Greece and Spain which both feature a lot of nominations in the award's top 100.

Co-owner James Hamer-Morton said: "This was made at a very low budget, we did everything ourselves and it took us two years to create".

"We tried to go for something that hasn't really been done before here, that would bring people back to Reading."

The idea for the Reading Witch story is based off of an old folk tale which was used to create a 'Reading-centric horror game'.

Bond said: "We are so proud to have put Reading on the world map in this rapidly growing industry. We have a strong team of Reading local actors and creatives who help showcase the incredible talent that we have here.

Deadlocked has been voted "number one escape room in the UK" by Top Escape Rooms Project Enthusiasts' Choice Award (TERPECA), the industry equivalent of the Oscars.

Bond said: "The rules are very strict. You know when you have been up for nomination, you know you're doing the right thing.

"The UK doesn't tend to do so well in the rankings due to scale and expenses compared to the rest of the world so we can't always afford the same spectacle."

"Just this week we have had people come from Austria, Missouri and people have a hobby to go and visit the top escape rooms in the world."

Rich Bragg from California, United States, created TERPECA in 2018 to build a yearly ranking of the best English-speaking escape rooms in the world.

He said: "There have only been three other rooms that were in the top spot for the UK.

"Once they get into that spot, it's hard to unseat them. I'd like to see the Reading Witch have a have a little run here, and maybe they can move up in the rankings."

Bragg first became a fan of Deadlocked Escape Rooms during lockdown when the company had created some free-to-play virtual puzzles and will be visiting the Berkshire town to play the game in May.

Liz Soutar, who lives in Somerset, created blog page Review the Room in 2019 and travels the world playing top rated escape rooms.

She said: "The TERPCAs are now sort of the starting point when it comes to finding escape rooms to play but, we also look for what's new, what's exciting and what fits my vibe."

She had already reviewed one of the company's past games, and came back to play the 'Reading Witch' last year.

Soutar said: "I very much enjoyed it. Escape rooms now are evolving into almost immersive theatre with puzzles, and that's what the Reading Witch is."