Escape the Chop: Sweeney Todd review

This game has a unique selling point for the theming in the fact that the room is in the back of a functioning barbers. Sadly on our visit the barbers were under renovation, so we didn’t get the full effect. The brief is given from within the room. This can be disappointing as you find yourself sneaking for clues rather than paying much attention to the brief. The room was dressed well to give the barber theme, however it didn’t have the full wow factor it possibly could have.

The second part of the game took a good twist, but I feel there could have been a lot more done with the room design and paraphernalia. Perhaps as the word grows and income starts coming in they can add more decoration to get more of the horror theme in? Maybe even a surprise guest at points?

The theming is both unique and authentic as it’s played in the rear of a real barber shop. The story has been set accordingly to link to this situation. In bad timing, we came whilst the barbers were undergoing renovation so had to walk through a building site which wasn’t ideal, but future players will get to pass through a nice fresh shop! The game starts off in a small barbers complete with chairs, mirrors and other related items like hairdryer and photos of different hairstyles. There’s hidden secrets to discover where things turn more sinister, but not scary. Set design is on the lower budget end, with the barbers room looking quite tired as it seemed to reuse old hairdressing equipment.

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This is a standard room where the majority of the puzzles are solved by finding keys/numbers etc for padlocks. In fact pretty much every game ends in a padlock. Whilst a newcomer to escape rooms will love this, I feel a more experienced gamer may get as fed up towards the end as I did as I like to have a variety of solutions. The puzzles themselves are good, and are not too difficult. Additionally there’s a few good elements where they use the barber room extremely well as a tool to the game. There was also a cool challenge I’d not seen before which I particularly liked.

All puzzles here made logical sense. There’s a variety of tasks, although most I’ve seen before. There were two tasks in particular that I really liked for their inventiveness though. The first half of the game is to unlock the secrets. There’s every type of lock you can imagine – key, directional, colour, number, electronic and more. The second half is where you need to collect several items to reveal a code. Our host shouted out clues from behind a door, some of which were unrequested. There was also a digital clock in the room so we could see how much time we had left. Sweeney Todd is new and is still being tweaked so may change/improve from what we experienced.

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I appreciate the efforts that have gone into the first escape room this company has created. It is themed well, however for me the room just felt too empty. I also got a bit fed up towards the end of all the padlocks. I did enjoy a couple of elements and seeing a few new ideas, but nothing overly wowed me in the room. I feel this can easily be resolved with maybe more of a hint to the horror side, and by changing some of the games to not end in a padlock.

Sweeney Todd’s biggest selling point is the fact it’s based in a live barber shop and you have to say a special phrase when you arrive to be sent to the rear. This is what I enjoyed the most. The set design and puzzles didn’t wow me, but there’s nothing wrong with them and the authenticity of the location helps to elevate this room. Everything was caked in dust from the refurbishment of the barbers which wasn’t ideal, but that should be a one-off issue. Overall this was a fun experience. We were also sent a professional looking winners photo for a memento.

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Unfortunately this is situated quite a distance from Reading centre so it isn’t the easiest room to reach. If you have a car you’ll be fine, but we had to rely on the bus and taxis which added to the cost to get there. If you pay the lower price of £18pp then I feel the value is fine, but at the higher end I feel a more experienced gamer would be better off saving their bus fare and playing a room based in the town by one of the other companies. If however you’re new to escape rooms, you’ll have a good time in this room. I feel the company will develop over time and I look forward to seeing them grow.

Escape the Chop are new to the escape room scene, with this being their first creation. Along with a limited budget, it means Sweeney Todd isn’t yet as polished as other rooms, but the owner has ambitions to improve and grow as time goes on. It’s priced similarly to other established venues, costing £24 per person for a group of 3. It’s also not in the most convenient location, being a 20 minute drive from the centre of Reading. There’s a direct bus service, but it only runs every 30-60 minutes so those without a car may need to also pay for a cab.

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