Days Out
Feature
Inside London’s immersive Sherlock Holmes Escape Room
Here's all you need to know about Sherlock: The Official Live Game.
Hidden away in a West London location lies an unassuming shop front, behind which unfolds a truly immersive, action-packed adventure built around the mysterious world of Sherlock Holmes.
Based on the BBC series Sherlock and thanks to their official partnership, the experience uses a mixture of the show’s cast, iconic settings, and notably brilliant actors to bring the action to life.
What is Sherlock: The Official Live Game?
Sherlock: The Official Live Game plays out as part escape room, part immersive experience. Created by Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss, the duo behind the acclaimed TV series, alongside escape room veterans Time Run, the story is suitably mystifying. Sherlock is missing, and the city needs him. In his place brother Mycroft turns to The Network and their volunteers to get to the bottom of recent goings-on.
What follows is a twisted, adrenaline inducing tale of betrayal and danger, one which visitors to the experience are tasked with solving.
As with escape rooms across the city, this requires an intricate combination of logic, detection, observation and rational thought. Unlike many other escape rooms however, the production value here is absolutely massive. Walls open to reveal new clues, cabinets unveil ingenious mini-games often requiring a mixture of all the necessary skills, UV light reveals hidden clues, and screens flicker with ominous menace.
From the welcoming setting of Sherlock’s Baker Street apartment, lovingly crafted in line with the TV series set, the experience draws the would-be detectives deeper into the twisted world of Holmes and his associates. The immersive elements sit perfectly alongside the many mental and physical challenges, each leading to one more clever, more intricate, and more fun than the last.
This isn’t just an experience for fans of the show. The world builds around the challengers, and there’s no need to have any prior knowledge of the TV series or its story. The cast are on hand virtually to guide the secretive tales, including Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch in specially recorded audio and visual snippets, and the in-person actors throughout the experience paint a truly vivid picture. For the majority of the experience however, visitors are left to their own devices, ready to play detective for 100 minutes.
The experience ends with a visit to The Mind Palace, a Sherlock inspired speakeasy. The purpose built bar offers unique cocktails, themed puzzles and a selection of bar food, and can be visited as part of the Sherlock: The Official Live Game experience or simply for an otherworldly break from reality.
Sherlock: The Official Live Game is suitable for ages 10 and over. The experience can be booked for groups of 2 or more, and lasts for approximately 100 minutes depending on the detection skills on hand.
Groups of less than 4 may be grouped together with other players. Groups of between 4 and 6 will be offered an exclusive room.
Anybody under the age of 18 (and always over the age of 10) is required to be accompanied by an adult.
Tickets for Sherlock: The Official Live Game are available now through Ticketmaster.co.uk.
