Present, in June 2024, were: The Ant, Aunty Ant

We love, love, love Agent Brains and were thrilled, having played their original three games a while ago, that they have now expanded with a second location just around the corner from their first. Took us a bit of time to get organised but finally managed a birthday celebration double-header.

First up, mobster heist game Mobbery. Heists, or specifically grab-all-you-can games, are a great subsection of Escape Rooms, with an almost sure-fire, value for money full hour, and lots of little wins within the game for a good sense of gratification. The downside: some heists (particularly bank ones) can get a bit samey, if you have an hour of opening vault after vault, and there is sometimes a “played one, played ’em all” vibe going on.

Agent Brains are smarter than that. This is a stylish, varied, heist game, with plenty going on outside of the pilfering (as well as a lot of actual pilfering). As the name suggests, it has a slightly retro Mafia gangster vibe, although not sticking to fiercely to a particular time period and adding a Letchworth flavour. It isn’t an overtly kid-friendly theme, with gambling, alcohol, lawlessness and implied violence, but all that is mostly peripheral – so if you want to launch your teens into a life of crime, this is still a fairly safe option!

Content is key here though, so be prepared for a thorough puzzling workout. This is one of those games that is designed to NOT be 100% completed by the majority of teams within the hour, and as an experienced two we were absolutely flat out to clear about three quarters. We did have a few near misses and one enormous search fail, so we definitely could have done better. But the little wins come at such a pace we always felt like we were flying along and never felt frustrated or stuck… Well, there was one task that produced a howl of despair from Aunty Ant – our advice is not to get too hung up on trying to do that one! Mobbery also has a fantastic finishing section which absolutely ensures that, however much money you have collected, your game will always end with a bang!

We loved the undercurrent of humour in this game – especially some of the artefacts to steal – and Agent Brains also very kindly conspired with Aunty Ant to plant a birthday treat in the room. This company really does hit the trifecta of great room ideas, executed with quality and backed up with terrific customer service.

Mobbery is definitely one to add to the must-plays and I think I’d put it top of the list of all the heist games we have found.

• Storyline: Break into the villain’s lair and thieve back the stolen national treasures, before making your escape. Brilliantly followed through.
• Theming and Set: Excellent, and expansive.
• Searching: Not a high proportion, this is very much puzzle-based.
• Puzzles: So much content, there is something for everyone.
• Physicality: A couple of hand-eye type tasks, and some floor-level scrabbling. And mind your head/shins on the doors/steps.
• Scare factor: Quite a pressured finish, and some general jeopardy, but not scary scary.
• Company Age Guidance: “Minimum age 13+”
• Age suitability: Definitely not a game for young kids, but experienced teens would love it and could be useful.

Also at this venue: Back To The Future; Jungle Jailbreak, The Lab: Something In The Water

Agent Brains website