Present, in January 2023, were: The Ant, Aunty Ant, Lioness, Parker, Amazing J, Catwoman and Mr Catwoman

For our first escapade in Norwich we were hoping that many fingers would make light work in this bank robbery set up. We were more Ocean’s Seven than Ocean’s Eleven – that’s still a big team for us in post-Covid times, but this can be an advantage in these grab-all-you-can variable score games.

Clued Up! in the two games we played with them have leant into their space and chosen workable themes. With their office-style building they have created office-style rooms, in this case a bank office and its vault. Although it won’t win any awards for wow-factor, it is a pleasant and roomy enough space, and a theme that allowed for plenty of appropriate puzzling. Just also worth a mention that this game appears to be original to Clued Up!, or at least is not a copy of the escape offering of the same name that we played in Peterborough, despite the remarkably similar stock logo.

Like many heist games, this is fairly non-linear, although we were a little slow to get started. There are several apparently potential start points and a search-fail meant we almost stumbled at the beginning. With so many players it was quite chaotic at times, with maybe not entirely enough for us all to do. But after a certain point the game develops more of a pattern, with clearly assignable roles, so we were able to get into a rhythm and everything began to flow more easily.

The puzzles all used elements of the bank very nicely to keep on theme. There were a couple of elements with a theatrical oooh moment, and also (less excitingly) quite a lot of maths. The team is basically heisting anything they can find, filling up the swag bag with all sorts of precious items, which was fun but also occasionally confusing in trying to figure out what was actually part of the next puzzles and what was purely treasure – particularly when some things were both.

One problem with heist games can be with too many players crowded into one small area. Clued Up! have quite cleverly ensured the team is dispersed – not actually by a physical barrier but by kind of halving each puzzle between the vault and the office. Although Catwoman did mostly enjoy her role as “the guy in the chair” this might be a slightly Marmite feature and does make it a tougher challenge for teams of two.

We were pretty happy with our eventual haul, just off the leaderboard, we got our hour’s worth of play (a big plus of these games) and our two rookies enjoyed themselves, which is always a good sign. This is a fun, solid criminal caper, neatly GM’d (thanks, Kirsten) on a comfortable and spacious, well-lit set. A reliable genre-offering with a good standard, well worth the time, and makes for a sound introduction to the sub-section of heist Escape Room games.

• Storyline:  Having the aim to break in past elaborate security systems does usually make for a reasonably straightforward plot.
• Theming and Set: Felt very like my teenage work experience in a local small building society.
• Searching: Becomes less important further into the game.
• Puzzles: Maths and a pc are crucial here.
• Physicality: Steep stairs up to this room, but that’s about it.
• Scare factor: Only if arithmetic brings on a panic attack.
• Company Age Guidance: “We recommend a lower age limit of approximately 10 years, but as every child is different it’s entirely your discretion if you are happy for them to participate in the game with you.  We don’t allow access to children under the age of 8 years”. 8-14 year olds need a paying adult in the room.
• Age suitability: Kids would be able to get involved, but a small team with majority children could well struggle in the more split sections.

Clued Up! website