Exitus Escape Rooms can be found in Cardiff city centre (Wales, UK). There are currently four rooms to choose from, featuring space horror, Egyptian tombs, a prisoner of war camp and a chocolate factory. A fifth is currently in development and will be launching soon.
Exitus can be found between Specsavers and Card Factory on Queen Street. Situated approximately 5 minutes’ walking distance from Cardiff Queen Street train station, it is really easy to get to. Paid parking is available at the nearby St. David’s Shopping Centre.
Accessibility: To access the main reception, you’ll need to climb a set of stairs to the first floor. Unfortunately, there is no lift available or wheelchair access.
Arrival
We were warmly greeted by James, our first GM, as we entered the reception; he requested that we lock up any belongings and take a seat while he finished up his previous game. The waiting area has comfy sofas, soft lighting and a working Mortal Kombat arcade machine! We were surprised that there was also a bar, The Locked Inn, offering a range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks. For those who want to solve more puzzles after they leave, there are play-at-home games available for purchase. These include Unlocked!, Puzzle Post, Exit and iDventure Clueboxes.
Once James had finished with the previous team, he took us to our first room. His enthusiastic energy and upbeat attitude were infectious, hyping us up for the day. Our other GMs, Lara and Chris, were also fantastic!
A small niggle was that we could hear some communication between GMs and players while we waited. One of our team members heard spoilers for a room we hadn’t played yet, which was unfortunate. This isn’t ideal, but it is preventable, so hopefully it can be resolved easily.
There’s Something Outside
Players: 2-6 | Duration: 60 mins | Difficulty: 5/5
“You have survived Mars, built an astrofarm, and mined precious minerals. Now, you must rendezvous with your crew and charge the spaceship so you can return home. But something’s gone wrong… Will you escape before time runs out?”
Our thoughts
We didn’t set out to tackle Exitus’ toughest room first; it just happened to fall like that due to availability. Normally, we’d start with an easier ‘warm-up’ room, but actually, we found the extra challenge fired up our brains even more. James explained that we must collect and charge the nine batteries required to power our spaceship and return to Earth. This succinct objective was really helpful as we knew exactly what we were looking for throughout the experience. The inclusion of something to write on was also key for us, especially as there were some math puzzles.
The various rooms along the way were spacious and atmospheric, with eerie green lighting in one that felt distinctly alien. Billed as a ‘space horror’, we were fully expecting to jump out of our skin. While it was a little jumpy at times, we’d generally classify it as spooky rather than all-out horror.
We were told that There’s Something Outside was recently changed from a non-linear to a linear room based on feedback. Having not played the room in its previous configuration, I can’t comment on which works better. We did find the flow of puzzles and signposting to be very smooth, intuitive and satisfying. There was a good variety of puzzle types, as well as a lock type we hadn’t encountered before. (maths, logic, ciphers, memory), There was a lot to get through, but we worked well as a team. The escape rate for this room sits at around 10%! We were delighted to escape with nearly 10 minutes to spare!
Coco Loco
Players: 2-8 | Duration: 60 mins | Difficulty: 3/5
“You’ve been hired as top investigators to help Rose break into the chocolate factory and retrieve the stolen factory keys from her mean Uncle Christian. You’ll need to work quickly while Rose keeps her uncle distracted at the lawyer’s office. Solve puzzles, crack codes, and navigate the factory’s twists and turns to recover the keys before time runs out.”
Our thoughts
After a quick break for coffee, we returned to play our second room of the day, Coco Loco. This was a step down in terms of difficulty compared to our first room, but still very enjoyable. It’s a family-friendly, linear room set in a chocolate factory. To be clear, this is more of a traditional factory setting – not a fantastical Willy Wonka set-up, although it does feature some edible treats. Just to set expectations!
The room consists of one large space, with another small area that’s accessible later in the game. As with our previous room, the flow was great, and we rarely found ourselves questioning what we had to do next. We moved swiftly between most of the puzzles, some of which involved jigsaw pieces, chess, connecting pipes and observation tasks. One of our favourite puzzles actually required that we eat some chocolate, which we definitely did not complain about!
I imagine this would be a lot of fun to play with children, especially with one of the puzzles towards the end. It is a linear room, so you have a clearly defined path to follow, and the simple story is easy to follow. We escaped in 33:56, but this could have been under 30 minutes had we not wasted so much time looking for one item that was right in front of our faces!
The Great Escape
Players: 3-6 (2 possible, but challenging) | Duration: 90 mins | Difficulty: 4/5
Other: Under-15s must be accompanied by two adults
“In the heart of a WWII POW camp, a daring adventure unfolds. Amidst the barbed wire and vigilant guards, freedom lies just beyond your grasp. With time slipping away and each moment vital, you must outmanoeuvre the guards and navigate the maze of tunnels being dug beneath the compound. How many can you liberate in time?“
Our thoughts
TERPECA 2024 nominee The Great Escape was our final room of the day, and boy, was it good! Chris, our GM, led us into a small cell with bunk beds and a log burner. Setting the scene, he explained that our objective was to escape the camp and then to liberate the other 200+ prisoners. No pressure!
From the moment the lights went out, we felt like we were escaping an actual prisoner-of-war camp. We uncovered secret passages, pulled ropes, and crawled as we explored different areas. We even [REDACTED], which we have never done in a room before; much to the enjoyment of our GM. It was a fun, unexpected moment that felt perfectly in keeping with the setting. I’ve been pulled out of an experience in the past by an incongruous piece of technology. Here, everything felt made complete sense within the setting. This includes the puzzles, of which there were many! Each of us had our moment to shine, whether that was with a maths puzzle, a more physical feat or a good old-fashioned logic puzzle.
This is the first 90-minute room we have tackled together as a team, and we were excited to see how that translated in terms of gameplay and difficulty. What we found was that the extra time meant less clock watching (there is no visible timer in the room/s anyway), and we allowed ourselves to be fully immersed in the experience. I can definitely see why this room is TERPECA nominated, and if it is an indication of the increasing quality moving forward, I can’t wait to see what comes next!
You get two escape times for this game: the first is when you actually escape the prisoner of war camp, and the second is when you have successfully liberated all of the other prisoners. We escaped the camp 53:02 minutes in, and completed the final challenge at 67:07. Not a bad effort!
Ranking
Our current team rankings for the rooms we’ve played at Exitus are:
| 1 | The Great Escape |
| 2 | There’s Something Outside |
| 3 | Coco Loco |
We escaped… now what?
After completing each room, we were presented with a certificate showing our escape time. This also included a personalised ‘Top Talent’ based on our performance in the room: ‘Battery Powered!’, ‘Speed Running’ and ‘Choir Practice’ were our top talents. We loved this personal touch!
We had a fantastic time at Exitus, which was in no small part because of the wonderful GMs. The venue is so homely and welcoming, there is a good variety of room themes, and it’s clear that the creators are passionate about what they create. I’m very excited to see what they are dreaming up for their new room, which is coming very soon. We’ll be back very soon to play The Curse of Senutep and the currently Untitled fifth room, when it opens.
Please note: We weren’t charged for the rooms we played; however, this in no way impacts how we cover this venue and our experiences. This article includes my honest opinions about each of the rooms, and I don’t shy away from highlighting both positive and negative aspects.
Food & Drink
We stopped for lunch at an Indian Street Food restaurant called Mowgli, opting for their Street Food Sharer Menu (£25pp). The food was fantastic! There are plenty of great coffee shops and restaurants nearby, although drinks are also available at Exitus’ very own bar, The Locked Inn.
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