Trapped Escape Rooms – can you escape the prison van?

All the insights and lowdown into the fabulous Trapped Escape rooms The Prison Van.

I’ve always been really into puzzles and would consider myself a bit of a whodunnit sleuth. I love trying to work out the who- what and why of a good mystery. That’s why I love escape rooms and the excitement of trying to crack the puzzles.

What is a escape room?

The concept is simple – a group of around 2-8 people work together in a locked room to solve the clues to escape before the timer runs out. Clues can range from cryptic locks and number puzzles to subtle word play. It all depends on the escape room you go to and the complexity of the puzzles. Wherever you are in the country you will find an escape room to try out your puzzle solving skills. Escape rooms are suitable for pretty much everyone, from birthday parties, stag and hen groups, corporate team building, families and lots more. As long as you all love a challenge you will love trying to escape.

Who are Trapped London Escape Rooms?

I haven’t done a escape room for over a year so when I was approached by Trapped London to try out one of their escape rooms I couldn’t say no. They’re part of the Ultimate Recreation Group and have a number of unique concepts including Trapped in a prison van, Trapped in a room with a zombie and Trapped Undercover. Having looked through the rooms I thought Trapped in a prison van looked the most interesting. Six- eight people are locked inside a authentic prison van and have to find a way to break out using only their puzzle breaking skills and what’s inside the van. Unlike a lot of escape rooms, the Trapped rooms feature live actors, I couldn’t wait to try it out for real.

The experience

The Trapped rooms are based in the East Village Stratford and are just a short walk from Stratford International train station. It’s pretty much in a straight line and is on the corner of Hope Rhea and Sunlight Close. We did manage to get a bit lost though as I couldn’t find the road I was looking out for. After we got there we signed a few forms and then waited for the games to begin. True to their word Trapped London is as authentic as possible and the 6 of us were marched into an interrogation room to get kitted up in jumpsuits, handcuffs and shackles, we even had to print our fingerprints onto our prison card (don’t worry they don’t keep them). After watching a short video with a few tips on what to look out for in the van we headed out to start our escape. Each person initially sits in individual cells and you have to work as a team to escape your cell and ultimately the van. There is also another prisoner on board, Razor, whilst you’re told to ignore him, he provides many hints and humour along the way. Whilst I can’t give any secrets away it’s a great team building activity and there are a few handy hints for when you get stuck. The puzzles varied in complexity but the ones towards the end were what got us and we missed escaping by minutes. I have to say this was one of the most authentic and fun escape rooms I’ve tried to date.

You can try your luck at escaping Trapped London’s Rooms for £30.00 per person.

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