The guide to escape rooms in London

This is technically not an escape room, but it follows the same premise. There are four quests to choose from, which take you through the streets of London to solve challenges, puzzles and clues. You'll receive phone calls, texts, and prompts to your phone, then it's up to you and your team to decipher them, solve the puzzles, and crack the story. There's a pub pitstop along the way where you'll have time to get stuck into puzzles.

Choose from a range of immersive games at AIM Escape Rooms: save the world from destruction with Patient Zero or go for something a little more light-hearted with Hangover Déjà Brew, which sees you step into the shoes of a detective. Alternatively, escape impending doom in the Psychopaths Den or go undercover and save your super spy friend in the Spy Heroes mission. Which room will you step into?

Get your detective hat on and prepare for 90 minutes of clue-searching and puzzle-solving in this Sherlock-themed escape room. The venue in Shepherd’s Bush has been purpose-built, especially for the game, and the coolest part? The script has even been written by the BBC Sherlock show creators Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss.

Inside the abandoned South Kentish Town tube station you'll find Mission Breakout, an escape room with a harrowing truth behind the plot. The escape rooms are inside a disused station that was an air-raid shelter during WWII. Pick from three missions, two of which are true stories, one about masterminds escaping Churchill's secret war room and one based on the mysterious passenger who disappeared in the tube station and was never found.

The two games at Escape Rooms follow a traditional lock, key and code format. You can opt for an ancient Egyptian-themed game or head back in time to China in 1675; both are equally thrilling and will have you scratching your head and most likely panicking to solve all of the puzzles before your time is up. Will you escape in time?

The Crystal Maze Live Experience is the ultimate team challenge. It started as a wildly popular TV show in the 90s and has since become an immersive phenomenon in the heart of the city. Grab your team and soak up the nostalgia with the old-school game show-style games until you’ve successfully solved all the tricksy challenges.

ClueQuest is the UK's longest-running escape room. You can choose from four games offering different playing experiences. Unlock your secret agent potential in 60 minutes, from destroying mind-controlling satellites to sabotaging plans to leak secret identities and classified information. They also have VR missions for those who prefer to escape to the virtual world.

This escape room is for people who like the creepier things in life, like Halloween and horror movies. The thematic rooms here are carefully crafted with spooky stories, like sealing the gates of hell to prevent demons from descending upon Earth and solving the mysteries of the haunted toy store. These aren’t for the faint-hearted, but they’re certainly memorable.

Escape Land on buzzy Oxford Street is home to two thrilling escape rooms, Da Vinci’s Explorations, where you work against evil forces to find the Holy Grail and the Right to the Throne, where the rightful heir to the throne has disappeared and it’s up to you to find out what has happened to her. You’ll have 60 minutes to solve all the puzzles and challenges and ultimately escape.

Travel back to the 1940s at these escape rooms in Shoreditch. You’re given 60 minutes to solve puzzles and clues, using your team’s varying skill sets to eventually escape. You’ll have the choice of three missions; Roll Out The Barrel, where you’re tasked with the unruly challenge of stealing beer; The Battle for Britain, where you have to stop an imminent attack; and The Adventure Begins, which is all about escaping a P.O.W camp.

It’s all about cats at this escape room, where cats have taken over and are ruling what is known as The Kingdom of Cats. Humans are nowhere to be seen, and it's now up to you to go up against the clock, solve the clues and puzzles, and escape the Cat Kingdom without a scratch. The challenges are accessible for all experience levels, and a games master is on hand should you have any questions along the way.

Choose from nine immersive missions at Escape London, in Whitechapel and Shepherds Bush, from time travelling and witchcraft to Medieval Britain and secluded forest cabins. Find clues, break the codes and solve challenging puzzles alongside your team until you have figured out how to get out. Do you have what it takes to escape within the allocated time frame?

Get your thinking caps on for the three thrilling missions at Engima Quests. Choose from a game where you'll get to graduate from the school of witchcraft and wizardry or take part in a daring heist which sees you bypass the defence system to gain access to a secret vault. They also have a newly-launched mission, where you'll have to navigate a submarine to find an impending missile and halt the launch before a catastrophic tsunami sweeps over the world.

Discover hidden gems with the CityDays treasure hunts – a unique and entertaining experience that combines exploration with fun. Embark on an adventure and receive a series of clues via mobile phone to guide you. Each puzzle you solve will lead you to distinctive locations and reveal captivating insights about the city.

StreetHunt Games provides self-directed outdoor mystery adventures, combining aspects of scavenger hunts, escape rooms, and murder mysteries, and all playable through a smartphone. Participants engage in exploratory quests, solving puzzles and interacting with virtual characters within compelling storylines. Ideal for team-building, social events, or as a unique method to discover the city, these games ensure an entertaining experience.

You've probably seen the Golden Hinde in central London but what if you were locked on the ship with ghosts who might not be the friendly kind? That's what happens during Escape from the Golden Hinde. During the 60 minute experience, you'll need to solve clues so you can escape the ship, plus you'll learn fascinating history.

Breakin' Escape Rooms in Holloway gives you a choice of seven different themed escape rooms, from a Joker-inspired challenge to one based at wizarding school. Every aspect of each story has been carefully designed to create an immersive experience. Each game lasts 60 minutes and is suitable for groups of between two and six people.