The Cyber Cube - Thoughts on The Escape Puzzle at MCM

Article by Adam Ray

Escape Hunt is the UK's biggest builder and manager of escape rooms. They're run all across the country and have the strong goal of making each one really feel like an immersive experience. When you step inside, and interact with their sets, you really feel like you're transported to another time or place.

Escape Hunt teamed up with the BBC to make the world's first officially licensed Doctor Who Escape Room. With the great buzz around Jodie's excellent run as The Doctor, now is the perfect time to bring a little sense of TARDIS drama into the real world.

To promote this new room, fans attending the MCM Comic Con on the 26th-28th of October the BBC had their very own spot on the main floor of the convention, near one of the entrances. Jodie Whitaker's TARDIS was there at the corner with books and shirts featuring all the Doctor's faces on the shelves. Across from the TARDIS, Escape Hunt had set up a side room, for us to test ourselves against a Cyberman Control Cube.

The puzzle makers at Escape Hunt really pride themselves on making the best escape rooms out there. They rightly boast no padlocks sealing boxes (which makes up a lot of my personal escape room knowledge) and have every puzzle made to be durable and satisfyingly difficult. To tease the coming room, Escape Hunt brought a huge Cyber-Cube to show just how devious their conundrums are.

Your Fantastic Universes father/son tag-team attempted to unlock the box. The Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver was there to realign the eyes on a cyber face. Multiple wires hung from the side that we had to connect correctly, and well coded switches had to go up or down systematically. It all culminated in a side with five squishy buttons. The whole cube had numbers like a six sided die. On each face was a single word, stamped in a corner. Pressing the buttons said a word, and in the right order, the key to the TARDIS popped out. We eventually managed to solve the puzzle, with just one second left on the clock.

This kind of interactive Doctor Who experience is unique and the full escape room, coming early 2019 will be even more so.

Find out more about events near you right here:

Facebook: Escape Hunt UK
Twitter: @EscapeHunt
URL: escapehunt.com/DoctorWho

We had a great time, and recommend checking it out. If you go to the Birmingham venue, tell Molly we sent you.

Huge thanks to her, Lucy and the whole Escape Hunt team.