Thank you to everyone who participated in LockHouse’s first ever flash fiction competition! Read on for the winning story, Releasing the Genie by Alex Minns. About the author: Alex is based in England and has worked in forensics, teaching, PR and been paid to wield custard flamethrowers. She writes sci-fi, fantasy and steampunk. Publishing credits include: Spring Into Sci-fi 2020, Fall Into Fantasy 2021, and Harvey Duckman Presents Volume 8. Find short stories and more on https://lexikon.home.blog/. *** Releasing the Genie The screen took forever to come to life. I was starting to think i ..read more

The poet Keats described autumn as the ‘Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’. He’s probably right about that, but in our opinion he’s missing some key components—it’s the season of mists, mellow fruitfulness, and spooky board games! With Halloween drawing closer, there’s no better way to spend an autumn evening than playing board games. Here are five spooky board games guaranteed to strike a seasonal chill into your heart. 1. Monopoly Just kidding. Although not much is scarier than capitalism. 1. Mysterium 2-7 players — age 10+ — 45+ minutes We don’t want to alarm anyone, but there’s a gho ..read more

Calling all creative minds! LockHouse Escape Games is running our first ever flash fiction writing competition, on the theme of escape. Send us your stories for a chance to win a free escape game for 4 players. Keep reading for details! What should I write? This could be you We’re looking for flash fiction stories of up to 1500 words. Part of the fun of an escape room is the time limit: you’ve only got an hour to solve the puzzles and escape, so every second counts. We want to see that same thrill captured in your writing! Keep it short and exciting, and make every word count. The maximum wo ..read more

Hello, new students! And old students! And anyone else who happens to be reading this! The LockHouse blog is back, and it’s here to convince you all that playing an escape room is the best thing you can do in Cambridge. (Apart from all that life-changing education stuff.) With so much to do during Freshers’ Week, why should Cambridge freshers play an escape room? Boy, are we glad you asked. 1. Speedrun making friends Make sure to get out once in a while, or you’ll end up like the students in this stock photo Escape rooms are great for getting to know people. You don’t have to worry about mak ..read more

If you’re not playing tabletop RPGs by this point, you’ve been doing lockdown wrong. And while rolling dice is obviously deeply thrilling, the real magic of TTRPGs comes from the story you’re creating with your group. Read on for some tips on storytelling in tabletop RPGs, from the creator of Eternity TTRPG! —- If you haven’t ever played tabletop roleplay games, they’re well worth the time. It’s also usually not too hard to find a group nowadays, especially online. When it comes down to it, the best part about playing a TTRPG in a small group, as opposed to a video game, is the unique storytel ..read more

If you’re anything like us (and since you’re reading this, we assume you are), you’re probably sitting at home right now pining away in agony, gnashing your teeth and desperately wishing you could go play an escape room. Luckily for the sake of our stability, there’s been a surge of play-at-home escape games lately to fill the niche, from live video experiences to good old point-and-click. Don’t know where to start? Escape Live have created a whole range of online escape games. We tried out one of their games, Rogue Agent—here’s our (spoiler-free!) review! Game Info Players: Escape Live s ..read more

It’s Christmas shopping season once more! Don’t know what to get people? Knock yourself out browsing our board game recs. And if you hate the very concept of Christmas shopping, LockHouse is here to rescue you: just buy all the things on this list, and then spend the time you saved doing something more worthwhile and enjoyable. (Like playing an escape room, for instance. Just a thought.) Here are five stocking filler board games to help while away the long winter nights! Dobble 2-6 players – age 6+ – 15+ minutes We’re aware that Dobble was at the top of our stocking fillers list last year too ..read more

Lots of escape rooms use sound, whether it’s puzzles that rely on audio clues to be solved, a games master giving verbal hints, or just an atmospheric soundtrack to get you in the puzzle-solving zone. Escape rooms that are run mostly through audio are more rare—though 2020 has been pushing for innovation in the format of escape games, and there are increasing numbers of live audio escape room experiences out there, hinted, acted, and led remotely by a GM. But if the idea of scheduling yet another Zoom call fills you with angst and torment, fear not—there are self-directed options for audio esc ..read more

Well, folks, we’re back in lockdown. Luckily, the perfect cure for the stress, malaise, and tedium is close at hand, and it comes in the form of an Exit game! Exit games are a series of escape room board games created by Thames and Kosmos, that bring you all the fun of solving an escape room, without having to do pesky things like ‘leaving the house’. We’ve talked about Exit before in our quick overview of a few escape room board games, but since we’re in lockdown and haven’t got anything better to do, it’s time for an in-depth review. Here’s everything you need to know about Exit! Game Info P ..read more

The Eat Out to Help Out scheme may have officially ended, but some restaurants are opting to continue offering the discount on their own. Here are five places in Cambridge where you can still Eat Out to Help Out this October! SIX October is the final month to Eat Out to Help Out at SIX, where you can snag discounted prices all day on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. The restaurant is located on the sixth floor, so you can take in spectacular views of Cambridge from the terrace as you dine.  The Old Ticket Office The Old Ticket Office pub, at Cambridge railway station, is extending Eat O ..read more