With limited activities to take part in this February, due the England being in yet another lockdown, me and some friends decided to take part in the online escape room, CSI: Grounded, to give something new a try. We were pleasantly surprised at the quality and enjoyment we received out of it and definitely want to try out another in the future.

 Escape Rooms are one of the most popular forms of entertainment whilst out and about, but with nobody able to go out for an afternoon to take part in these adventures many companies have moved online to deliver their experiences to a wider audience across the country. I had been keeping up with this trend for a while, imagining how they could get past the obvious challenges involved with bringing something so physical onto a new medium, but finally decided to treat myself and some friends to one afternoon, after our virtual school. We paid the modest £20 for all of us and got ready to complete puzzles, riddles and more.

Admittedly, it was not what I expected. With intricately designed puzzles involving videos, cleverly designed documents and information hidden in every corner of images. Many puzzles challenged us, giving us something to stretch our brains as we made our way through the site, which required us to use passwords to unlock new information, until eventually we could answer the questions posed: “Who was the murderer? Who was the accomplice? What was the motive?” It was challenging but very enjoyable and allowed for us to work together to achieve the goal.

One of my friends described the experience as “fun but challenging, a good test for a group of friends.” Altogether, we enjoyed it a lot and it killed a good hour and a half of our late afternoon. We may consider doing one of the other escape rooms offered on thepanicroomonline.net, and advise you to check them out.

If you are looking for an affordable, fun and entertaining virtual escape room I would 100% recommend checking out any of the adventures offered on The Panic Room Online, and I’m certain I will be back to take on another challenge and have another fun afternoon connecting with friends through this.