It’s always a challenge to review an escape room because the whole point is to find things out for yourself….but I was intrigued by the Street Hunt concept and so I am going to do my very best to review it for you without any spoilers. To that end, some of the photos in this post are edited to try and keep the locations secret….so they’re either cropped in super close or have their backgrounds scrubbed out in a slightly uncanny fashion. They aren’t AI-generated but they kinda look like they might be. I promise Reuben is a genuine child and not a bot. Honest.
The concept is StreetHunt is that it’s an outdoor escape room – you solve clues from your phone in locations around Central London. So a bit like a treasure hunt but with orienteering and brainteasers at every stage. Each player is sent a unique invite link so everyone can play on their own device, which makes it easier but isn’t essential – it will work just by following one person’s phone. In the interests of speed though, having multiple devices definitely helps in cracking those riddles. The game we were playing was “Will Breaker” where our Uncle had died and left us an inheritance but only if we solved his clues. It’s recommended for age 10+
It’s all virtual, so clues, maps and messages are all shared online but hints are available as well as realtime help I believe. I will smugly say that we didn’t need any of the help but we did go slightly over the time limit so yknow, I’m not that smug. The time limit is an hour – with a break built in – but if you go over, there is 30 minutes extra time that won’t cause you to fail the mission but might affect your score. So it’s pressured but not quite as pressured as a traditional escape room. Which is good because we had Eva’s walking pace to contend with as well as a host of other unexpected obstacles. I don’t think these were part of the game but you never know.
We managed to get to the starting point at the exact starting time, which was unlikely given Nathan and I had had a busy morning and a quick turnaround at home to get back out. But we were somehow all lunched and on the train by 1:15.
As we were at the starting point, reading the opening note from our sadly missed Uncle, distraction#1 appeared in the form of a walking tour. I was trying to read aloud to the kids as someone set up shop right next to us, also declaiming loudly. So we moved to one side and had just started again when distraction#2 came past – the Hari Krishnas, singing and trying to engage us in conversation. Not ideal when we were against the clock. Eventually though, we understood what we were meant to be doing and cracked the first part of the clue so were off to our next destination.
It definitely helps to have a working knowledge of London when you’re doing this hunt because you can just look at the map and have an idea of where you’re supposed to go next without following it too closely. But don’t be put off if you’re new to the city – there are interactive maps to help you know exactly where to go. As we got to our second clue, we also bumped up against distraction#3 – an ice cream seller having a loud and dramatic argument with a caramalised nut seller, with a third party trying to break up the fight. I mean, all these incidents are kinda part of London life but they were so comically obstructive that I did start to suspect they were all part of the entertainment.
Luckily, the next few stops were smoother and we aced clue after clue. Reuben was finding the pun names hilarious and laughed out loud at every one. Eva was slightly more eye-rolly at the puns but that’s what you get for playing with someone who’s very nearly a teenage girl. She enjoyed the intrigue and the mystery though.
Also, we don’t think this was one of the clues but again, it could be:
Slightly more than halfway through, the game directed us to lie low for a while which suited us as we needed a bit of an energy boost. The game was paused for us so we went to that coffee shop that I used to be super loyal to and then boycotted and now have kinda gone back to. Don’t start with me about it. They do a good vegan cookie, OK?
The coffee shop did not have a toilet so we later used another pause to go and find a public convenience nearby. Happily there was one not too far off our course and it was one I’d stumbled upon on a walk last year and was very pleased to find I hadn’t hallucinated it. If we’d been smart we would have used the first pause to find the loos as well, because every additional pause detracts from your score….but we were not that smart.
What we were was extremely lucky with the weather. After a week full of rain, we were blessed with sunshine right into the late afternoon. Look at this shadow making! Haven’t seen that for a while.
We got to the end point with very little time yet and there was still a clue left to crack so we did go over time a little. I’m not sure there’s much we could have done better tho – we didn’t get distracted, despite London’s best efforts, and we solved the clues quite speedily. Where we lost loads of time was waiting at pedestrian crossings. I can imagine the time constraints might be easier if you don’t wait for the green man but with the young people in tow, we were trying to set a good impression. But towards the end we lost a full three minutes waiting, which was painful.
Oh, and I forgot to mention distraction#4, which happened a few minutes before that crossing. As we were walking down a side road, someone was wheeling out a full trolley of blood from a blood donation centre and so had roped off the pavement. We crossed to the other side but I was wondering how we managed to encounter quite so many distractions in a short space of time. I swear this never normally happens to us when we’re walking around London.
Anyway, despite going over time slightly we still got a Gold award, which made us very happy. And we cracked the code and got the inheritance so we did very well. It’s nice to do things as a family and this is pitched well to be challenging enough for teens to engage with while being simple enough to avoid family arguments. It’s my birthday weekend so the kids pretty much have to do anything I tell them to but they were actually quite up for the wholesome family fun for once. And they both enjoyed it, puns and all.
So I would definitely recommend it for families like ours who have older kids and want to do something engaging. It took us about two hours including the break and spending some time at the final destination looking at some interesting things that we found there (without saying too much). Good weather definitely helps and comfortable shoes are a must as I think we walked about two miles all together. But do check it out for yourselves and see if you too can solve the mystery…!
For tickets and more info, click here
Disclaimer: I received free tickets in exchange for a review. All opinions remain honest and my own.
