THE notable boom in the ‘escape game’ industry over the past few years has been an unexpected yet undeniably fun thing to bear witness to. A spiritual cousin to the Halloween / horror walkthrough mazes that have also become more widespread and popular since spreading to UK shores from Stateside, the general premise is usually roughly the same - you and a group of friends have a set period of time (usually an hour) to solve riddles, puzzles and escape from your confinement in a series of themed rooms, each with their own mini backstory to contextualise all the gameplay and shenanigans.

Think of it is a kind of focused version of The Crystal Maze - which, by no coincidence, has also seen itself recently resurrected.

Birmingham has undoubtedly been one of the hub Cities for the burgeoning escape game explosion, and Clue HQ is the latest in a series of such experiences I’ve been fortunate enough to escape from and review.

It is also inarguably one of the very best.

Set within a comfortable walking distance of Snow Hill train station, Clue HQ impresses upon arrival inside it’s warehouse-like shell. Ominous blue lighting and suitably kinetic, action movie-esque music immerse you in a suitably ‘pumped up’ atmosphere and help get you in the mood for whichever of the four (soon to be five) escape rooms you will be taking on. A comprehensive video introduction on a large monitor along with a personal explanation by your personal game overseer on the various locks, codes and other conundrums you will be cracking help to create a sense of strong production values and personal investment in the experience.

For this review, a group of five friends and I opted for Clue HQ’s most challenging escape room - Cell Block C - though it is worth pointing out that this will soon be usurped by the upcoming Captain Riddle’s Forgotten Fortune.

Divulging too much information about this or any of the rooms would really spoil the fun and impact they have, but needless to say, from the moment we were take into the room in pairs - blindfolded! - and separate into holding cells, it was clear that the level of thought and interactivity that has been poured into Clue HQ’s games is amongst the most impressive experienced.

What followed was a fun, frentic, occasionally frustrating (though in the best way possible) hour of solving riddles, searching for clues, using all manner of logic and deduction, and even some very welcome physical puzzles.

Again, to go into too greater detail would spoil this thoroughly-recommended experience, but some of the invention on show in the diversity and quality of the puzzles throughout, as well as the breadth of items you had to use and improvise with to solve them, was highly impressive. Skype calls, computer databases, criminal mughosts, UV lighting… and even a toilet flush all featured, and every time something looked too easy to be true, it usually was, with a fiendish sting in the tail at the ready to make things that bit more complicated.

Clue HQ should also be praised for the inventive ways in which, for Cell Block C at least, it not only encouraged, but actually necessitated teams splitting up and tackling different elements of the room at a time. It made sure everyone was put to use and was further testimony to the thought and time that had gone into the games development and testing.

Being fairly experienced with this sort of attraction, myself and my group of fellow escapees are a fairly savvy group, and not too lacking when it comes to conundrum cracking, and although we did manage to escape (just... with 3 minutes remaining), we would still on occasion hit a particularly devilish puzzle. For these moments, however, your personal game overseers are watching on and, if necessary, will send hints your way via one of the in-room screens. Though, as they quite emphatically state before entering, just because you ask for help, it doesn’t mean you will necessarily get it!

Clue HQ is quite possibly the best escape game experience I have yet experienced, and an absolute must-visit for fans of this particular sub-genre of the industry in the Birmingham area. It also isn’t difficult to see why it is proving such a popular choice for works dos and team-building opportunities. With solid production values, a confident and brilliantly diverse series of puzzles and challenges that run the full gamut of concepts and ideas, and with well-crafted and atmospheric theming, it is already with feverish excitement I await my next opportunity to solve the next brilliant crafted challenge of Clue HQ.

Tickets for CLUE HQ Birmingham, as well as further information on the attraction and it's escape games, can be found on the official website cluehqbirmingham.co.uk, or by calling direct on 0333 335 0030.

And check out the trailer for Cell Block C on Youtube: