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Cornwall has a decent spread of escape rooms for a county of its size, and they are not interchangeable. Where you are staying usually decides it for you, so this is laid out by location first.
We run the Penzance rooms, so treat this as informed rather than neutral. We have tried to be straight about who suits what.
West Cornwall — Penzance
Escape Rooms Cornwall, 44 New Street, Penzance. Four rooms in the basement of the Old Telephone Exchange, five to ten minutes’ walk from the train and bus stations.
- 28 Pasties Later — a full 90 minutes rather than the usual 60, with a playful zombie streak. Nothing ever touches you.
- Death By Prescription — a poisoning case. Detective work rather than scares.
- The Lamorna Brown Affair — a Cornish art mystery with no scares whatsoever. The pick for nervous players or younger groups.
- The Holiday Heist — seasonal, running November to February.
2 to 8 players per room and up to 23 across the rooms at once, which is more simultaneous capacity than most independents manage. From £60 per room, charged per room rather than per head — about £20 a head for a full room. Under-7s free. Open 10am to 10pm, seven days. Well-behaved dogs welcome in every room, which is genuinely unusual for an escape room.
Mid Cornwall — Camborne
Locked In Cornwall sits in Camborne, handy if you are based around Redruth, Portreath or the north coast, and roughly half an hour up the A30 from Penzance.
How to choose
By group size
Two players is the hardest version of any room — everything rests on you and there is nobody to spot what you missed. Three to five is the sweet spot for most groups. Six to eight is the loudest and the cheapest per head.
For a party bigger than eight, look for somewhere that can run rooms side by side. We can take 23 at once across the rooms, which lets a large group play simultaneously and compare escape times afterwards rather than waiting around in shifts.
By nerve
Ask directly whether a room has scares before you book, especially with children or anyone uneasy. In our case: The Lamorna Brown Affair has none at all, 28 Pasties Later has a zombie theme played for fun.
By time of day
Escape rooms are one of the few Cornish activities that run into the evening. We are open until 10pm seven days a week, which makes an escape room a workable plan after a day on the beach rather than instead of one.
By weather
All of them are indoors, which is the whole point on a wet week. Book ahead when rain is forecast — that is exactly when they fill.
Questions worth asking anywhere
- Is the room private? Ours always are. Some places pad groups out with strangers.
- Is it per room or per person? Per room means a bigger group costs each person less.
- What is the access like? Ours are in a basement down a flight of stairs, with one puzzle that asks you to bend low. Ring 01736 691049 and we will be honest about whether it suits.
- What is the minimum age? Ours: 16+ can play alone, 14 to 16 need an adult close by, under-14s need an adult in the room.
If Penzance suits you
Check availability, compare prices or read the FAQ. Ring 01736 691049 and tell us who is coming — we will point you at the right room and the right group size.
