A few minutes into The Lift experience – my first ever go at an escape room – I lost confidence and thought there was no way my date and I would make it out in time. Fickle as I am, 42 minutes and 14 seconds later, I was jumping up and down celebrating solving the puzzles in the nick of time and raring to take on more escape rooms in Brighton and beyond.
The first thing I loved about The Lift Escape Room in Brighton was the warm welcome from Maria McNally and Sam Prior who are so passionate about what they’ve created. The real-life couple and business partner team, who were both born in Brighton, launched this escape room in the cluster of shipping containers on New England Road, a year ago (on the 1st of December 2022).
What is this escape room all about?
The mission of this escape room, which is for up to four people, is to fix a broken lift before it falls down the shaft. The lift has been thoughtfully hand and custom-made from as many reclaimed materials as possible by engineer and former full-time magician Sam. You can choose standard, difficult or easy and we chose standard (this wasn’t my team mates first rodeo).
We were invited to pop on hard hats and high vis to get into character, which added to my excitement however the costumes were not compulsory. As we entered the lift, Sam, now in character, welcomed us as the lift engineers and said we could call him on the phone should we need any help. He would also call us. We then had 45 minutes on the clock.
As a newbie, I found it slightly overwhelming to get started so I was grateful for a starting clue. Once we had cracked the first two clues, we got into the flow and I enjoyed the thrill of working out each step, and at one point the adrenaline kicked in and we sprinted towards the end.
final thoughts on the lift escape room in brighton
It was great to have a brain workout and to do such a fun activity to get to know my date. I was pleased with the feedback we got which was that we had great communication. I also loved doing a bit of roleplay.
Photo credits: WeLoveBrighton.com
This was my first escape room and it definitely won’t be my last. Luckily, Maria and Sam have opened another escape room just over the road on Argyle Road called Lock & Rock. This escape room is set in a rock and roll bar and takes up to eight players.
In his former life as a magician, Sam used to do escape rooms at home for his friends on Halloween. He told me: “I loved making puzzles and watching other people solve them. We came across this place and popped up and thought we might as well give it a go.”
Maria, who works in HR, added: “I love on a personal level that we’re trying to build something together. I love seeing people’s excitement and joy. We have people visiting from all over.”
Where: 10 New England Road, Brighton, BN1 4GG
Website: https://theliftbrighton.com/
