Lucardo Rawtenstall is Five!

Did you hear the news? At the end of May, Lucardo Rawtenstall celebrated its 5th birthday!

We had such a wonderful time celebrating this anniversary with our colleagues and guests, along with many balloons, treats, discounts, and other fun surprises along the way. We even had a mega voucher competition over on our Facebook page, and we can’t wait to see the winners when they come to claim their prizes!

In honour of the occasion, we thought it’d be fun to do a fun, insider-only blog post, to give you all a behind-the-scenes look into the past five years at Lucardo Rawtenstall. After all, with five years, and five escape rooms, you can bet we’ve got some stories to tell!

So, keep reading, and learn about the creation of each of our current rooms, some fun facts, and more…

1.      University of Magic: Dragon’s Heart

At least half the staff agree that Dragon’s Heart, our most magical game, is our favourite one to run. Guests love the mystical ambience, the unexpected surprises, and unique gameplay of this room… but did you know that there were elements of the room’s creation that weren’t quite so magical?

Deep within the heart of Oggles’ Magic Shop, players will find there’s a rather peculiar fireplace, that serves as both aesthetic for the room, and an individual puzzle. It’s one of my personal favourite elements in any of our games, but can you imagine having to angle grind over two inches of pure concrete to install the thing? Picture this: our team, and all of Mr Oggles’ shop, completely covered from head to toe in concrete dust. Let’s just say that experience has been “cemented” in our director Simon’s memory!

So, here’s a quick side question, before we move on. Have you ever wondered what we use to make the Skull Dust prop in the University of Magic: Dragon’s Heart game? Maybe some questions are better left unanswered…

2.      Corruption

Corruption is always a fan-favourite game among players, thanks to its high-stakes scenario, hands-on puzzle format, and epic set. However, have you ever wondered how we got that whole motorbike into the room? Up the narrow staircase, onto the second floor of our terraced property, no less?

Well, it took a full six people to do it. Quite a feat! Not only was there concern of the vehicle damaging the walls, but the safety of our team carrying it too. That thing is heavy!

It turns out that bouncing it up the stairs one at a time was the easiest and most effective method, but the terror caused by having a huge motorbike balanced precariously on a narrow staircase above you and five co-workers is quite a terrifying situation to find yourself in. Thankfully, our guests all love the bike, and the whole challenge was definitely worth it in the end!

3.      Safe House

Moving on from tales of practical construction, and let’s move on to the more mental workouts required to build an escape room. Our Safe House room has a lot of elements to it, including many props for guests to find and sort though.

During the creation of this game, our team had a lot of fun adding countless “Easter Eggs” for guests to find throughout, especially to the evidence that teams are required to collect as part of the story.

Next time you’re playing, watch out for staff names, or even glimpses of our other games hidden throughout the props. You can also read this fun blog post for more insight, if you’re a fan of Easter Eggs!

4.      Treason

Treason is a game that has all of our hearts, and we’re all so proud to hear players talk about how immersive and entertaining they find it. What players won’t know, however, was the hilarious journey Simon and Molly undertook in the creation of the room, particular in learning all about beer barrels!

Here’s a tip for you: if you ever find yourself in a position where you need to buy barrels, make sure you understand just how big they are. Turns out, even half barrels were way, way larger than we anticipated, resulting in lots of sawing and cutting to get them down to size. Bearing in mind how old, dusty, and marinated in alcohol these can be, it was quite a challenge!

And that’s the story of how the Treason room was almost completely full of barrels, and not much else!

5.      Claus for Concern

Finally, we’ll end with some lesser-known, yet fun facts about our newest escape room, Claus for Concern. Bet you didn’t know some of these!

Can you believe, there’s actually a fully-working sink and toilet located in this room, that nobody ever talks about? Also, would you believe it if we told you that our Queen of Christmas – Molly herself – is actually allergic to artificial Christmas trees?

If those facts didn’t change your perception of this escape room, we won’t know what will!

So, there you have it, a brief yet insightful retrospective into the past five years of Lucardo Rawtenstall. We’re so proud to be celebrating this anniversary, and want to thank everyone who has helped make it so special.

Here’s to the next five years!

To book a game with us, visit lucardo.com/rawtenstall. For any queries, you can call us on 01706 551600. Be sure to also stay tuned to our Facebook and Instagram, as well as the blog, for many more fun insights, news, giveaways, and more!

Writer - Madeleine