Room Escape Artist

 Operation BlackSheep is one of the best escape rooms in London, England. Here are our recommendations for other great escape rooms in London.

60 minutes to launch

Location: London, England

Date Played: July 5, 2023

Team Size: 2-6 per copy of the game (they have 3 copies); we recommend 2-4

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: £30-40 per player depending on team size

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: None

Emergency Exit Rating: [A] Push To Exit

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

Of clueQuest’s current in-person experiences, Operation BlackSheep had the least tech and the most padlocks. While this might be a red flag at many other escape room companies, clueQuest had a magical way of putting a unique twist on the “classic escape room” format across all their rooms, and Operation BlackSheep was no exception.

Operation BlackSheep consistently scored high on the joy scale with simple, satisfying, and clever puzzles. I lost count of the number of times that I was delighted by a hidden physical property or fun interaction. Flashy tech and immersive sets only go so far on their own, while fun, accessible gameplay like that in Operation BlackSheep is something that all escape room creators can and should be striving for.

If you’re visiting London and are short on time, I’d skip straight to clueQuest’s newer creations, ORIGENES and Revenge of the Sheep. But if you have time to play everything at clueQuest (which I highly recommend — their games are super bingeable!) then Operation BlackSheep and PLAN52 would both make great warm-up games.

Who is this for?

• Puzzle lovers
• Any experience level

Why play?

• Fun puzzles
• Creative low-tech transitions

Story

We infiltrated Professor BlackSheep’s command center in order to shut down his most recent scheme: a mind control satellite.

Setting

Operation BlackSheep took place in a supervillain’s command center — which really just felt like a classic escape room covered in astroturf and a smattering of spy gizmos. clueQuest beautifully rendered the props and set pieces in their signature style, with whimsical captioning and no shortage of stylized mice, sheep, and rockets.

Gameplay

clueQuest’s Operation BlackSheep was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.

Core gameplay revolved around searching, making connections, and puzzling.

Analysis

➕ clueQuest knows how to create an adventure in a compact space. I was impressed by the number of creative (and often unexpected) low-tech transitions, as well as gameplay-driven re-exploration of the environment.

➕ Operation BlackSheep had a fun cartoonish style and a good sense of humor that carried through both premise and gameplay.

➕ The puzzles were fun and physical. Especially for a smaller team, there was always plenty to touch and manipulate.

➖ Operation Blacksheep contained tons of combination locks, and it wasn’t always clear which answer went to which lock, though the appropriate lock was generally in close proximity to the corresponding puzzle.

➕/➖ The final puzzle sequence was satisfyingly layered and well integrated into the set with a nice physical payoff. However, it set us up to expect one additional layer of meaning that never paid off.

Tips For Visiting

• Take public transportation to King’s Cross.

Book your hour with clueQuest’s Operation BlackSheep, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: clueQuest comped our tickets for this game.