Room Escape Artist

Go Beyond

Location: London, England

Date Played: October 20, 2025

Team Size: 4-14; we recommend ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Duration: 2 hours

Price: Starting at £49 per player

Ticketing: Public (but you can pay more for private)

Accessibility Consideration: None

Emergency Exit Rating: [A] Push To Exit

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

Background

Bridge Command is an atypical experience where between 4 and 14 people slip into coverall costumes and enter a spaceship simulator that looks and feels deeply inspired by Star Trek. Once aboard, we were given an extensive briefing on the many available jobs, and we volunteered for assignments. After we each had a role, we were given a mission, and left to our own devices to complete it.

I happened to be in London for a few days to speak at a conference. The one night that I had free happened to be the birthday party for my old friend Chris Dickson. He had assembled an incredibly interesting group of people and purchased two games of Bridge Command. Due to the number of people in attendance, Chris and I were the only people who played Bridge Command twice that evening.

I had the pleasure of playing with two different crews, and it was an enlightening experience.

Costuming

Immediately upon arrival, I was shown to a wall full of clean and packaged coveralls. The sizing options were extensive.

After sorting out which size would work best with me, and slipping into them, I was ready to brave the cosmos.

The Bar

After transporting from the lobby, I found myself inside of a fairly large bar called “The Mess.” This was a gathering place for teams to socialize, have a drink, and snack on crisps (chips, if you speak American). It was a comfortable place, with a a solid variety of drinks, although, my drink was far more sugary than I prefer.

As far as gathering places within immersive venues, it was far superior to the norm. I’d happily host a meetup or gathering here.

The Briefing

Bridge Command offers a ton of roles, and the mission really does depend on everyone performing at their jobs… although some are far more important than others. (More on that in a moment.) Since each job is unique, Bridge Command staff have to take a lot of time to fully brief the crew and solicit volunteers for the jobs, beginning with the most critical (Captain, First Officer, pilots, etc.)

This takes a ton of time. It wasn’t poorly done, but it was a lot… especially the second time that I was experiencing it within the span of 3 hours.

There’s no way around this briefing, and I’m not knocking them for it… but it really was a lot.

My Roles

In both games I was a pilot. I was in between running an escape room tour and speaking at a conference. My voice was hanging on by a thread, and I wanted a job that barely required speech. Plus, I grew up playing flight simulator games and felt at home driving.

In the first game, I piloted the main ship and in the second I piloted the shuttle. This position offered me the opportunity to always be in the mix and contribute, but my decision-fatigued brain and fried vocal-cords got the break that they desperately needed.

The Ship

Bridge Command was going to live and die by the quality of the ship itself. If the environment wasn’t believable and dynamic, it would feel hollow. Fortunately, the ship looked and felt the part.

In addition to the bridge, there was an engine room, brig, captain’s ready room, an in-world bathroom, and a small shuttle for away missions.

Most of the game’s action took place on either the bridge or the shuttle, with certain roles having to duck off to other rooms to complete actions.

The only space that felt under-baked and under-used was the captain’s ready room. Mostly, it just seemed to exist (in the exact location that you think it does if you’ve watched Star Trek The Next Generation).

It wasn’t a completely pointless space, but the game also wouldn’t have suffered if it didn’t exist.

The Shuttle

The shuttle was a very small ship that was slower, with less fuel, but far more maneuverable. I was surprised and impressed by how different it felt flying each ship, even though they had identical controls. This was a fantastic touch.

Also the main ship felt a lot more powerful. When we found ourselves separated from it, we truly felt vulnerable in the shuttle.

The Software

The underlying software behind Bridge Command was a customized version of EmptyEpsilon, an open source spaceship bridge simulator game (that also happens to be the software underpinning the larp, Odysseus which we featured in S11E1 of Reality Escape Pod).

This was further augmented by in-character performances by Bridge Command staff, who did a great job of ensuring that this never felt like we were playing a video game.

Key Takeaways

• Your captain matters more than just about anything. When the captain is being indecisive, arrogant, or foolish… everyone on the crew immediately feels the impact. If I have the chance to play again, I truly do want to see what it feels like to play from the captain’s chair.
• Most of the roles are essential and approachable. There are a few that require coordination like piloting, and others that demand problem solving skills, but nothing too crazy.
• Some of the roles are one step away from just being an observer. I know that there are folks who show up to immersive experiences and don’t really want to do anything at all… but personally, I’d be very bitter if I had next to nothing to do at Bridge Command.
• I was pleasantly surprised by the mission variety between my two games. One was an exploration scenario, while the other was very combat focused.

Overall, Bridge Command demonstrated a level of depth that left me wanting more (and wishing that it wasn’t an ocean away.) The next time that I visit London, I will eagerly return to Bridge Command and boldly Go Beyond once again.

Tips For Visiting

• Parking: It’s London. Take the Tube.
• Food: The bar sells chips. Beyond that, there were a variety of food options within walking distance

Book your session with Bridge Command, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Thank you, Chris, for inviting me to your birthday, introducing me to your wildly interesting friends, and for being my friend.