Escape from the Taskmaster house. Your time starts now.
- Release: 2026
- Designer: James Smith
- Publisher: Ginger Fox Games
One potential issue with example rooms based on licensed properties is that it may require good knowledge of the show the game is based on to understand the puzzles. Thankfully, the Taskmaster Escape Room manages to include a ton of references to the show, but understanding them has zero impact on actually solving the puzzles.
You start off with a few booklets, your first task (out of 15) and some cards with keys. It’s a good introduction to what to expect, with highlighted words hidden amongst other information, red herrings and how the game (like the show) likes to do a bit of wordplay where the less obvious meaning is key to solving the puzzles.
The way checking answers works is that you have a deck of cards with symbols on them. Each answer will be one of these symbols, so you go to the correct card, flip it over and it will either say incorrect or tell you which task it’s the answer for. You might draw one for a later task, but similar symbols tend to not be used, making it unlikely. If you want to avoid this completely, then you can scan a QR code to use a website to check answers. You still use the same symbol, but on the web version, you select a Task first so all the answers for other tasks now just come up as “incorrect”. It’s great to have both methods.
After the first task, you get to build the Taskmaster house, giving the game a rather impressive spectacle. The rooms of the house are filled with references, symbols and clues, with many not relating to any task so it doesn’t give away any answers. You’ll be told to draw more cards, often being given parts for later tasks. There’s a really nice variety of puzzles, some using holes to look though, pen and paper based pens, a bit of cryptography and my favourite which involves using half the cards together.
I played it with my partner, and it took us just over two hours to complete. We noticed things the other didn’t and only looked up a hint for one puzzle, which I struggled with due to being colourblind. The game again provides a digital and physical version of the hints. One puzzle also uses the website, but also includes a few extra cards so it can still be solved without a phone, which is nifty.
Some people like preserving escape room games so they can be replaced. There’s no cutting anything out, although there are a few perforated parts to pop out that can be put back together. You’ll have to write on some cards and booklets, but you can always use a plastic sheet, write lightly to rub or print out specific pages provided by the website, so there are plenty of options there.
It’s a great example of an escape room. It has some really creative puzzles, looks lovely and you can choose to use digital or physical elements for the game. Hopefully there’s a sequel – although there’s enough unused stuff printed on the house that they could even just release an expansion that uses the original box.
