I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. Puzzles AND FOOD?! Sign me the heck up. Gourmaze is just about one of the most unique things you can do in the capital city. It’s the quintessential good vibes, special occasion, summer activity- and no, I’m not just saying that because I seem to always book and play Gourmaze on my birthday.

![blog-img1.jpg](https://gourmaze-images.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/blog_img1_61fd1aea97.jpg)

The Time Traveller’s Space Bytes starts in a cute little pub in Mayfair – perfect for having a quick drink in before you get started on your mission. Like with many “outdoor puzzle hunts”, clues are delivered via a back and forth on your mobile device. In this case, Whatsapp. Every member of the team gets a link, joins the party, and when you’re all ready you type START to begin your delicious time travelling quest.

## Gourmaze: Food That’s Outta This World

The story of the Time Traveller’s Space Bytes is fairly simple and fun. You’re guided by a robot called G.P.S. whose goal is to understand humans and what makes them tick. Unfortunately their data is incomplete, which is where you come in. You and your robot companion over the course of two, maybe three hours (if you eat slowly) must journey through the worlds of TV and film trivia, the musical world, religion, and of course food and drink. All the things that make the world turn round – and they can all be found here in London

![out-of.jpg](https://gourmaze-images.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/out_of_9ffc92abde.jpg)

## Pizza is Calling, The Escape Roomer Answers

Gourmaze has been going for some time now and at the time of writing they have three puzzle trails available. One is themed around desserts, the other about Asian food. This one is all about pizza. My favourite! In terms of food it did not disappoint. In this review, we’re not allowed to disclose where the locations are – which is fair – the puzzles are all about actually finding them and saying the secret code to your waiter in order to get your food. We wouldn’t want to spoil the surprise. So instead of giving away their locations, I’ll just describe the food instead:

Our first stop, piping hot and extra cheesy pizza in an absolutely gorgeous building. Probably the least likely building I would ever expect to find pizza in. But there it was, waiting to be taken out the oven and served to us.

Our second stop, a cheeky cocktail spot hidden excellently behind a bookcase. For real! If we didn’t know it was there – we wouldn’t have spotted it at all.

Our final stop? Dessert! And to a place I’d actually been fortunate enough to pop into earlier that very same week and already knew exactly what I wanted to order. This final place was in an excellent spot for toasting our success with a drink or two, and for catching a train home after as the sun set over the city.

## Bite-sized Puzzles for the Hangry Mind

In terms of puzzles, Gourmaze won’t be for the hardcore enthusiast. I’ll be upfront about that for sure. They aren’t the most difficult puzzles – but here, I think that really works. There’s nothing worse than a HANGRY group of puzzlers, so we rather appreciated having a quick win to get food in us. One of the things this trail did do fairly well however was make use of the waiting time once we’d ordered our meal. In more than one case, we were given something physical with our order – a laminated piece of card, or paper we needed to solve. These were designed to be solved whilst we waited, or whilst we ate, and the solution would come in handy for our next stop.

Similarly, these weren’t overly challenging – in all cases we spotted what we needed to do and got on with it. What they lack in difficulty, they make up for in being well placed and fun to play. They used up otherwise quiet down time, and then once we did get back on our feet we found that the exact routes the puzzles took us were almost always unique and exciting lesser-trodden paths.

Read the rest of the article here: [https://theescaperoomer.com/gourmaze-the-time-travellers-space-bytes-review/](https://theescaperoomer.com/gourmaze-the-time-travellers-space-bytes-review/)




The Time Traveller’s Space Bytes

If traversing galaxies, consuming cultures and solving clues like London’s very own Sherlock Holmes sounds like your type of weekend, then you’ll absolutely adore this activity. London is known as the city that has everything. Gourmaze then entered the competitive, cultural space and is succeeding astronomically (those who have done a certain maze will get the reference) with a unique idea that blends mystery with moorish mouthfuls. Prepare yourself for a food tour of London like no other.

## What is Gourmaze?

Gourmaze is a food tour crossed with the Amazing Race crossed with Cluedo. It’s chaotic, clever and classy all at once. From walking your way through London’s best areas to solving complex, yet doable, riddles and dining in places fit for the King himself, this is an afternoon or evening that will leave your brain reeling, taste buds pleading for more and dopamine levels at an all time high. If you’re looking for summer-inspired things to do in London, Gourmaze will definitely be a winner.

Each maze begins with a starting location, which is all accessible via the team captain’s mobile. The participants then start the maze by following the given confirmation instructions. Gourmaze then sends through riddles, prompts and GPS directions that the participants must solve in order to advance to the next clue and retrieve their sumptuous reward. Each reward is different depending on the maze that you picked.

It could be a smoking cocktail from a billionaire’s bar, it could be a pastry constructed with French elegance in mind, it could be Asian, spicy noodles or it could be pizza from the depths of Napoli. Each maze is themed and you can choose which one best suits your palette. Sweet person? Jump on their current [Sweet Escape Trail](https://www.gourmaze.co.uk/discover-the-mazes). Prefer the salty? Try the [Talisman Treats Trail](https://www.gourmaze.co.uk/discover-the-mazes). Thrive off a little bit of everything? Try the [Time Travellers Space Bytes](https://www.gourmaze.co.uk/discover-the-mazes).

## Gourmaze and Corporate Group Bookings

The company’s team of experts continuously updates the mazes around London, making this an activity that you can definitely do more than once. Gourmaze caters to corporate events and it would also make for a great team bonding experience. The fastest time wins, making it an exciting day out of the office, whilst also expanding the knowledge and efficiency of a team.

## Eat and Drink your way through London

The team and maze curators at Gourmaze have thought of everything when it comes to designing a game fueled by food. The routes are curated with a local mindset, meaning that you discover an authentic side of London that you haven’t seen before. One of the coolest traits about Gourmaze is the secrecy. You won’t know where your designated eatery is until you’re right outside its door, after following the scattered stepping stones of the riddles. Dress with that hint in mind as you never know where you’ll end up and which part of London you’ll grace with your presence. You’ll be walking your way through London to get to each new location, so remember that when planning your outfit and shoes of the day.

Gourmaze has chosen some incredible restaurants, dessert bars, cocktail bars, eateries and bakeries that serve dream and drool-worthy dishes. Some have even won excellency awards due to their esteemed cuisine and customer satisfaction index. Without revealing too much, perhaps this will wet your appetite… A deep dive into the cinematic universe filled with timeless, classical sourdough pizzas smothered in double mozzarella cheese, dry ice cocktails, pistachio gelato, a trip down musical memory lane and a zesty, mango sorbet to round it all off. Need you know any more?

If racing to finish first isn’t really your thing, the maze can be completed at your own pace. Spend time at the places you’ve worked so hard to uncover. If you prefer a leisurely adventure, expect to set aside around 2-4 hours to complete the maze.

Gourmaze will have you eating, praying and loving your way through London in an unexpected and delightful way. Gourmaze is a food tour of London that will not dissapoint. They blend gastronomy with exploration and taste with trickery; the mazes take one’s thirst (and appetite) for knowledge to the extreme.

Read the rest of the article here: [https://parliamentnews.co.uk/allure-and-appetite-satiated-in-london](https://parliamentnews.co.uk/allure-and-appetite-satiated-in-london)

Allure and Appetite Satiated in London

Laughing at all the cheesy desert puns and humming along to the Gwen Stefani song of the same name, this week team The Escape Roomer took on ‘Gourmaze’, a brand new delicious puzzle trail in the heart of London. The sun was shining, we were just a few days away from my birthday, and the streets were full of people celebrating the Queen’s Jubilee. Our very hungry ace team consisted of Grace, Mairi and our two +1s. Between us we had a good level of experience solving puzzles and looking for clues, but the thing we had the most experience of? Eating delicious food.

At it’s heart, that’s exactly what Gourmaze is all about! This makes it… Quite possibly… A one of it’s kind in the whole of the UK.

![sweet-escape-blog-img1.jpg](https://gourmaze-images.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/sweet_escape_blog_img1_a5b3525ed7.jpg)

The premise is deliciously simple:
- You receive a series of clues sent to your phone
- Each clue gives you directions to a new place of interest
- Along the way you’ll stop and visit not just one but three dessert places, saying a secret code to the waiter each time and receiving a treat for each member of the team

As well as three dessert spots, there were also two optional pub stops. We made full use of both locations, stopping for glasses of prosecco to toast to our success.

## Meet Gourmaze’s Hero: General Tasty 

The story behind A Sweet Escape was an one absolutely perfect for packing in food related puns. It all started when we met our leader by text, General Tasty. Our mission was to escape across Europe finding hidden deserts to fuel our stomachs whilst we helped General Tasty return to his regiment. General tasty was in a bit of a pickle and it was a race against against time to ‘ketchup’ with his regiment before they left.

As stories go it was silly, light-hearted, and nothing too serious. We had a lot of fun engaging with General Tasty and hearing about his wild antics along the route. What’s more, General Tasty was always ready with a fact or two about our environment – whether it be about a statue, a blue plaque, or just general food-themed London tidbits.

For an automated bot, General Tasty was enigmatic and funny!

![baker.jpg](https://gourmaze-images.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/baker_6748f6408a.jpg)

## The Maze Part

Since this is The Escape Roomer, the thing we were looking out for most in The Sweet Escape was the latter part of that portmanteau: The Maze.

In terms of style of puzzles, Gourmaze is nothing wholly new. It errs slightly on the easier side, but that makes sense, being hungry for your next sweet treat makes for harder puzzle solving. There were somewhere in the region of 5 puzzles between each food stop. Of those puzzles, we were usually looking for a detail somewhere in our environment. Something you couldn’t figure out unless you were standing right there in front of it. Cryptic notes about street signs and zebra crossings a-plenty, with the odd anagram or two to force our thinking caps on.

If any team gets stuck along the way, it would have been easy to skip a puzzle. We were presented with two options to type at any time during the game:

- Decode Directions – to write out the specific directions of where to go
- I just want food! – to skip the next part of the puzzle

Thankfully we didn’t use any, but we did get one incorrect answer which incur a small time penalty.

## The Gourmet Part 

The real reason we recommend Gourmaze has got to be because of the food. No, seriously. Escape room enthusiasts won’t be overly challenged by solving puzzles, but if you want a brilliantly fun day out with friends or family or even a work team social… Look no further.

There were three dessert spots on our trail, but we’re under strict instructions not to reveal the company locations or the types of food. So I’ll be suitable vague and say that there was something light and fluffy and delicious, something liquid and warming, and finally something perfect for the sunny weather we found ourselves in! All three were absolutely delicious. Melt in your mouth good, and well balanced enough that you still felt great by the end of the walk – not too sweet, not too bitter. Just perfect.

Of the three dessert places, all three were small family owned businesses which felt fantastic. None were particularly off the beaten track, but they were all ones I’d never heard of before and will definitely, definitely be returning to soon. That was one of the nicest touches of the whole game, at each place we learned about the people who run it and the history of the dessert and the venues. Not only fun and tasty, but educational too!

## The Verdict 

Gourmaze was absolutely fantastic. A brilliant puzzle game addition to London and one I hope goes on to expand across the UK and even across the world too. So far they have the Sweet Escape trail and one other, The Talisman Treats, themed around Asian food. If you like delicious food with your puzzle games, then you’re probably going to love this one.

In terms of pricing, A Sweet Escape was very reasonably priced. At under £30 per person, you get three very well sized desserts, fun puzzles to solve, and an excellent walk around some lovely areas of London. Other outdoor puzzle game companies charge similar but don’t include dessert. Why no dessert? I hope all my future puzzle trails include snacks!

In particular, I’d recommend booking a Gourmaze trail for a special occasion, such as a birthday as we did. It’s a great trail for kids, families, friends, colleagues, or anyone… Anyone who likes sweet food at least. The website mentions it not being suitable for those in a wheelchair due to steps, but otherwise there were no low light or audio puzzles to be aware of. So long as you can read text messages, your accessibility needs should be met. But, definitely check with the organisers if you have any concerns.

Read the rest of the article here: [https://theescaperoomer.com/gourmaze-the-sweet-escape-review/](https://theescaperoomer.com/gourmaze-the-sweet-escape-review/)







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