Join us in this week's pubisode where we sip a tipple at The Sax and Trumpet, the coolest jazz bar /slash/ pub /slash/ cafe bistro /slash/ trendy vintage record shop in these parts.

In this month's pubisode we're discussing all the escape rooms we've never done. That's right: Puzzley escape room themes we haven't seen done by anyone yet. From games too scary to run, to games they probably couldn't legally do, to sci-fi franchises and IPs we'd love to puzzle in.

As always, here are your recommendations for this month.

Jamie - Real Vikings (podcast) a history podcast narrated by Iain Glen

Mike - What Have I Done? (book) an autobiography by Ben Elton, and Upstart Crow (TV series) comedy following the life of William Shakespeare

Mairi - Project Hail Mary (film + book) Ryan Gosling in space, love it

Hosts: Mike Collins, Jamie Gibbs, Mairi Nolan

Editor: Mike Collins

Have you heard? Aliens have made first contact with us!

...And who better to decipher the message from the stars than a seasoned podcasting trio who are experts in not only puzzle solving, but also audio communication and perhaps most importantly: diplomacy. Thanks to the Super Sophisticated Alien Communication Terminal (or SSACT for short).

These beings have travelled billions of lightyears to impart an important message... I wonder what it'll be?

In this episode, you can also play along on your own SSACT device here.

Puzzle Maestro: Mairi Nolan

Solvers: Jon Saunders, Mike Collins, Jamie Gibbs

Episode Art: Dom Jordan

Editor: Jamie Gibbs

TLDR: A language-deciphering and communication episode about talking to aliens.

His Royal Majesty is on his way to the legally distinct underground sandwich shop for his daily favourite footlong. But this week's solvers will first need to figure out exactly what that sandwich is, and how to make it.

The stakes quite literally could not be higher.

So join in, lettuce investigate...

Puzzle Maestro: Jamie Gibbs

Solvers: Jon Saunders, Mike Collins, Mairi Nolan

Episode Art: Dom Jordan

Editor: Jamie Gibbs

TLDR: The solvers must reconstruct the king's favourite sandwich in a logical deduction puzzle about finding the right ingredients.

Join us in this week's 'cafe-isode' at Squeaky Cream's Artisanal Fromagery and Coffee Roastery, where instead of coffee foam they serve cappuccinos with a dollop of gorgonzola.

Here we'll be reflecting on a big question in the escape room industry: Is escaping "enough" anymore? Or do you have another core central mechanic? How about inserting other mechanics into rooms, such as achievements and side games? What makes a room memorable?

As always, here are your recommendations for this month.

Jamie - The Rest is Science (podcast), an accessible and fun science podcast that tackles questions of life and the universe.

Bailey - Museum of Pop Culture with Josh Widdicombe (podcast) that is about exactly that - moments in pop culture history!

Mike - Ade Edmondson's Beserker! (book), a fantastic read from a national treasure.

Hosts: Mike Collins, Jamie Gibbs, Emma Bailey

Editor: Jamie Gibbs

Another in-person recording from Jamie's home in the Welsh hills, with Jamie hosting and Mike and Emma (Bailey) solving.

Here, the gang wander into a fantasy tavern called The Weary Wyvern. Straight out of a D&D adventure opening, the orc innkeeper has a problem. What follows is an epic adventure, all in the name of the ultimate prize: a free pint.

No quest? No problem! Lets hope it's natural 20s all round.

Puzzle Maestro: Jamie Gibbs

Solvers: Mike Collins, Emma Bailey

Episode Art: Dom Jordan

Editor: Jamie Gibbs

TLDR: The team use a massive D20, a wardrobe full of adventuring fear, and a magically sealed door to rescue the innkeeper's husband and escape.

This very special episode of The Infinite Escape Room is brought to you from Jamie's house in Wales...

...Or rather, Year 10 work experience at a local hospital! A somewhat universal experience for British kids.

Their surgeon mentor promptly injects himself with anaesthetic, collapses on the operating table, and leaves them locked in the surgery room with only one way out: perform a laparoscopic cholecystectomy (gallbladder removal) to escape.

It's only a puzzling podcast, we're not saving lives here. Or are we?

Puzzle Maestro: Mike Collins

Solvers: Jamie Gibbs, Emma Bailey

Episode Art: Dom Jordan

Editor: Mike Collins

TLDR: The solvers perform a gallbladder removal using surgical tools including a laparoscope and forceps and solve a puzzle with musical notes.

The black box recording of our faltering stumble through some of Nottingham's finest Escape Rooms. Jamie, Mike, Mairi and Jon are here to separate the wheat from the chaff, and leave you nothing but the finest flour to bake your Escape Bread with.

Or, we would've done, if things hadn't gone a teeny bit wrong.

With discussions and spoiler-free reviews of our recent TIER trip to Nottingham, UK to play six escape rooms:

There's also a little chat about Warhammer World, the site of pilgrimage for wargaming nerds across the globe.

Very nearly the quickest solve we've ever had!

In the final regular episode from our Nottingham AirBnB recording, Jon takes the helm and delivers, without notes, what he believes to be a deceptively simple yet fiendish death trap puzzle...only for Jamie to figure it out within seconds. It isn't the fastest solve we've had but it came damn close.

Puzzle Maestro: Jon Saunders

Solvers: Mike Collins, Jamie Gibbs, Mairi Nolan

Episode Art: Dom Jordan

Editor: Jon Saunders

TLDR: The solvers find themselves inside a suspended cage, accompanied by dozens of rats. To leave means death, but the only means of escape is outside the cage.

Somewhere in this room there's a secret! Go get up and find it!

Or as I like to call it: The one in which Jamie hosts an audio escape room set in an airBNB, whilst recording from the airBNB, in which we have to get up and find actual hidden things in the airBNB. It's airBNBception in here.

Will the solvers untie the knots in Notts in time? (K)not likely!

Puzzle Maestro: Jamie Gibbs

Solvers: Mike Collins, Jon Saunders, Mairi Nolan

Episode Art: Dom Jordan

Editor: Jamie Gibbs

TLDR: The solvers find a physical locked box covered in knots, and have to solve the puzzles to open the box and recover the secret wine.

Join us deep within Robin's Hole, where it's time to pull up a cozy armchair and discuss this week's pubisode topic: When should escape rooms retire? We reflect on some of the recent real-life escape rooms we've played together in Nottingham and discuss the lifecycle of an escape room. How long should an escape room be open for? When should it be updated? When should it be retired? And how might an escape room's life be increased? If you're an owner, when do you retire your rooms?

As always, here are your recommendations for this month.

Jamie - Tears of Metal (videogame), think Dynasty Warriors, a comic book art style but set in medieval Scotland.

Mairi - The Fall (film), a trippy fairy tale of an adventure film.

Jon - The documentaries of Adam Curtis, and in particular, HyperNormalisation.

Mike - Knitting! In the background of whatever you're doing... And I quote: "It keeps your naughty hands busy"

Hosts: Mike Collins, Mairi Nolan, Jon Saunders, Jamie Gibbs

Editor: Jamie Gibbs