Truro's Fear of the Unknown named No. 1 escape room in the UK
A husband-and-wife team in the heart of Truro has taken the top spot in the inaugural UK Escape Room Awards - putting Cornwall firmly on the national escape room map.
Fear of the Unknown, created by independent Truro business Enigma Escape Cornwall, has been ranked the No. 1 escape room in the UK for 2026.
The achievement is particularly impressive because more than 2,000 escape rooms across the country were eligible for the awards. Voting was carried out by experienced escape room players who had played at least 50 rooms in the UK.
Owners Oli and Megan Eastwood-Wright described themselves as “completely overwhelmed, gobsmacked and in total shock” when the result was announced.
For a small independent business in Cornwall, this is more than an award. It is national recognition for creativity, craftsmanship, determination and a willingness to do something genuinely different.
Thirteen months in the making
Oli and Megan took over the Truro escape room business in September 2023, creating Enigma Escape Cornwall at its atmospheric Lemon Street basement.
Work on Fear of the Unknown began after one of the existing games closed in April 2024.
What followed was an ambitious 13-month design and build before the new experience opened to the public in May 2025.
Much of the work was self-taught. From carpentry and flooring to technology, decoration, props, voice work and puzzle design, the team learned as the project developed.
Skilled carpenter and interior designer Dave Sampson later joined Oli and Megan and helped create many of the experience's detailed set pieces.
Fear of the Unknown - created beneath the streets of Truro.
What makes Fear of the Unknown different?
Inspired by the work of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, the experience places players inside a story rather than simply asking them to solve a sequence of puzzles.
The 90-minute adventure combines narrative, highly detailed sets, physical puzzles, secret areas and collectable objects.
There is no traditional clock counting down and no conventional win-or-lose ending. How much players discover along the way affects their score and ultimately their fate.
There are different endings, and the collection element means some players choose to return and experience the room again - unusual in an industry where most escape rooms are designed to be played only once.
Fear of the Unknown at a glance
- 90-minute immersive experience
- Designed for groups of 2-6 players
- Suitable for ages 12+
- Story and puzzle focused
- Multiple possible endings
- Secret areas, collectables and highly interactive sets
- Located beneath Lemon Street in central Truro
Community Together put it to the test
We didn't want simply to report on the award - we wanted to experience Fear of the Unknown for ourselves.
Four of us headed beneath Lemon Street to take on the challenge. One member of the group had never experienced an escape room before, which made his reaction afterwards particularly interesting.
Without giving away any of the secrets, this is far more than being locked in a room and solving clues.
The set, atmosphere and storytelling draw you progressively into the experience - and there are plenty of unexpected moments along the way.
Recognition from the escape room world
The UK Escape Room Awards win adds to an already impressive collection of recognition for the Truro experience.
In August 2026, Fear of the Unknown received a Golden Lock Award from Room Escape Artist and was one of only two UK rooms to receive the award that year.
It was also the only Cornish escape room nominated in the international TERPECA awards in 2025 and has received strong reviews from escape room enthusiasts and specialist reviewers.
Oli and Megan hope the national recognition will encourage more people to travel to Cornwall specifically to experience its escape rooms.
For Truro, that matters too. Independent businesses that create something distinctive don't just contribute to the local economy - they give people another reason to visit, explore the city and talk about Cornwall beyond the county.
Enigma Escape Cornwall - The Old Basement, 18 Lemon Street, Truro
