Edinburgh Harry Potter escape room forced to change name

A NEW Harry Potter themed escape room in Edinburgh has been forced to change its name.
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Loosely based on adventures of the famous boy wizard, visitors to The Department of Mysteries don robes before facing a serious of challenging tasks.

Instantly a hit with fantasy fans and escape room aficionados, word spread and Warner Bros, which has held the rights to Potter franchise since 1999, got in touch with the team to suggest a name change.

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In JK Rowling’s creation ‘The Department of Mysteries’ features as part of the plot.

The Department Of Magic dabbles in the Dark Arts for Edinburgh's
latest escape room.The Department Of Magic dabbles in the Dark Arts for Edinburgh's
latest escape room.
The Department Of Magic dabbles in the Dark Arts for Edinburgh's latest escape room.

But director of the re-named The Department of Magic, John Millar was unphased by the request to change the attraction’s name.

He said: “They were very nice.

“They just said that althougt not trademarked they thought we leaned too heavily on the franchise by calling it The Department of Mysteries.

“I’m not going to mess with Warner Bros. and we’re all Harry Potter fans so we have no wish to damage anything.

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“But Harry Potter is not the first to have a dark wizard or griffins and all the dark lords – they have always been at the heart of fantasy so our magical world is full of them.”

The first game, Prohpecies Quest, based around defeating the dark lord and saving 
the magical world, opened in April.

The team have now built a second escape room – an adventure game in which players solve a series of puzzles and riddles using clues and hints – in response to players requests to play on the dark side.

“In all fantasy books you have good guys and bad guys,” John explained. “People love our original magical world of witchcraft and wizardry, collecting prophecies and saving the magical world is a lot of fun.

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“But some people wanted to side with the Dark Lord, this is the game for them.

John explained that a common theme in fantasy stories is the need to resurrect the Dark Lord before he can come and take over the world.

“In our game all the puzzles are related to the Dark Lord’s vice and players must create potions and collect the elements that you would need to bring him back and if you successfully do that you are met with a choice.”

Muggles can alter the course of the game and are met with a tantalising twist to finish.

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Unlike many games in the escape room world, John said they do not use padlocks.

“They are rooms devised around a theme of magic so it’s all about magic, we don’t have any padlocks .

He added: “New game Dark Lord Resurrection is the prequel to Prohpecies Quest.

“It’s an amazing experience that will appeal to everyone looking for something a little bit different.”

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Booking slots permitted, players can tackle both rooms consecutively.

Advanced booking is also available ahead of the launch on September 14, www.departmentofmagic.com, with prices ranging from £14 per person for groups of five to £20 per person for groups of two.