find answers to your questions here
A Live Experience is an immersive adventure where you become a true protagonist, interacting with characters that influence and guide your journey whilst you complete tasks and overcome challenges to progress the story.
The best Live Experiences have multiple areas for exploring, unique themes, compelling stories and top level sets. They blend immersive theatre and gameplay elements to give you a cinematic experience where you are the main character in the story unfolding around you.
At Dreadstate all of our experiences are connected in the same universe; so the story follows on from each other, for example The Experiment is part 1 of our ongoing saga and the sequel Hell House is part 2, picking up from the end of the events of The Experiment.
Not exactly, definitely not the traditional type, but in The Experiment we do have Escape Room elements.
However Hell House is a new type of immersive experience never done before in the UK!
Here at Dreadstate we are looking to push the boundaries of what an Experience can truly be by helping you escape your reality rather than escape a room. We aim to be an Immersive and Theatrical experience.
Live character actors are a part of our experiences to enhance your experience. Think of our experiences as more of a show with a runtime that begins when you arrive rather than a race against the clock.
Instead of just puzzles for the sake of it, the tasks you face are there to enhance and progress the story, not to be the focal point. The use of locks and other similar elements must make sense to the context they are used in to be included as well.
We strive to tell a compelling story with you becoming the main characters. Each of our experiences are connected in the same universe.
If you are looking for intense puzzle solving or something traditional this will not be the case here. But if you want the Next Level in Escape Rooms and similar experiences, you’ve found it!
They can be scary, but more than anything they are amazing fun for everyone! They are unique and immersive.
Whilst we are in the Horror genre, our experiences are safe and you will not be harmed at any point, especially by our Live Actors who only touch you lightly and for specific reasons. We want to get your adrenaline going, not torture you!
You can always stop an experience by speaking to the team at any time, you are always in control. If you’re still not sure about playing with a Scare Actor just yet, we have our tamer option ‘No Scare Actor’ mode in The Experiment (part 1 of our ongoing saga) without one. In Hell House (part 2) it is more intense so it works out to play part 1 in ‘No Scare Actor’ mode if you want to ease yourself into our experiences!
As with anything some people are more scared of certain things compared to others; like paranormal, gore or jump scares. So this is done in different ways depending on the experience and theme. However we tailor the experiences to the groups and won’t make you inappropriately uncomfortable.
You are, but you are in control and can always leave.
You can speak to an actor or wave at the camera. We have emergency buttons in The Experiment by the doors as well if you want to totally stop the experience for good; but always speak to us first and we will help make you comfortable again.
In certain instances you may be locked up within the experiences too. Once again, you can always get out by alerting us and this is only done to enhance your experience and get your adrenaline pumping!
In emergencies your Host will assist you to safety. Safety is important to us but unexpected situations we cannot prepare for can happen, especially with unpredictable scared people. Our live actors and employees are specially trained to a high level to ensure your wellbeing.
Our Live Experiences can be played by 2-6 players (a maximum of 5 for Hell House).
We recommend 4 players to enjoy the full experience of what we have to offer, In The Experiment 5-6 players providing you extra immersion. But no matter how many you will have an incredible adventure you won’t forget!
During your slot your team will have exclusive use of the experience and will not be joined by others.
The experiences are perfect to play with a significant other, family members, friends and work colleagues, depending on your preference.
Our experiences last 90 minutes in total (The Experiment for example is 60 minutes of gameplay and 30 minutes of theatrics roughly) so expect to be busy for up to 105 minutes to be safe.
You will experience the whole adventure no matter what happens and will be guided by the actors to do so. Think of it as a 90 minute showtime that begins as soon as you arrive rather than being against the clock.
You will receive important emails before you arrive that will allow you to jump straight into the action when you get here. Check your junk/spam box if you can’t find it in your inbox!
Unfortunately due to our premises being on the first and second floors, we are not wheelchair accessible.
The nature of our experiences mean that strobe lighting, smoke machines, tight spaces, crawl spaces, climbing, darkness, being blindfolded, gore, horror, explicit imagery, blasphemy and physical elements may be present. However these added for the right reasons, are all safely done and we will accommodate specific needs where possible, just contact us to discuss.
However we understand it may not be suitable for people with certain medical conditions so please be aware of this. You may want to speak with your doctor to ensure you are fit to take part.
In regards to age restrictions; our ‘With A Scare Actor’ modes, where a Live Scare Actor is present during the main part, are recommended for 15+ but under 18s must be accompanied by an adult (parental guidance is advised). The Experiment in ‘No Scare Actor’ mode is also recommended for 15+ but it is less scary due to the live actor being removed from the main part.
For Hell House we recommend it for 16+ due to it being a more intense experience less suitable for children overall.
We generally would recommend choosing our ‘No Scare Actor’ mode for The Experiment for those that are concerned about the experience as a live scare actor will not be present during the main part of the experience. ‘No Scare Actor’ mode allows you to experience the adventure without extra scares.
We love ‘With A Scare Actor’ mode for the extra immersion but both are incredible to do!
We ask that you keep the secrets of our experiences to yourselves, especially when it comes to social media.
However we encourage you to share with others without spoilers. After all, we hope to give you the best experience possible that you would want to recommend to others to play!
Wear something you feel comfortable in, bearing in mind you may have to move around areas and sometimes crawl too.
We don’t recommend you wear your best clothes and can’t take any responsibility if they don’t come out looking quite the same, however we will never intentionally ruin anything!
Please ensure you wear closed toe shoes.
During heatwaves or hot periods we recommend dressing appropriately for that weather; whilst we have some AC and cooling systems it can get warm inside certain areas.
Just yourselves, ready in the mindset of taking yourself out of your normal reality.
We ask you to fully immerse yourself in our experiences to get the best out of them.
With that in mind, any personal items including phones, watches and smart devices will need to be left in our secure area prior to entering the main experience.
During heatwaves or very hot periods we allow you to take water into Hell House.
Click here to be taken to our bookings page and follow the instructions. Payments are taken online securely prior to playing your game.
Our games are 90 minutes long with live actors.
The pricing for The Experiment is as follows: 2 player teams are £45pp and 3-6 player teams are £35pp.
For Hell House, which has multiple Live actors; 2 player teams are £52.50pp (same total price as a 3 player team) and for teams of 3-5 players it is £35pp.
This is a completely private experience for just your team, you will never be joined by strangers.
We are located in 2-4 Carr Street, Ipswich, IP4 1EJ (entrance opposite Santander as we are on the 1st and 2nd floors of the building).
Our Live Experience is less than a 10 minute walk away from the train station so is perfect for those commuting down for the day. Buses also run nearby.
If driving, the nearest parking is directly behind the building in Tacket Street car park for a small fee. However there are multiple car parks in the local area. Please check the latest deals at car parks prior to coming down.
Alongside the experiences themselves we also have toilets on site, but we ask if you can, to use toilets elsewhere before entering the experience to avoid losing time and breaking the immersion. After all, your experience starts as soon as you arrive!
You can use toilets in local places nearby or there are public toilets opposite the Regent Theatre.
Unfortunately not. However we will take a photo for you at a certain point to allow you to commemorate the experience.
This will be sent to you directly to use and it may be posted to our social media pages as well.
Unfortunately we are unable to cancel bookings once they are made.
If you need to reschedule please Click Here to speak with us directly as soon as possible after making your booking; we will always aim to help if we can.