...I won't spoil it, but if that title twigged something from your childhood, you're on the right track. In this episode the team find themselves in an idyllic countryside landscape, home to a cuddly rabbit and dominated by a strange windmill, locked by a very strange device.

The puzzle is simple and so are the players.

• Puzzle Maestro: Jon Saunders

• Solvers: Mike Collins, Mairi Nolan, Jamie Gibbs

• Episode Art: Dom Jordan

• Editor: Jon Saunders

In this episode the gang encounter Big Brain who (and you'll never guess this) is a really, really big brain, trying to sort out the problems of the world. In it, we explore puzzles around neuroplasticity, the various functions of the brain, and stimulation of the hypothalamus and cerebral cortex...

...Or in other words, Jamie, Jon and Mairi see how much they can "poke the giant brain".

It's big brain, big puzzle, big problems.

• Puzzle Maestro: Mike Collins

• Solvers: Jon Saunders, Mairi Nolan, Jamie Gibbs

• Episode Art: Dom Jordan

• Editor: Mike Collins

Handout Resources:

https://www.pedagodzilla.com/in-case-of-emergency/

https://www.pedagodzilla.com/brian-service-diagram/

TLDR: Puzzles about brain functions, ciphers, and each player has a unique ability.

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.