Pier Pressure Welwyn takes Christmas to Mill Green Watermill from 11 Dec: Santa storytime at £10 a child, The Sleighers at £35 and a festive escape room.
Pier Pressure Welwyn, the escape room business on the fourth floor of Campus West, is taking its Christmas programme down the road to Mill Green Watermill in Hatfield this year. From Friday 11 December there is a storytime with Father Christmas for young children, a two-hour game of secrets and betrayal for adults called The Sleighers, and a festive escape room, Lockin’ Around the Christmas Tree, which opens the same day.
The two year-round games, Otto’s Oddities at Campus West and The Seven Seals trail around the town centre, carry on through the season.
“We’ve been running award winning escape rooms and immersive experiences in Welwyn-Hatfield since 2022,” Camden, one of the owners, told us, “and since 2024 we’ve been running permanent escape rooms and games up in Campus West, winning a Tripadvisors Choice award every year we’ve been there so far.” The company’s website lists it as a Tripadvisor Travellers’ Choice winner for 2026.
Storytime with Father Christmas: £10 a child, £5 an adult
The storytime is for children aged two to eight and lasts 45 minutes. Father Christmas reads an original, interactive festive story with an elf helping out, and Pier Pressure says there are “plenty of puns to keep the grown ups giggling”. Afterwards he stays for photographs with families, and each child goes home with an activity book themed on the story, plus crayons. The company describes it as “part panto, part grotto”.
Tickets are £10 for each child aged 2 to 12 and £5 for each adult, and every child must come with at least one adult. Babes in arms go free with an adult ticket, though a child ticket is needed if you want the baby to get an activity book.
There are ten dates: Friday 11, Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 December, then every day from Friday 18 to Christmas Eve. Session times are on the Storytime booking page.
The Sleighers: £35 a head, four nights
The Sleighers is for grown-ups. Players take a seat on “the ancient and most noble Council of the Nice List”, whose agenda, in Pier Pressure’s words, is to “spread Christmas joy, ensure everyone gets their fair share of presents, swap mulled wine recipes, etc.” The catch is that spies from the Naughty List have got onto the council. Over two hours you compete in challenges, form alliances and try to work out who is lying, unless you are one of the spies and are trying to sabotage everyone else.
It costs £35 a person and runs on Saturday 12, 19 and 26 December and Saturday 2 January. Couples and small groups are welcome: if you do not fill a session yourselves, you are put together with other players to make up a full game. Groups of up to 25 can book a private game, and corporate groups can ask for other dates by emailing welwyn@pierpressure.co.uk. Drinks and nibbles are on sale on the night. Book on The Sleighers page.
2 photos, swipe or scroll. Photos: supplied by Pier Pressure Welwyn
Lockin’ Around the Christmas Tree: opens 11 December
The Christmas-only escape room has a simple brief. “Can you find the missing decorations and get the Christmas tree up and ready in time for the big day?” Camden wrote. “Santa Claus is depending on you!” On the company’s website the back story is that clumsy elves have lost every decoration for Father Christmas’s favourite tree.
It takes teams of two to ten, lasts 60 minutes and is rated 7 out of 10 for difficulty. Pier Pressure pitches it at families, groups of friends and colleagues, and says it was previously played at XscapeNow in Telford. Times and prices are on the Lockin’ Around the Christmas Tree booking page.
All three Christmas events are at Mill Green Watermill, Bush Hall Lane, Hatfield AL9 5PD, which Pier Pressure describes as “a beautiful 18th century restored mill on the River Lea”.
All year at Campus West: Otto’s Oddities
“Otto’s Oddities is a time-travelling reverse heist game,” Camden wrote, “where teams travel back to 1901 to sneak into Otto’s shop in the dead of night to help out an inventor down on his luck. If you succeed you might just make history!”
Up to 11 people can play at once: there are two identical rooms of two to six players each, and groups of six or more can play head to head. It is open every day from 10am to 9.30pm and lasts 60 minutes. Prices on the company’s site run from £64 for a team of two (£32 each) down to £25 each for six or more. Book on the Otto’s Oddities page.
2 photos, swipe or scroll. Photos: supplied by Pier Pressure Welwyn
All year in the town centre: The Seven Seals
The Seven Seals is played outdoors on your phone. “As recruits of the Alchemist’s Guild,” Camden explained, “teams must explore WGC town centre to find and fix the seven protective seals of the town before it’s too late. The adventure starts with just a phone at Campus West, but with real-world interactions and evidence to collect along the way you’ll have a lot of work to do to navigate the mystery.”
Teams of any size can play, every day from 10am to 8pm. The walk is about a mile, every part of it is wheelchair and pram accessible according to the company, and it runs in a phone browser with nothing to download. Bookings can be moved free of charge if the weather turns. A team of one or two pays £30, rising to £40 for six, and larger groups can ask by email or on 01707 245007. Book on The Seven Seals page.
Finding them
Pier Pressure Welwyn is on the fourth floor of Campus West, The Campus, Welwyn Garden City AL8 6BX. Phone 01707 245007 or email welwyn@pierpressure.co.uk. Everything is on pierpressure.co.uk/welwyn, and the team posts on Facebook and Instagram. Prices and dates are as listed on the company’s website when we checked on 26 October.
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