HAVE you ever fancied being a spy? Do you harness fantasies of saving the world, in the style of 007? And are the words codebreaker, logic and cryptic your middle names?

Well chances are you'll fare a lot better than me and my gang of MI5 rejects if you take on the challenge at Can You Escape (CYE).

Located across an upstairs floor at 13-15 Micklegate, CYE is one of a growing number of companies offering an escape room experience.

For the uninitiated, an escape room is where teams pit themselves against the clock to solve a series of puzzles and crack various codes.

Venues sometimes have more than one escape room, each with a different back story to lure prospective challengers.

At CYE, we signed up to be secret agents for one hour and take on the mission Operation Lone Eagle. In this scenario, world-famous scientist Doctor Aquila Mind has made an embarrassing faux-pas at a conference and, unable to bear the shame, has been working on a machine to erase the incident and all other memories from people’s minds.

His not-so-trusted assistant wants to put a stop to the evil plans – and so is recruiting spies to navigate his room and retrieve the machine's trigger before the clock hits zero.

This was the mission facing the five of us when we turned up on a Friday night straight from work.

Games master Scott was very encouraging, telling us that plenty of teams had beaten the clock and found the trigger – and escaped from the room with their pride intact.

Our team consisted of two academics, two journalists and one 14-year-old teenager - so we were feeling optimistic.

Once inside the room, we immediately felt the pressure bearing down on us from the large digital clock, counting down from 00.60:00 on the wall. Frantically, we began turning over the room as if looking for a missing million pound lottery ticket in the search for clues. We were making slow progress, and Scott – watching remotely – fed us advice through a walkie-talkie.

But it was not enough. As the seconds skipped away, we realised we were defeated, despite the best efforts of our youngest spy, who was by a country mile the strongest agent in the squad.

Despite our failure, we loved the buzz of the challenge – and vowed to go back to try another room.

And that may be happen sooner rather than later because CYE is about to opening another escape challenge this month: Operation H.E.R.O.

In this scenario, the Force Four superheroes have been captured by the mastermind Möbius, resulting in a series of disasters striking York. So the race is on to find the superheroes before Möbius strips them of their powers.

Sounds like a challenge worth shaping up for.

Find out more at canyouescape.co.uk/york

Teams comprise of two-to-five agents for Operation Lone Eagle and up to six for Operation H.E.R.O.

There are two identical Operation Lone Eagle rooms, so teams can compete against each other in the challenge.

Prices vary according to how many in each team, check the website for details.