Monthly Archives: March 2020

Reviews

Free escape games to play at home during Coronavirus social distancing

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Please stay home. Without saying much more, we are here to give you a list of games to play from home for free, without having to wait until they deliver. We will give some good boardgame and puzzle book alternatives that need to be purchased further down. Order them so you get them asap!

Last updated: 24th May 2020@10pm CET. We’ll keep adding new ones we find.

Free games from home

  • Unlock, tutorial + 5 free scenarios. Awesome game series, you can print&play the first 5 demo scenarios: The Elite, 5th Avenue, The Doo-Arann Dungeon, In Pursuit of Cabrakan, The temple of RA (Also in German)
  • 50 clues “The Home temple” (demo) great print&play start for the three full games.
  • Puzzled Pint – archives have sets of puzzles for many years. Pick a month (recommend starting with the recent ones) and go on. Hints provided.
  • KeyEnigma demo game (running Kickstarter) Use e-mails, investigate audio and video. Well integrated, even includes acting. Easy, short (30-60m), but highly recommended! (English+Spanish)
  • Braingle puzzle hunts The Hypatia + Svalbard. Not played yet.
  • Wish you were here 1, Enigma emporium offers the first one for free. Each postcard hides multiple riddles. Hints provided. (difficult)
  • Cryptex Hunt 2020 Hints provided. (very difficult)
  • Free print&play games from BGG (meta-list: many long lists!)
  • MIT Mystery Hunt (hardcore, difficult and puzzles are long and tedious) We solved some spare puzzles but never finished a full year. With solutions (no progressive hints).
  • Cryptogram Puzzlepost (3 free issues, corresponding to 3 months). Beautiful art, puzzles that give you an answer that is the input to the next puzzle. We found it hard to start, we’ll give it another try.
  • Galactic Puzzle Hunt web-based hunt. looks veeery long. Not tried. Difficult.
  • Escape This Podcast, an audio based adventure. We haven’t tried it yet.
  • Escape Room Frequency, another audio based adventure. Not tried yet.
  • Hogwarts Digital Escape Room, starting as a Google Forms. Given its forms nature allows for trial and error, but try to solve it! Another very hand-made Harry Potter based game: Caesar’s Cave. This second one has no clear way to submit answers. We have not tried either.
  • Trap door escape stream offers two free streams (check schedule on their website), and typically you can pay to play. US-friendly times.
  • Squonkland offers custom run escape games through VC, depends on his availability. Pay-what-you-want. US times.
  • Escape team, a print&play game, offers the first out of 5 scenarios for free: “Central Station”. (English and German)
  • Potter’s escape a free puzzle inspired by Harry Potter. They claim more puzzles to come on the next days.
  • The Escape Game has 7 free escape rooms (Monthly Mystery). Solved 1/7. They are the same people behind “Chasing Hahn”.
  • Search of Sasquatch – an online escape game of searching webpages and social media.
  • Down the rabbit hole, a PDF with a few easter themed riddles by Cryptic Events.
  • Mr X. Escape Durham online and requires some online tools (Google, Twitter, Maps…)

Paid experiences

  • YouEscape, paid $30 per game. If you can only play one game, play game #3! Otherwise, games #1, #2, #3 are highly recommended.
  • The case of Uncle Herbert (German or English) by Inside Breakout. 30 CHF, 60-80min sent by post to CH, DE, AT, UK.
  • The insiders by Deadlocked Escape rooms. You’ll join a secret agency and hunt for clues through the internet. Three parts, 1 hour each. Printed recommended but not mandatory. Best money-value of all paid experiences we played. (ÂŁ10, buying a voucher on the provided link) (played 1/3 parts so far)
  • Paruzal live-hosted online escape rooms to be joined by video. (Eastern US)
  • ReadyMayorOne.com live-hosted online escape-room, needs booking and installing Android/iOS apps (US timezone)
  • Reality Break Escape – Mystery of the Missing Mare run through the app Cluekeeper ($30, discounted to $20. 30-60min)
  • CSI: Grounded a web based escape game experience, 60 minutes of gameplay including video, audio and visual content. ( ÂŁ15-20) releasing April 3rd.
  • Wndrbox (US) online bookable games for $25/hr. The Briefcase and The Picnic Basket
  • OuterSpace An adventure in a spaceship that will have you play a videogame in your browser. $2.50
  • Stolen IQ Cluequest cut-print-escape 12 GBP. Requires printer (a lot to print).
  • Das Aurora VermĂ€chtnis at Lockedroom.de. 12.99 EUR. Only in German. App needed.

Free games in other languages

Puzzle books (and physical)

  • Journal 29 and Journal 29 Revelation, both very good, very tricky puzzle books.
  • Codex Enigmatum Well done puzzle book
  • Trip 1907 and Trip 1907 Forbidden Mine Beautifully illustrated and tough puzzles
  • Vice-Versa Books and others they offer. The Vice Versas come with two books, one for each player, and have different information that cannot be seen by the other player. It is all about communication and puzzle solving.
  • The Enigma Emporium (30% discount with code “StaySafeStayCurious”) They have riddle packs that come in the form of various postcards. We really enjoyed those and the artwork is beautiful!
  • TOP Escape Adventures: They are in German but there is a ton of them. Also available in Amazon.
  • Panda magazine. Technically a subscription (paid) magazine, but they offer a free issue. Newspaper-style games.
  • Escape the crate, a subscription shipping an escape box for $30/2months.
  • [DE] AdventureMail.ch a subscription postcard + box escape game (3 weeks for 35 CHF)

Videogames

Mobile games (Android)

  • The Room and all the following games
  • The Witness
  • Device 6 (apple only)
  • The Cube Escape Rusty Lake series. I just have all of them downloaded on my phone and whenever I don’t have internet connectivity play for a bit.
  • Agent A
  • Cluekeeper, although it’s a platform that requires you to buy (rather expensive) individual puzzle hunts.

Escape Boardgames

Please try to buy these from local businesses that need it the most during the Covid-19 times. Some escape room companies are selling games such as EXIT and Adventure Games.

  • Every game in the EXIT series. Just buy them and thank us later. If you are only buying one thing, buy these. They can only be played once, last 60-90min each but do things with physical components you would never expect. ALL are available in German (original language), most in English and almost all in Spanish.
  • Every game in the UNLOCK series. Also top tier escape games, we prefer Exit a bit better but they have some insane mind-bend things that you could only do with an app (not app-driven).
  • Escape Room: The Game and all expansions. It’s not cheap since you have to buy the plastic-toy decoder the first time but then the expansions are cheaper.
  • Every game in the Deckscape series. This always took us more than 60min, recommended.
  • Every game in the Adventure games. Less puzzly, more story driven.
  • Every game in the UNDO series. Those are not on top of our favorites list but they are fine. Also mostly story driven and no puzzles.
  • 50 clues There are three games that you must play in order. Beware, the topic is very heavy and not for the faint of heart. The atmosphere created is amazing and there are many “ooooh sh*t” moments. Definitely worth it.
  • Escape room in a Box: “The werewolf experiment” and “Flashback”. When we played them we had to buy them in the US but worth if you can get them!
  • Doctor Esker’s Notebook There are two of these. Both equally recommended. Easier to get in the US.
  • [ES] La Casa de Papel Escape Game (only in Spanish) easy puzzles, get it only if you like the show.
  • The Escape Game: Unlocked A nice standalone puzzle adventure. They now have a digital version for $10.

Boardgames

We play and own a lot of boardgames too, but there are many great sources to find great boardgames. We list titles that we would recommend if you like solving mysteries and puzzles. Note they are not “escape room” games at all, but some may include riddles or immersive stories.

  • Chronicles of Crime (+Noir +Redview expansions): Put on the detective hat and solve a crime by talking to various witnesses and drawing your own conclusions.
  • Time Stories (+so many expansions) Not so much of a puzzle but more like an exploration game. Travel in time, solve the mystery and save the world but don’t worry if you don’t: You can (and mostly have to) always repeat!
  • Time Stories Revolution: The new version of Time Stories. Very similar but not quite the same. It skips the tedious part where you have to redo the scenario over and over again and it has done so very well.
  • Mansions of Madness 2nd edition (+expansions). This game will fill a whole Sunday if you let it. Get yourself immersed in the Lovecraftian stories, fight evil monsters and let yourself be guided by a very well done app that enhances the playing experience a lot.
  • Sherlock Holmes: Consulting detective (we only tried the first box). Can you solve a case faster than the famous Sherlock Holmes? You get newspaper extracts, people to talk to and all the time that you need. Very text heavy but not easy at all!
  • Mythos Tales This is Dominiques favourite game ever. Do we need to say more? Ah yes, it is basically Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective but in a Lovecraftian setting.
  • Pandemic Legacy season 1 (recommended 4 players but also possible with 2) Pandemic is a great game in and of its own. But Legacy takes it to a whole new level. What better time to start than now? Fully narrative + boardgame, don’t expect puzzles here.
  • Detective: A modern crime board game (Portal Games) with access to the Antares database, you will unveil five different cases of chained mysteries. We only played the first one.
  • Detective Stories (standalone). First (Adlerstein) in English, boxes 2 and 3 only in German.

Other lists like this

If you get stuck in any of these games, we have played most of them (and working on the rest) and we’ll be happy to offer hints! Please leave a comment or reach us out on instagram.com/blackrose_escape

If you liked this list, we’d appreciate you follow us on our socials:

Please leave a comment with anything that we missed (English, German, Spanish) and we’ll add it!

Authors: Dominique & Enric

Reviews

El Diamante de almas – Inmortal room

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The Diamond of souls. The famous carver Alon FĂŒrst, a disciple of the great master Gabriel Tolkowsky, arrives in our country in an unprecedented exhibition. He is known for creating the best diamonds in the world. No carver has ever managed to match the purity and brightness of his works. Enjoy the unique diamonds and jewels of this unique artist. Can you discover his great secret?

el diamante de almas
El Diamante de Almas Inmortal

First of all, let me say that I can’t really see what people like so much about this room. #37 on TERPECA 2019. I was hyped by the reviews and even more because they claim to be enthusiasts who build a room. I discussed it with other people who played it and it seems the GM can make it or break it. Ours was someone who admitted to being quite new. It was fine, but it felt staged and perhaps it will get better after a few more games. I started handcuffed and he made them so tight I was about to ask for an emergency stop – it hurt.

You start in a beautiful jewelry exposition full of some riddles that are on the easier side, which is great! Other rooms should learn from this. Easy riddles at the beginning to get everyone kickstarted and motivated. The middle part unfortunately I can’t discuss without giving away too much. But overall highlight how important good communication and cooperation will be in this room. An ending that is full of energy, with a bit of a rush feeling that makes you leave on a high yelling “yeah we did it!”

El Diamante de Almas Inmortal

As a fun note, there’s a highlight of the game, the apex of what makes the game special, and the GM told us about a couple of fun very contrasting stories: First, a girl was so nervous she peed herself; and the other story is that a girl was into some sort of kink and enjoyed one of the parts… way too much.

On top of adding their custom border on the photo, they will write a customized text full of emojis and post it on their facebook page. See ours for example. The downside, they must have a long queue because it took them more than a month to post ours.

  • Website: https://www.inmortalroom.com/
  • Duration: 80min
  • Escape time: 78/80 min.
  • Difficulty: Medium
  • Players: 2-6
  • Price: 60-108 Euros
  • Location: Carrer Can Castells, 43, Montcada i Reixac
  • Rating: 7.5/10

Read about the other 15 rooms we played on this Barcelona trip on “BARCELONA ESCAPE TRIP – DECEMBER 2019“. (published in the next few days)

Reviews

Inmortum

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Mii… Mii Miiiiiii! Mii is looking for a way to be famous at all costs since he was the creator of the hostel but nobody remembers him. He’s waiting for you to become his biggest fans but there’s a little problem in his home.

Inmortum Mii
Inmortum Mii
inmortum escape room

What a fun game! I had never laughed so much in an escape room. It’s not jokes that may or not make you laugh. It’s just the hilarity of some of the things you have to do.

The pre-game is already fun. A few days in advance you’ll receive a Whatsapp message with a recording.

You are competing to be fans of Mii, a peculiar gas-wearing character that loves sweets. If you pay him a visit, bring him a Kinder egg! I don’t think this game is offered in English, but as long as you have at least one Spanish speaker in the group you’ll be able to do it. I feel I have to mention that he opened a custom slot on the night of Christmas (25th of December at night) knowing that we were visiting from abroad and wouldn’t be able to attend otherwise. He will offer a customized welcome and introduce you to his two greatest fans (ask him who they are at the end of the game) and warn you that his best fans are very obsessive and protective and will make your life hell.

Inmortum cleaning
Credit this + featured photo: The Foodinis.

This is also the room where I stumbled upon the actor the most times, and it was never enough. All sort of interactions, from more spooky to extremely playful. Such a black-and-white contrast between humor and fear, a scary room but not truly a very horrific one. Good execution, clever hand-crafted puzzles with some simple electronics that felt very robust and some very manual technology – that works! The last 10 minutes of the game were full of adrenaline and non-stop horror and laughter. The game can be compared with rapidly alternating between a hot and a freezing bath, a strong contrast in rapid succession that absolutely gets your blood pumping.

The GM was very kind even on such a date, walked us through the rooms and told us his favorite horror rooms. It was crazy to see such a comedic Mii character be such a humble a good-humored GM, speaking to us in Catalan. The escape room a bit out of the way in Gironella but you can combine it with a trip to Manresa and also play Until Dawn.

Is it playable in English? No, you’ll need at least one Spanish speaker in the group. But it will still be fun, and scary. And both. Or none. Or whatever. You’ll just have a great time. 😂

  • Website: https://inmortum.wixsite.com/inmortum/
  • Duration: 70min (90min according to the website)
  • Escape time: 59/70 min.
  • Difficulty: Medium
  • Players: 3-6
  • Price: 50-90 Euros
  • Location: Avinguda de Catalunya, 83, Gironella
  • Rating: 9.3/10!

Read about the other 15 rooms we played on this Barcelona trip on “BARCELONA ESCAPE TRIP – DECEMBER 2019“. (published in the next few days)

Reviews

Alien: The Origin – escape Barcelona

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Be part of the crew of the USCSS Escape and travels to the planet Thedus.

alien the origin escape barcelona
Alien the origin escape barcelona

I did not have a lot of fun here. The intro felt rushed, I wasn’t barely allowed any time to use the toilet and then, we were split in two groups: engineers and security. I liked the opening riddle, and loved the transitions, the way you are physically split is outstanding.

Great decoration, but I can’t understand how it made it to #18 terpeca in 2018. I played security, so my review is from that point of view. Why? Because for 90% of the game we were separated. We had some choices, and that was very cool! Based on your choices, you will get one of over 10 (I think) possible endings.

An overuse of arithmetic, and a specific pointless games that – either we were very bad at – or it was just meant to kept you busy while the other half played games. We spent at least 5 minutes waiting for the other half of the team to complete their part with us being unable to do anything. Check the time below, we played 54 out of 90 min and it was mostly adventurous – we couldn’t be fast or slow. I really feel like we missed a big part of the game.

I asked people who played this game during their golden time and they confirmed there was some acting that involved a thousands-of-euros costume that, after it broke, it was removed. The ending was made to be epic and interesting but our GM and the games that felt more like tasks than riddles made it feel not-so-good. As much as I disliked this game, I’d encourage you to check other reviews because I’m clearly in the minority here.

Pros: great decoration, solid construction.

Cons: we literally had three riddles, and some entertainments/games. Never saw the other two players for most of the game. The underwhelming games at the end of the session.

  • Website: https://www.escapebarcelona.com/
  • Duration: 90min
  • Escape time: 54/90 min.
  • Difficulty: Very low
  • Players: 4-10
  • Price: 85-120 Euros
  • Location: Calle BarĂł 17 local SANTA COLOMA
  • Rating: 6.5/10

Read about the other 15 rooms we played on this Barcelona trip on “BARCELONA ESCAPE TRIP – DECEMBER 2019“. (published in the next few days)

Reviews

El circo de los extraños – Prisma

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An old circus company with more than 100 years of history, has been provisionally installed in MatarĂł so that all circus lovers can visit and enjoy the best magic tricks, be amazed by the most spectacular stunts and discover the most strange and peculiar people.

El circo de los extraños
El circo de los extraños

The most classical room of the ones I played on the trip. A fun light-hearted room with an abundance of classical puzzles and games and quite a lot to do for two players, including some intense searching. Approaching the end, there’s some hard searching that needs to be done in a too dark environment.

There’s a dash of spookiness that contrasts with the lightheartedness early on. If you are the kind of player who likes to be kept busy, it is a room for you. Further into the game, you’ll encounter a very original room that could be the product of someone’s nightmare (although not scary at all!). A lot of different spaces and a paced progressions. Recommended for 4+ players unless you already have quite some rooms behind your back.

  • Website: https://prismaroomescape.com/
  • Duration: 80min
  • Escape time: 68/80 min.
  • Difficulty: Medium-Hard
  • Players: 2-7
  • Price: 60-105 Euros
  • Location: Carrer de Sant Benet, 68, Mataro
  • Rating: 7/10

Read about the other 15 rooms we played on this Barcelona trip on “BARCELONA ESCAPE TRIP – DECEMBER 2019“. (published in the next few days)