The long awaited visited finally became reality. We booked Houdini’s Quest and it was as full of escapism as we expected. The great trick they pulled was to have us end up playing 5 rooms when we only initially booked 3!

WARNING: Only one room is fully playable in English (Lab), and one is playable with paste-ons (Houdini). The rest is playable if one of the players understands German.

Céline and Kevin of Team Black Rose (who are we?) already had played 4 rooms, and Dominique played 2 with them. That meant that before their very recent release of Mafia there was no chance of us going all together. Well, we pulled in an extra brain, a good friend who went from having 4 played rooms to almost 13 in the last few months.

First of all, what do all (or most) of their rooms have in common? They hide some coins that grant you additional time, making 60min long rooms last almost +10min. No matter which rooms you book you’ll probably have a good time. But, in our opinion, some are better than others – keep reading for more.

• Duration: 60min
• Rooms: 5 open, 4 more incoming
• Players: 2-5
• Price: 98-150chf
• Location: Frauenfeld, 40 minutes by car from Zürich
• Site: www.houdinis.ch

The Prison – Das Gefängnis 7/10

Escape time: 50/60 min.

The prison starts off as you’d expect it from this environment: Handcuffed and in separate cells. Cooperation is key at this point of the game and also where we messed up quite a bit. I managed to do something during the first part that basically made it impossible for Enric, who was in the other cell, to escape. Unfortunately, this lead to him being stuck in his cell for the first 20 minutes of the game while our friend and me were starting to solve the rest of the room.

Eventually, the GM realized what was happening and managed to help us out in a subtle but very effective way, by providing a spare part. Enric freed himself and we were able to continue the room normally.

Naturally, this was a bit of a frustrating experience for him. Apart from that, the room was really nice. Well done small riddles that all fit together in the end. We also saw something that we had never seen in another escape room before: One riddle made use of the outside world of the Escape Room… beyond the walls… but let’s keep it at that.

So all in all, this was one of the nicer done and better prison rooms we’ve played – and not only because it literally kept one of our players locked in.

The lab – Das Labor 8/10

Escape time: 65min. (coins unlock extra time!)

You’ll get to play with many actual scientific devices, but worry not: safety equipment will be provided. A lot to do, 4 players recommended. If you are fewer than that, make sure it’s a team of experienced players. A bit dry compared to their other rooms, but lots of things to solve. Can’t complain on immersiveness because it literally could be a lab.

I personally found this their hardest room due to its non-linearity. An example on how a harder room does not always make it better. I’d appreciate if a couple of the riddles were streamlined. In the end, for instance, you’ll need many bits of outside knowledge that – hopefully – is common knowledge. It’s quite common, but I could imagine a group being unfamiliar with it.

Mafia on the North Sea – Mafia an der Nordsee 7/10

Escape time: 30/60 min.

This room is definitely one of the easiest room of this company – which is not a bad thing given that most players that visit an escape room company have never played ERs before. Therefore it’s usually a good sign when a company offers a variety of difficulties in rooms since it means they understand how to cater to beginners and enthusiasts alike.

This is well done in the Mafia room. The riddles are quite straight forward yet still very imaginative. It is definitely one of those rooms that give you a lot of “eureka”-moments. On top of that, it includes one classical logic problem that especially math enthusiasts will appreciate a lot and it will make people who randomly start trying things despair.

The only critique we could think of after the room is that the theme of Mafia really seems out of place. There is not much of a Mafia atmosphere going on inside except for one little part of the story. Apart from that, it’s a really nice room that’s well suited for beginners.

Houdini’s footsteps – Auf Houdini’s Spuren 8.5/10

Escape time: 61/67 min. (coins unlock extra time!)

Dominique already played this room before this day, how come she’s on the picture? The owners allowed her to watch us from within the room (and help us with translations) and were kind enough to only charge us the 2 players rate.

This room claims it is not only an escape room but also a museum, and it delivered. You’ll follow, as the name suggest, Houdini’s footsteps. It unfolds in two acts, first on Houdini’s wife’s bedroom, and the second one you’ll have to find out by yourself. Needless to say, the second one brings the reveal, the “wow moment” (which I love so much) and what makes this room stand out.

The hint system is one of the most originally integrated we ever encountered. From secret codes to real magical props used in magician’s stages, you’ll encounter way more than the photo reveals. Let yourself be amazed.

This is their signature room. If you can only play one room, play this one. The owner is a magician and you can see the amount of research and love to detail that went into this room. We were very fortunate to have the owner Dominic, a magician by trade, perform a couple of magic tricks for us and leave us even more astonished.

There’s really a lot to do with two players, and you’ll need to search well. The reason Houdini could unlock himself from water tanks while being almost naked was that he could hide the lockpicks very well.

The mysterious library – Die geheimnisvolle Bibliothek 6.5/10

Escape time: 36/60 min.

Same as before, Dominique joined us purely for translations and watched us play, although this time much closer to 30 than 60min.

“It was the first time I watched other people play a room I had previously played and it was a very interesting experience. On top of that, it had been quite a long time since I played the room ( about 1.5 years ago) and I did not remember all of the riddles perfectly or at all. If you ever get the chance to watch your friends play, I’d highly recommend it. I could clearly see strengths and weaknesses that I might not have noticed had I been a part of the group. Also, I realized that sitting quietly and watching the events unfold often led me to make connections and see things I probably would not have seen had I been actively trying to solve the riddles. What I take from this experience is that sometimes it might be worth to take a step back and look at what’s in front of you calmly, simply observing what your teammates are doing.”

-Dominique

Fun fact: At one point, Team Black Rose was #1 in the ranking (D+C+K) but that score was beaten by escaperoomers.de and later dethroned by Team Squared (S2+the guys). It’s great to see that more experienced international groups come to play in Switzerland!