In the next few days, the first Purge experiment will take place in our city. In order to study the benefit of violent behavior without fear of consequences and to release the lowest instincts through this social Katharsis. For an hour the laws will be abolished and everything will be allowed.
Having played most of my rooms outside of Barcelona, I always wondered what in hell do they always mean by “Tensión”. It’s a term that I see more and more in room descriptions in the area. Sure, there’s always tension in a room. Katharsis – La Hora de las bestias taught me what this new meta is all about by executing tension flawlessly.
The tension you will feel is not the tension of having a digit wrong in a padlock. It is the constant feeling of being chased by a group of ravenous killers that want to slash you for entertainment. It’s the tension of “we messed up, what do we do now!?” followed by some Hollywood scenes that will make you feel like the movie hero. If you are worried about this being scary: You may be mildly jump-scared but rather due to a strong narrative execution than flat horrific fear of a monster. Remember, the GM and designers want you to have a great experience.
This room is a must, but strongly falters when it comes to riddles. Looking for numbers on the walls to input on way-to-many padlocks both at the beginning and half-way through the game is a mood-killer.
Is it playable in English? It’s not bookable in English. But technically it’d be playable. The game has an intro video in Spanish but has no language dependency, except a bit of actor interaction where you, as a player, are totally passive – so worst case you don’t understand it and just move along.
- Website: https://katharsisroomescape.es/
- Duration: 80min
- Escape time: 65/80 min.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Players: 2-6
- Price: 70-154 Euros
- Location: Av. America, 14, Mataro
- Rating: 8.5/10
Read about the other 15 rooms we played on this Barcelona trip on “BARCELONA ESCAPE TRIP – DECEMBER 2019“. (published in the next few days)