Tag Archives: horror

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. Itā€™s not jokes that may or not make you laugh. Itā€™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 donā€™t think this game is offered in English, but as long as you have at least one Spanish speaker in the group youā€™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 wouldnā€™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. šŸ˜‚

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

Until Dawn

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After the gruesome events in the Freeman family’s home, the building drags the haunted legend. Now, an eccentric millionaire has just purchased it and will be rewarding players with a financial reward by staying up one night in the building.

Until Dawn
Until Dawn

This was my favorite room of our 15 room trip in December 2019. If you go play and you are greeted by a long-haired house keeper you are in for a treat. This specific GM outdid himself, to the point where I was worried about whether he’d ever break out of character even at the end! Such a fitting character for the actor, and what a way to carry out a live face-to-face performance. All this making for my favorite escape room intro ever.

The use of the light is cinematographic in this escape room. Beginning with an early warning of how important it will be, to seeing how the light smoothly serves as a horror dial and as the main controller of the flow of the game. One of the highlights is a horror effect that, although some could consider a horror trope, I found it to be perfectly executed, absolutely unexpected and masterfully timed. And it’s not a one-trick pony room, just my personal highlight.

Until Dawn La Clau Manresa

If you are a fan of the eponymous videogame, do not expect a replica nor any encounter with a Wendigo. The only similarity, is that you are meant to survive in the houseā€¦ until dawn. Enjoy it for what it is.

Additional to the escape room, there are 7 extremely well hidden medallions that you can optionally find to unlock an additional riddle that, if solved, will grant you access to an accumulated booty of 100Eur. For reference, we found 0/7 medallions :). If you want to find all of them, you will need to start searching from the very start. 1% of groups have been able to find it, and the GM mentioned that includes people who openly re-played the room exclusively looking for the medallions.

  • Website: https://www.laclauroomescape.com/
  • Duration:Ā 70min
  • Escape time:Ā 69/70 min.
  • Difficulty:Ā Medium
  • Players:Ā 2-6
  • Price:Ā 64-95 Euros
  • Location:Ā Passatge vilaseca i garriga, K-J, Manresa
  • Rating:Ā 9.5/10!

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

Whitechapel Barcelona

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In 1888, in a famous London neighborhood called Whitechapel, a series of murders committed by Jack the Ripper took place. Now, 130 years later, a murderer is paying tribute and causing chaos following the footsteps of Jack himself. In this escape room we will challenge you to decipher a series of enigmas that will challenge your intelligence, imagination and cooperation in addition to testing your fears. Wit, collaboration, perspective ā€¦ All the senses must be alert, any small detail can be essential to overcome the challenge.

Whitechapel
Whitechapel

So far, I had played very few scary rooms due to the theme not being a big hit on our group. I had not played any of the tension or horror rooms that involve actors, apart from the Catacombs in Amsterdam. When I told some veterans that I’d like to get started with Whitechapel, and that we’d be just two players, they said: Well, that’s going all in. Either you’ll love it or hate it! They were right.

Whitechapel is a piece of art. The introduction is a 10/10 and may very well be the best intro I have ever experienced. You are greeted by an in-character GM from the first moment while a blind character Sam with a very specific speech signature warns you of how dangerous the neighbors of Whitechapel are. His blindness is an excellent tie-in to why it is no problem that it’s so dark in this first room. It is so dangerous in fact, that Sam will give you a safe phrase. A safe phrase you will not want to use, trust me.

All in all, it’s a very hands-on experience. You’ll need to react to what is happening around you and the room will throw the best bravery test I have ever seen at you. It’s a very clever idea, and it is even better executed. It is important to notice thought that despite all the horror and fright, the room always uses safe scares, and they respect the time the players need to solve riddles.

Horror analysis (mild spoilers): Some great horror tricks include: Perfect timing with lights on and off. Something approaching, and nothing you can do about it. Fear of the unknown. Retreating back to where you had to escape from at an earlier stage. On the downside, a few of the core riddles are on the easier and weaker side in retrospect – but perfectly understandable given players won’t be able to give their 100% while scared.

Another genius use of horror tricks that shows that the creators of the room are masters of horror: Tension cannot be held indefinitely, so a pinch of hilarity provides a respite while giving horror a chance to sneak up on you and catch you off guard. Finally, fully surrounding effects that not even 7.1 audio systems achieve made me feel like there were not two but 15 actors.

What some may consider spoiler but I believe to not reveal a lot of the room, but rather a warning for the scared: There will be physical contact. You’ll need to save your friends. Or perhaps they’ll need to save you. Do not worry: It’s gentle non-painful contact. If you are worried about all this, the game also offers a Mystery mode, a lighter version of the game.

Is it playable in English? Not really, unfortunately. They mentioned they could run a customized session if you request in advance. Some international enthusiasts managed to reach out to some well-known local enthusiasts that re-played the game with them and acted as translators. It’s key for the intro, one scene that requires role playing interaction and necessary for two of the riddles.

  • Website: http://www.roomwhitechapel.com/
  • Duration:Ā 75min
  • Escape time:Ā 55/75 min.
  • Difficulty:Ā Medium-High depends how much horror affects you
  • Players:Ā 2-6
  • Price:Ā 75-120 Euros
  • Location:Ā Carrer de les Acacies, 23-25, Barcelona
  • Rating:Ā 9.2/10

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

Escape Rooms Schwyz -Active Escape Schwyz (2 rooms)

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Who plays Escape Rooms on a Wednesday from 9pm to 11pm? In Switzerland? Well, it’s been long that I wanted to play a game with our great friend from Inside Breakout (check our review for his game The Ticking Heart) and spontaneity led us here. Unfortunately, the other petals of the Black Rose weren’t able to make it, but they’ll surely play these rooms! What a Mastermind our friend is though, and what a great player. It was my first time playing with an experienced GM and what I noticed is how clean he plays, after having seen groups both fail and succeed. He sees what we have, what we don’t have, what’s next. It made it so the rooms almost played themselves. But now, enough personal backstory, back to the review.

The break-in / Der Einbruch 6.5/10

This company is in the middle of nowhere, which means lower competition. Despite that, this game well exceeded my expectations. Generous space has been used and it’s a game that keeps on giving. The decoration is humble and, after playing both games, one can really see this was their first one. On the other hand, a game that truly makes you feel at home. The Riddles and tasks are very original and the progression is clear. An unexpected story twist at the very end took me by surprise though, not least if all since I did not understand it.

Funnily enough, last weekend we mentioned we had seen something for the first time in an escape room: Using the outside world (The Prison – Houdini’s Quest). And today I saw it again. Furthermore, the owner explained how they made some improvements to the room, to make it more durable.

Overall, not a room that will blow your mind, but one of those cozy escape rooms to play if you are in the area. It has good flow and a very home-made feel. Recommended for beginners.

  • Game: The break-in / Der Einbruch
  • Website: https://www.active-escape-schwyz.ch/
  • Duration: 60min
  • Escape time: 42min (first 2player group to escape with no hints!)
  • Players: 2-6
  • Languages: English, German
  • Rating: 6.5/10

The Psycho / Der Psycho 8/10

This room could be very scary with just a couple of adjustments. This is a room that calls for an acted intro instead of a 1 minute intro video. An actor could (and should!) be added at some key moments to accentuate horror but there’s none. It’s for 16+, and although it doesn’t involve jump scares it feels creepy, but not too much to distract you from the game. It’s dark but light sources are generously provided, and highly luminescent camping lamps. Tip: Carry the lamp with you at all times). You may or may not encounter bloody props (ehem.., what’s in the bag in the photo?).

A room that keeps on giving. Puzzles that have you physically cooperate, a couple of harder riddles that will keep you thinking – but everything’s solvable and makes sense. There’s a lot to do both physically and mentally, and it gives you an all around cozy home-made feeling. On the flip side, some props/print-outs have a bit of a low-budget feel. I’d recommend 4 players minimum. Unfortunately, a physical part broke (shit happens) which made us physically unable to use a mechanical device, but the GM quickly gave us a useful workaround. Finally, there is a worthy ending, although the last door opens ridiculously slowly for the extra dramatic effect.

It’s hard. Very recommended experience for people who’ve already played 3+ escape rooms, and absolutely not recommended for first timers. A word of warning: ~10-20% escape rate and only 3% of groups have escaped without any hints in the year and a half that it’s been open.

  • The Psycho / Der Psycho
  • Website: https://www.active-escape-schwyz.ch/
  • Duration: 60min
  • Escape time: 53min (first 2player group to escape. Also no hints. Before us only 4+ player groups managed to escape.)
  • Players: 2-6
  • Languages: English, German
  • Rating: 8/10