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Reviews

Boda Borg in ZĂźrich Switzerland

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We were one of the first people to play Boda Borg in ZĂźrich as part of a testing on November 2019. And we went back a couple of weeks later, to play more.

What is Boda Borg?

Questing: the “DIY” version of movies, books, and video games! Gather your team of 3-5 people and move through the real-life experience we call Questing. You will face a variety of mental and physical challenges at Boda Borg locations, where success in the first challenge means entry into the next. If you fail you have to start all over again or choose another Quest.

They mention you can master 1-3 quests in your first 2h. I think that’s probably right for a family setting or a group who wants a light experience. For reference, we did pretty average (many repetitions!) and got 5 greens and 1 red stamp on our first 2h session.

  • Web: https://www.bodaborg.ch/
  • Time: 2hr (or more!) recommended. A successful run = 10min.
  • Players: 3-5, but if you are more you can split, and merge.
  • Ages: 7-70
  • Languages: English or German. We tested in English.
  • Price: 30chf/person for 2 hours. 42chf/p for a full day.
  • Opening: Monday-Thursday until 10pm. Friday-Sat until 11pm Sunday until 6pm.
  • Location: Oberglatterstrasse 35, 8153 RĂźmlang

How it works

A successful run lasts about 10min. You are expected to get it wrong, and try again. After a mistake you have to leave the quest and restart from the beginning. Even if you know how it works, all riddles are parameterized so the solution will be different each time, but the method the same. You’ll know what to do, but you’ll need to do it again.

All rooms auto-reset in a matter of seconds once you are out. If it’s crowded and another group wants to try, then you’ll have to wait. We always went during the week on the evening and it was mostly empty and never had to wait. Once you succeed, in the end, you get a stamp (green, red, black). If you get all of them in 4 hours you become a Quest Master. I doubt anyone can do it in their first 4h, but once you know how they work you could come back another day and replay it. Some are still challenging (physical ones mostly).


Modes

  • Green (6 quests): mostly puzzles and mental challenges. Technically one quest (quiz) can be played 3 times.
  • Red (7 quests): a mix of puzzles and physical challenges.
  • Black (5 quests): which are dexterity/physical challenges. In general, if it was compared to an “escape room” it would be on the easier side. But the physical ones make you tired. Especially because after a small mistake… you have to try again!

Final thoughts

The decoration is very good. Puzzles are easy but you need to understand them. In the context of an escape room they’d be frustrating because sometimes you don’t know what to do next, but in this keep-replaying context it works very well. Overall, I would strongly recommend it. Going with the right mindset is key. Do not expect escape rooms, go with an open mind and enjoy what they offer.

Secret tips

  • Come in comfortable clothes: Gym clothes, or at least gym pants are highly recommended. Unless you intend to stick to exclusively green quests, you’ll need sports shoes too. Like in other countries’ Boda Borg, the ones in Zurich also rent knee-pads. May sound like a joke, but kneeling and crawling is quite their signature. If you have knee problems, don’t be ashamed to bring knee-pads.
  • Drink often: It’s very easy to play non-stop for 2hr, especially when you “almost got it”. And it’s also very easy to forget to hydrate. Take breaks, go for a drink and come back. You are not competing, the heroes who solved everything needed to re-play all rooms multiple times. Especially important if you are focusing on reds and blacks.
  • Don’t get frustrated: Repeatedly dying in a videogame can get annoying (unless you are a Dark Souls veteran). Questing is similar: be patient and enjoy the game. It’s more worth to have fun with your group and get fewer stamps than to get one more stamp and end in bad humor. If something gets tricky, is hard to perfect or keeps getting you… change! There are 18 games, go play something else! Sometimes stopping for 5 minutes and discussing possible approaches is better than getting one more random fail.

Our progress so far…

We played (but not beat) all of their 18 games multiple times each. In total we succeeded in 12/18. Can’t wait to go back again, perhaps when they add new quests? An employee that helped build this location mentioned they were working on 4 new ones!

Every time you complete a quest, you get a stamp. Our progress 12/18
Rankings, Reviews

Top 5 Escape Rooms of Switzerland

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Want to see more of the best escape rooms in Switzerland? See our top 50 escape rooms Switzerland ranking.

Nr 1: AUNT HILDA’S ROOM (Geneva)

I don’t think I have to say much about this room. Not least of all since we already reviewed it at length here.

Suffice to say this: This room is leagues ahead of any other room in this country. It is hard to explain why without giving away any spoilers – which is partly the reason why so few photos exist of this room. But it is what I’d call a perfect combination of beautiful and extravagant decoration and very well done and tricky puzzles.

If you are even remotely in the region of this room (which is Geneva), definitely schedule in a stop. You won’t regret it.

Nr 2: Beutezug 1847 (Baden)

This is a room where you truly feel that the owners are enthusiasts themselves. Not only does the story make sense, the puzzles are also nicely embedded and all kept in theme with the time this story is set in. The love to detail they put into building a replica of an actually old fashioned train is exceptionally noteworthy.

The company, Time Maze, is one of those few companies that we completely trust to never make a bad room – and they did not disappoint with their second room which in our opinion is totally up to par with the first one.

Nr 3: The Pirates of the Blacktrap (Martigny)

If there is any room that truly makes you feel like you’ve left the building that you entered and were transported into a completely different time and space – this is it. They built a whole pirate ship – no, not just the cabine or the deck, they built the whole ship. The ship is surrounded by huge screens that show the ocean and the changing weather that comes with it so that you truly feel like you are in deep waters. The cherry on top are strong fans that emulate the heavy winds on deck combined with an appropriate soundtrack.

This is how immersion is done to perfection. Also the riddles are very well implemented and fit the theme. Have you ever dreamt of becoming a pirate? Then don’t hesitate, this room will make you feel right in the middle of a big pirate treasure hunt!

Nr 4: The Forbidden City (Baden)

I’ve already teased it in Nr 2. This is the second game by the company Time Maze and it is just as good as the first one. One defining detail about their rooms: Both of them are very well integrated into the history of Baden, the city where the room is located. The background stories are always in depth and well thought through.

Here, you can kill two birds with one stone: Where else can you play two top-5-rooms in one location? Time Maze is the place!

Nr 5: Kontinuum (Winterthur)

If you know Technorama, the place where Kontinuum is located, you know that this is not your average shopping mall or industrial area where usually escape rooms are to be found. No, the Technorama is a big science museum which clearly had an influence on how this room was built.

We had played the Kontinuum around our 200th rooms and for the first time in a long time, we were able to say that we had encountered more than one completely unique and new thing inside the room. This is how technology is supposed to be used! Simply mindblowing.

Rankings

TOP 50 escape rooms Switzerland

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Team Black Rose has played over 250 escape rooms and ranked the top 50 in Switzerland. Which ones have you played? Combined ranking of 4 players!

Want a shorter version? Check our top 5 best escape rooms in Switzerland.

A room may end up in the middle when some members liked a room a lot but some others disliked it. A room may be low due to not all 4 of us having played it. Looking for the best escape rooms in Switzerland?

Best escape rooms in Switzerland

  1. Aunt Hilda’s Room – Trip Trap Escape
  2. Beutezug 1847 (The Heist 1847) – Time Maze
  3. The Pirates of the Blacktrap (Les Pirates du Blacktrap) – Trapgame
  4. Die verbotene Stadt 1901 (The forbidden city 1901) – Time Maze
  5. Kontinuum – AdventureRooms Technroama
  6. Mr. Trippolyte’s Vestibule – Trip Trap Escape
  7. Das Geisterhaus (House of Ghosts) – ROOM Escape Room
  8. Auf Houdini’s Spuren – Houdini’s Quest
  9. Da Vinci Code – ROOM Escape Room
  10. The Ticking Heart – Inside Breakout
  11. Spektrum – AdventureRooms Technorama
  12. Operation: Delta Starfire – Room Escape Basel
  13. Jurassic Jones – Trapgame
  14. Nightmare – Escape Challenge Luzern
  15. Narcos – Operation Safehouse – Next Level Escape
  16. Der Fluch des Yama (The Curse of Yama) – Room Escape Basel
  17. Transylvania – AdventureRooms Solothurn
  18. Das Geheimnis der Mine (The Secret of the Mine) – Geheimgang 188
  19. Bâlechemisten Illuminaturi – Breakout Basel
  20. Verlassener Zirkus (Abandoned circus) – Escape Quest
  21. Bâlekenstein – Das Experiment (The Experiment) – Breakout Basel
  22. An evening with the Voodoo Queen – Trip Trap Escape
  23. Lady Thompson – Escape Quest
  24. Auf der Suche nach Gulliver (In search of Gulliver) – ROOM Escape Room
  25. Burg Drachenfels (Dragon’s Castle) – Room Escape Basel
  26. The Wreck – Panic Room Games
  27. Sondereinheit Meteor – Geheimgang 188
  28. Das Labor – Houdini’s Quest
  29. The Heist – Panic Room Games
  30. Sherlock Holmes – Steampunk – MYSTERY GAME
  31. Die geheimnisvolle Bibliothek – Houdini’s Quest
  32. Sherlock – Escape quest
  33. Top Secret – Escape Company
  34. Ring der Macht (Lord of the Rings) – MYSTERY GAME
  35. Stardust – escapestories
  36. Casino Bâle Royale – das Spiel (the Game) – Breakout Basel
  37. Das Weisenhaus – Actionworld
  38. The Silent Chest – Trip Trap Escape
  39. Das Gefängnis – Houdini’s Quest
  40. Zelle Nr. 2 (Cell Nr. 2) – One Hour Escape
  41. Horizon – AdventureRooms Basel
  42. The Lotus Trap – Timescape
  43. Dr. Red – escapestories
  44. Jack The Ripper – Mission: Escape
  45. Escape Station – Escape Basel
  46. Jack Rackham’s treasure – Trip Trap Escape
  47. Auf Sherlocks Spuren (Sherlock Holmes) – Geheimgang 188
  48. The brotherhood of the Stone – Trip Trap Escape
  49. Game of Thrones – Der Winter naht! – Mission: Escape
  50. Der Kunstraub – Snary Mary Adventures

Awards

  • 🥇Best escape room in Switzerland: Aunt Hilda’s Room, by Trip Trap Escape.
  • 🥇Best escape room in German-speaking Switzerland: Beutezug 1847 / The Heist 1847 by Time Maze.
  • 🥇Best escape room in French-speaking Switzerland: Aunt Hilda’s Room, already awarded “Best escape room in Switzerland”. Followed by The Pirates of the Blacktrap, by Trapgame.
  • 🥇Best escape room in ZĂźrich: House of Ghosts, by ROOM Escape Room.

Last updated: 4th of February 2020. 134 Swiss rooms played. 250 worldwide.

More escape rooms

Find the complete ranking with 134 rooms (coming soon…)

Methodology

  1. Create the matrix A where A_i,j is how many times room i was rated above j.
  2. Find the largest real eigenvalue, Îť.
  3. Find the corresponding eigenvector v so that Av = Îťv
  4. This vector is the “score”. The rooms are sorted.
  5. We did minor manual modifications when we thought the ranking was skewed due to fewer than 4 players having played a room, aka hidden gems.

This is a similar methodology to the one used for Top Escape Rooms Project

Reviews

The mysterious library – Houdini’s Quest

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First play review (July 2018)

Record time acquired by the 3 sharpest minds of Team Black Rose! (by Enric, the missing one)

Why you will like it: It was a bit of luck that we found ourselves in Houdini’s Quest today but what good fortune it was! We played the rooms The Library and Houdini and had a lot of fun with both. The stories were very immersive and all the puzzles made thematic sense. What we liked especially was the hint giving mechanics and the audio or visual responses you got that let you know when you’ve solved the puzzles. Very well executed, great love to detail and with lots of passion! Definitely one of the best companies in the area.

Why you might not like it: There’s really only one reason why you might not have a good time at Houdini’s Quest: You need to be able to understand German well. Otherwise some of the puzzles are not solvable. But if you are a German speaking group, you cannot miss out on this one!

Second play review (Jan 2020)

mysterious library houdini quest frauenfeld Bibliothek

Same as in Houdini’s footsteps, 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!

  • Website: www.houdinis.ch
  • Duration: 60min
  • Escape time: 29min 2018 (3p), 36min 2020 (2p)
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Players: 2-5
  • Price: 98-150chf
  • Location: Frauenfeld, 40 minutes by car from ZĂźrich
  • Rating: 6.5/10

Reviews for all their other rooms on: ESCAPE ROOM FRAUENFELD – HOUDINI’S QUEST (5 ROOMS)

Reviews

Mafia on the North Sea – Houdini’s Quest

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mafia on the north sea nordsee houdini's quest

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.

  • Website: www.houdinis.ch
  • Duration: 60min
  • Escape time: 30/60 min.
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Players: 2-5
  • Price: 98-150chf
  • Location: Frauenfeld, 40 minutes by car from ZĂźrich
  • Rating: 7/10

Reviews for all their other rooms on: ESCAPE ROOM FRAUENFELD – HOUDINI’S QUEST (5 ROOMS)

Reviews

The Prison – Houdini’s Quest

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“Let me out.” Literally what I said, for far too long. At “Das Gefängnis”.

The prison starts off as you’d expect it from this environment: Handcuffed and in seperate 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.

  • Website: www.houdinis.ch
  • Duration: 60min
  • Escape time: 50/60 min.
  • Difficulty: Medium-hard
  • Players: 2-5
  • Price: 98-150chf
  • Location: Frauenfeld, 40 minutes by car from ZĂźrich
  • Rating: 7/10

Reviews for all their other rooms on: ESCAPE ROOM FRAUENFELD – HOUDINI’S QUEST (5 ROOMS)

Reviews

The lab – Houdini’s Quest

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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.

  • Website: www.houdinis.ch
  • Duration: 60min + extra with additional hidden tokens
  • Escape time: 66min.
  • Difficulty: Very very hard
  • Players: 2-5
  • Price: 98-150chf
  • Location: Frauenfeld, 40 minutes by car from ZĂźrich
  • Rating: 8/10

Reviews for all their other rooms on: ESCAPE ROOM FRAUENFELD – HOUDINI’S QUEST (5 ROOMS)

Reviews

Houdini’s footsteps – Houdini’s Quest

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houdini footsteps spuren houdini's quest magician

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.

  • Website: www.houdinis.ch
  • Duration: 60min to 72min (hidden tokens unlock extra time)
  • Escape time: 61 min.
  • Difficulty: Hard
  • Players: 2-5
  • Price: 98-150chf
  • Location: Frauenfeld, 40 minutes by car from ZĂźrich
  • Rating: 8.5/10

Reviews for all their other rooms on: ESCAPE ROOM FRAUENFELD – HOUDINI’S QUEST (5 ROOMS)

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
Escape Trips, Reviews

Escape room Frauenfeld – Houdini’s Quest (5 rooms)

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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.

CĂŠline 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 ZĂźrich
  • Site: www.houdinis.ch

The Prison – Das Gefängnis 7/10

“Let me out.” Literally what I said, for far too long.

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!

Reviews

The Forbidden City 1901 – time maze, baden

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Die verbotene Stadt 1901

This game takes you to the “Forbidden City” in the workers’ district in Baden where unauthorized people were not allowed to enter back in the early 1900s. The atmosphere in the room makes you forget that you are playing an escape room and the props are just superbly done. They told us they carefully hand-picked very specific pieces in vintage shops. A personal small touch they customized for our group (ohhh <3) made us feel very welcome early on in the room. Don’t be jealous, you will also get it! On top of outstanding decoration, you get to experience the magic of the room without almost seeing any of the tech behind it.

We also really enjoyed the puzzles, repeatedly failing only on the dexterity part (our nemesis). They will have your team cooperating, and this room will test the limits of your team’s communication. You will face the mighty “Wall Of Easy Riddles™”, although they probably got more complicated than they initially planned for. Advice for all rooms, but specifically for this one: communicate clearly and accurately. Eventually, we managed and escaped with 17,5 minutes to spare.

From beginning to end: This is how escape rooms should be done. You can see how the creators have a vast knowledge about the subject matter and how they don’t shy away from going the extra mile for making it an unforgettable experience. Definitely go and play the room as soon as you can. Bonus points if you spot the duck in each of their rooms! The room is clearly designed with German as the main language and fully playable in English, although they had to keep some untranslated words, but you don’t need to be able to understand.

The negative side? They don’t have a third room yet.

– Dominique & Enric

  • The Forbidden City 1901 / Die verbotene Stadt 1901
  • Website: Time Maze
  • Duration: 60min
  • Escape time: 42:36
  • Players: 2-5
  • Languages: English, German
  • Rating: 9/10

Escape Trips

Escape rooms Baden – January 2020 (3 rooms)

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On Saturday 18th of January the full Team Black Rose got together again (yay!) to play one of our long awaited rooms: The new one from Time Maze. We saw Adventure Rooms also has a couple of rooms in the area so hey, why not!

The forbidden city 1901 – Time Maze 9/10

Die Verbotene Stadt 1901 Time Maze Baden

Time Maze’s second room follows in the first room’s footsteps in terms of immersion, hard work and massive love to detail. We had been looking forward to playing this room for a while and did not get disappointed! So much magic going on, and all invisible to the player. This was like the bottle of wine that we were saving waiting for it to be opened at the right time. 🍷

Full review: THE FORBIDDEN CITY 1901 – TIME MAZE, BADEN

Sherlock – Adventure Rooms 6.5/10

Elementary my dear Watson

Oh boy, another Sherlock room. Let’s see. This Sherlock is set in the modern times. A classical start that leaves you handcuffed for no reason. Technically, you are being convicted for a crime you didn’t commit – but you’ll have to prove it! Fine. The experience makes you walk through quite a bunch of distinct settings starting in a metro station. Personally, I found that cool, the sets are clearly distinct and don’t overstay their welcome. That being said, some are better polished than others. Our group had mixed feelings about the room, thus the not-so-good final score.

Lost Circus – Adventure Rooms 5/10

Clowning around

You start locked in a prison that has an open lock, for safety regulations. You are told to imagine it’s locked and to get out when you get the key. Well, when you get the key it doesn’t even match the lock so you can start making that imagination work. This already starts me with the wrong foot. If you don’t have a better workaround for being locked, please find an alternative start… The problem is we had to keep our imagination going. The first 2 meter long dexterity puzzle was pre-solved because it was broken. “Don’t worry we solved it for you because it doesn’t work”.

This room has many aspects of it to be improved and it has a decent narrative and a memorable ending. Maybe if you play it far in the future, the issues are fixed.

Reviews

Aunt Hilda’s room – Trip Trap Escape

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Turns out you didn’t book an escape room, you booked a stay in the room where the very Aunt Hilda used to stay. This escape room begins with a warm welcome in the Grand Trip Trap Hotel by a polite doorman, that tells you a story very similar to the following blurb.

Nobody knows Aunt Hilda’s real name. Everyone at the Grand Trip Trap Hotel has always called her so. And it is “Aunt Hilda”, that she wrote on the register in 1837. First resident of the Grand Trip Trap Hotel, it is there that she has imagined her most beautiful tales, turning her room into a wonderful world inhabited with marvelous characters.

Lay back and relax, because the intro takes a while and you are about to experience one of those wow moments you won’t easily forget.

Legends say that Aunt Hilda always told a new story to the ones willing to listen. As the blurb suggests, if you pay attention you will be brought into her world. You’ll get as immersed as you did when you vividly lived a story as kid when listening to adult storytellers. You are brought into a new world, with a stellar production and objects that belong in the era. No non-sense “walkie-talkies” nor unnecessary magnets.

Diegesis in its pure form, beautiful riddles at a comfortable pace will have you do tasks that not only fit the theme well, but with a slight suspension of disbelief from your side, you will undoubtedly feel like a character from the story.

The worst part? It ends. Had I had known we were so close to the end, we would have stalled, observed the set for minutes and waited until the very last moment. They don’t do the best job at advertising it, there’s no photo-finish, an odd name and no preview picture yet it seems to always be fully booked.

I was fortunate enough to be able to play 128 rooms in 2019 and, without a doubt, Aunt Hilda was my favorite room of the year. The craziest part? I played it on the 28th of December, barely making it into 2019. Recency bias? Perhaps. This room is a masterpiece. Congratulations to Trip Trap for making it to the top 31 TERPECA.

  • Aunt Hilda’s
  • Website: Grand Trip Trap Hotel
  • Duration: 90m
  • Escape time: 65min
  • Players: 3-8
  • Languages: English, French.
  • Rating: 10/10
Escape Trips

Escape room trip Bern January 2020 (6 rooms)

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The swiss escape room scene in Switzerland is split between German and French speaking areas. This time, we stayed on the German side and we traveled one hour by train to the capital of Switzerland! Will it also take the title as the capital city of escape rooms in Switzerland? Keep reading to find out! This time, half of Black Rose (Dominique and Enric) played together with Ayah and Maxime from SwissKnife.

Games we played

  • Death chamber (Totenkammer) at Roomexit.ch
  • Game of Stones, theescape.ch
  • Tresor, Adventure Rooms
  • Virus, Adventure Rooms
  • Chernobyl (Tschernobyl), Adventure Rooms
  • Orient Express, Adventure Rooms

Roomexit.ch

Death Chamber 6/10

The death chamber is located right next to an actual cemetery. In keeping with the theme, the room transports you into an old burial ground, where a famous archaeologist disappeared some time ago. Following his tracks, we made our way through the room. The experience was a bit of a bumpy one since we did not find a necessary part of the puzzle early on and started half-solving the rest of the room before we were actually able to do so. Once we found the missing piece, we were able to progress quickly. All in all, the room has nice decorations but the puzzles are rather on the easy side.

Time: 44 minutes

The Escape Bern

Game of Stones 3/10

Why do we get in berserker mode as soon as we hold weapon replicas?

This room felt like a bag of chips. You hope to have it all but then you open it just to realize it’s mostly air. Out of all their rooms, we booked this one purely based on the theme and the website plot. It’s a very short game. It’s a storm of parallel riddles that require very little communication, and each of them is in a different corner of the room. My initial hype was crushed when entering the room as soon as I saw a coat of arms that looked like a children had drawn it. The coolest thing is the iron throne which sells well for a photo finish.

Time: 22 minutes

Adventure Rooms Bern

Tresor (Safe) 7/10

This room is advertised as “very hard” and only for experts. Hard? Sure. But more than anything long. Go here full stamina after a shot of espresso because it keeps on going. Classical defuse the bomb before it explodes in 1 hour. Think about cliche settings: office? a lab? locker room? You name it. The setting was a bit classic, yet it kept us busy and our brain burning all the time. Close to no downtime with a lot of things to do.

The GM waited for us in the end with her hands on her head, telling us that now 7 groups had escaped before us, a 1% escape rate so far, all with a handful of seconds left and… we had finished in 42 minutes! Cool, feeldgoodman, but this started the storm. Apparently she spread the news on the super-secret GM WhatsApp and from there on it was high expectations after high expectations. “Wow you will do this room in 10min!”. Really, we’re here to have fun together not to prove anything. On the plus side, on all the rooms we played after this, the GMs were very nice and friendly to us! Thanks Marina, Jasmin, Maya, aaand a last name we forgot (sorry!). Good job!

Time: 42 minutes (Record!)

Virus 5/10

Virus is a room that is situated inside the bowels of the Historical Museum in Bern. It seems, that its rooms were once part of an exhibition but were now re-purposed for the escape room experience – including many taxidermied animals following your every move. The room made use of some cool real-time technology and we were specifically amazed by one specific puzzle near the end that we hadn’t seen anywhere else. Apart form that, the difficulty level and immersion is quite on par with other AdventureRooms.

Time: 30 minutes

Chernobyl 7.5/10

AdventureRooms’ Bern latest room (Aug 2019). An intro that starts with a bit of a show. Awesome, our GM was very motivated and that already sets the right mood when going into a room. The room is very mathy, whereas it can be a turn on for me, it can be tedious to others. No need to add numbers in your head, but some elementary Leibnizian knowledge will be necessary. Highly specialized measuring devices, spray-painted props and a transition from more analytical puzzles to more hands-on and scientific measuring.

Time: 38 minutes

Orient Express 7/10

The first thing to mention about this room has to be its beautiful decoration. Once inside, one really gets the feeling of being in the old fashioned Orient Express. Out of all the rooms we played this day, this was probably the easiest when it comes to riddles but the one we wanted to stay in the longest. We got very stuck with searching – again – but otherwise progressed quickly and with ease. Nothing really out of the ordinary but still worth a visit.

Time: 25 minutes

Reviews

Narcos – Operation Safehouse

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Looking for rooms to play close to the city of ZĂźrich, we stumbled across a new company in Kloten, that is currently only offering one room: Narcos- Operation Safehouse. After a very immersive and for Switzerland quite unique introduction, we entered a safehouse of Pablo Escobar with a clear mission: securing incriminating evidence for upcoming shady deals.

Solving riddles and collecting clues about potential suspects, we made our way deeper into the safehouse, eventually discovering stashes of drugs, money and weapons! Evidence that put the final nails in Pablo Escobars coffin.

The game was a lot of fun, and even a minor mistake the game master made while setting up the room for us did not take anything away from that – especially since we got offered a discount as an apology without even asking for it (their customer service really is on point!).

Playing Next Level Escape’s first room and talking to the owners made us very excited for the second one they are currently working on! True to their name, the company is trying to create a new level of escape experiences. Narcos is a room built by enthusiasts, with a lot of love for details and with elements that really improve on a standard escape game, especially in the beginning. For the second room however, they want go beyond that and are working with people that have a background in theater and special effects. We can’t wait to come back!

Next Level Escape, Kloten, Switzerland

Reviews

Vice Versa – Trapgame

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So we’ve spent the weekend in and around Geneva, Switzerland, playing Escape Rooms. One of those days, we played most of the rooms at Trapgame, one of them being Vice Versa. It might not be their best or most innovative room, but it was fun to hang around the ceiling for a bit. The riddles are mostly straight forward except for one that we took ages to solve even though we had figured out the solution a long time ago.

One thing we learned is that if you want to play the rooms of Trapgame in English, make sure to book quite some days in advance. We booked 4 days before our trip and for some of the rooms, our GMs were not able to speak English. If you book with enough time, they try to make sure though that you get a GM that speaks English. Even though that was not possible for us, they all made a big effort and in the end, communication was not a big problem.

Charrat, Switzerland

Reviews

Circus – Escape Quest

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Escape Quest Luzern welcomed us again filling our VIP card with our 18th sticker! We played the Warlock’s dinner and then Circus. The Warlock was by comparison much weaker, trying but not quite succeeding at creating an eerie atmosphere. Few riddles and a bit shallow. An ending with potential but awkwardly executed. We escaped in 28mins. On the other hand, Circus is their newest room full of surprises and cleverly used props, letting the team work on multiple riddles at the same time. A must play, original theme and beautiful execution. We set a new record at 39min!

Escape Quest, we’ll be back as soon as you open more rooms!

Luzern, Switzerland

Reviews

Escape Together Championship – 4th place

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What a truly epic small finale it was! Congratulations to Team Malm for beating us with 15 seconds to spare! You made us sweat a lot during the last few minutes! We had such a good time participating in this championship and meeting amazing people along the way. Thanks for organising and hopefully see you all again soon!

Escape Quest, Lady Thompson

Reviews

Beutezug 1847 – Time Maze

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Yesterday, we got to play the quarter finals of the escapetogether.ch championship. We went in knowing it could go either way but escaped within 26.04 minutes, securing us a place in the semi finals and breaking the room-record!


This was to no small portion thanks to the amazing room by Time Maze. Beutezug 1847 is simply stellar. From the first moment on, you can tell that the owners of the company are enthusiasts themselves and that they put their heart, souls and a lot of hard work and attention to detail into this room.

The riddles are well polished and logical while taking nothing away from a cool storyline that is present throughout the whole room. If anything, we were sad we had to rush this room due to the championship but we will for sure be back once their second room opens!

Time Maze, Baden, Switzerland

Reviews

Gulliver – ROOM

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We often find it hard to find rooms in our home town that meet the international standards of escape rooms. It feels as if most of the rooms in Zurich are still stuck in the first generation of Escape rooms and really don’t have much to offer.

One exception exists, though. All three rooms by ROOM are of exceptional quality and definitely up to par with international standards. Whether you are travelling with Gulliver, discovering the secrets of the DaVinci Code or are looking into the mystery of the Ghost House, you will have a great experience.

The rooms have heavy themes and well thought out stories. The decoration is done with a lot of love to detail and passion for the craft. If you ever find yourself in Zurich, this is definitely the company we’d recommend you visit.

Zurich, Switzerland