Hi everyone
After playing rooms
in Athens, Madrid/Toledo, Bilbao and Vitoria-Gasteiz on our trip in
November/December 2024, we took a flight over to Barcelona. Aaron’s friend
Selina joined us for most of the escape rooms in Barcelona (and later in
Valencia and London).
I have put together
detailed reviews of those rooms that I really enjoyed in Barcelona (and short
comments only for those that weren’t my favourites).
Here is what I
thought:
Tao Massage Centre (Virus Escape Rooms) – Room 357
Tao Massage Centre was a really fun room – definitely one of
the few great comedy escape rooms in the market. We knew within minutes that
this was going to be a fun room. The humour was blended throughout all of the
experiences in this room. The mix of puzzles was also really strong (and at
times utterly ridiculous). Of all of the rooms that we played in Barcelona (and
Spain more generally), this was a room aimed at making you laugh the most. Tao
is currently ranked #177 on TERPECA, but it debuted back in 2021 at #20, which
is really impressive. If you would like to check out Tao Massage Centre, you
can do so here.
Nathael (Cubick Escape Rooms) – Room 358
Nathael was a horror-themed room that we played as a team of
3. The theming was strong – the setting is a dark, empty house where it soon
becomes clear you are not alone. There were some nice moments of jump scares
and a few obligatory ‘courage tests’ thrown in for good measure. As far as
horror rooms go, this was a pretty good one. Nathael has since been retired.
Poison (Kadabra Escape Rooms) – Room 359
Poison was a really cool, playful room set in the
Batman/Joker world. The puzzles were a lot of fun and the theming was
excellent. We played as a team of 3 – thankfully Selina and I were in the same
space when separated at the beginning, so we managed to solve our puzzles
quickly. The same could not be said for our third “team” member, Aaron... I
thought the sets improved dramatically as we progressed through Poison. There
were some really nice puzzles, that ranged from simple to more involved. The
puzzles towards the back end of the experience were more dexterity based, which
was fun but challenging. Overall, we really enjoyed the experience. Poison is
currently #95 on TERPECA, but it debuted at #26 in 2023. It’s a great game and
I would definitely recommend it for agile teams looking for great theming and
fun puzzles (and if you’re a Batman fan, it wouldn’t hurt). You can check out Poison here.
Outline (Outline Escape Rooms) –
Room 360
Unfortunately, we did not have a great experience at this
room. We were at a different room in Barcelona - right before we went into that
other room, we received a call from Outline telling us that they were having
technical issues – there was a broken part in the room. They asked us to
reschedule to later, but we couldn’t because we had yet another room booked.
They said they would work on it and would call me later. I hadn’t heard when we
finished the earlier room, so I called them again. I was told they needed to
get a replacement part and that the should be ready for a slightly later time.
We arrived early and waited outside for about 30 minutes. While we were there,
nobody was there. The place was shut and locked. Then a few minutes before our
rescheduled time, the game masters walked over from their car, dinner in hand,
and soon after we started our game. I thought it was pretty unimpressive to
have us wait outside in the cold for 30 mins while they were clearly not inside
fixing the technical issue they told us has occurred.
As for the room itself, it was an ok horror room, but I was
surprised that it had previously sat at #12 on TERPECA. It felt like it had
aged and we did not think it was at the same level, as far as puzzles, theming
and interaction levels, as many other escape rooms that ranked far lower on
TERPECA. There were no ‘wow’ factors in this room for me. I am sure based on
the TERPECA ratings that others have enjoyed this room – but we did not. I was
surprised that in 2025, Outline was ranked #53, as I expected it would have
fallen out of the top 100. If you would like to check out Outline, you can do
so here.
Jurasico (Golden Pop) – Room 361
There were many aspects of this room that I really liked.
The ‘wow’ factor in this room is the theming and set design, which are
phenomenal. I had never before played a room before where I felt like I was
inside a plant nursery/hot house, where the abundance of plant life was all
real. This was fantastic. It was not without its downsides though – the space
is muddy in sections, which wasn’t ideal. And at one point, players find
themselves needing to enter a space and close the doors behind them. Ordinarily,
I would have thought this was a highlight of the experience – it was very on
brand for the Jurassic Park theme. However, the space was wet and mouldy, so
none of us wanted to go in there and sit down amongst the muck. This was a
shame.
Another element that I thought let down this room was that a
number of the puzzles felt like they were very simple and perhaps not
well-considered or executed. A further element we didn’t enjoy was with one of
the final puzzles, which heavy relied on communication from the game master. We
used the walkie talkie for a hint, but unfortunately due to a combination of
the game master’s strong accent and the excitement with which they were playing
their role (and yelling into the walkue), we could not understand what they
were saying. We appreciated that the GM was acting in their role, but despite
our several calm requests that they stop yelling and calmly speak into the
walkie, we ultimately had to give up in frustration and proceed without any
help. We managed to make our way through to the ending, which was a lot of fun.
There were many aspects of Jurasico that we liked (and which
explain why Jurasico is currently #39 on TERPECA). However, I think more work
is needed on the puzzles, GM interactions and cleanliness/maintenance of the
set to deserve such a high ranking. If you would like to check out Jurasico,
you can do so here.
Abduction 3 - The Exam and Abduction 4 (Enterprises) (Abduction)
– Rooms 362 and 363
We played Abduction 3 and Abduction 4 back to back. And
writing this review some time later, I am now realising that in my memory, both
games have completely blended together. I recall many elements of both rooms,
but I can’t easily delineate between the two. I recall walking away from both
rooms with a t-shirt (and one of those rooms being the only person in our group
who walked away with a t-shirt, after having won a trivia-style game at the end
of the experience. Overall, I thought there were a lot of dexterity puzzles in
these games and overall, they were fun but clearly not super memorable. If you
would like to check out Abduction 3 and Abduction 4, you can do so here.
K.O.N.G. Protocol (Escape Barcelona) – Room 364
This is the newest room at Escape Barcelona. There were
several elements that were incredibly impressive. You can see my detailed
review here.
Alien the Origin (Escape Barcelona) – Room 365
I was pretty disappointed with this room. I did not think
much of the puzzles and the theming felt very gen 2. It also felt pretty old
and not well-maintained. It didn’t help that our team of 3 was split into 2
groups, with the other group deciding they should mess with me by reducing the
lights in my section of the ship. The lack of lighting made solving some of the
puzzles an absolute chore. Whilst Escape Barcelona has some great rooms
(Cybercity 2049 and K.O.N.G. Protocol), they also have some very average rooms
with Alien and Tomb Hunter. If you would like to check out Alien (which I do
not recommend), you can do so here.
Tomb Hunter Akasha’s Legend (Escape Barcelona) – Room 366
I did not enjoy this room I am afraid. The room really
showed signs of wear and it looked to us that it was in dire need of
maintenance (there were many broken puzzle elements). There were also some
puzzles that were in very low light, which made solving the puzzles an absolute
punish. The worst aspect for me though was the amount of dust. Most of the
space is covered in sand, which appeared to have never been cleaned. I
sincerely think there is years of dust in the room, which meant I spent the
whole time sneezing and looking forward to it finishing. If you want to check
out this room (which I do not recommend at all), you can do so here.
Cybercity 2049 (Escape Barcelona) – Room 367
This was easily my favourite room at Escape Barcelona. The
theming, puzzles and room flow were all excellent, as well as some
unforgettable actor interactions. You can check out my detailed review here.
Taberna (City Escape Room) – Room 368
This was an absolutely phenomenal room. At the time of
writing this review, it is in my top 3 rooms of all time (and really hard to
split it between the other 2 top rooms). You can check out my detailed review
here.
Organum (Rowka Escape Room) – Room 369
This was a room that we managed to book relatively last
minute. We booked via Whatsapp and I like that the character interactions even
via Whatsapp are completely on theme. The room itself was relatively simple –
the theming was pretty straight forward, as were the majority of the puzzles.
This room felt pretty gen 2 in that there were not a great deal of high/modern
tech elements used. We had some reasonably good actor interactions towards the
end of the experience as well. Overall, we thought this was about middle of the
pack. It did not help that we played Taberna immediately before Organum. If you
would like to check out Organum, you can do so here.
Apophis (Vortex Escape Room) – Room 370
Apophis is an older room that I thought very much showed its
age. There were some reasonably good ideas, which I can see might have been
impressive 7 or 8 years ago, but it does not compare to current generation
rooms. We were able to brute force elements of the game very early on (and not
on purpose) – this was a design issue that should not be possible. The main
final puzzle could have been really visually spectacular, but it was imprecise
and kind of ended up like a magic eye puzzle (with each of us closing an
eye/going cross-eyed to kind of see what was intended. I would give this one a
miss, but if you would like to check it out, you can do so here.
Cooking Academy (Academia de Cocina: Megachef (City
Escape Room) – Room 371
This room was genuinely fun. Cooking Academy is located in
the same location at La Taberna. The premise of the room is that you are contestants
on a show that feels very much like Masterchef. We were a team of 3, so it was
me versus Aaron and Selina. They never stood a chance!
The puzzles are all centred around food and wine. Players have
to copy recipes and figure out ingredients. Bonus points are also on offer from
the cooking teacher – I am pleased to confirm that utilising dirty humour
secured me the win! It was a simple but fun room and certainly very different
to any room we had played before. If you would like to check out Cooking
Academy, you can do so here.
Catacombs (Golden Pop) – Room 372
I was excited to play this room, as I love me an Indiana
Jones-ish room. There were some elements that were well done, such as the
theming generally and certain electronic elements that made certain elements
move. However, I found that the room was let down by the puzzles. Some puzzles
were ok, but I recall several that were not fun to solve - logic leaps, pattern
recognition that was imprecise, etc. I have played a number of Indiana
Jones-themed rooms around the world and I thought this was one of the poorer
ones. I wouldn’t recommend this room, but if you would like to check it out you
can do so here.
District 111 (Unreal Escape) – Room 373
District 111 was a bit of a dark horse room for us. I hadn’t
read much about it going in and I certainly didn’t realise that it was a previous
#56 TERPECA room. The theme is a post-apocalyptic world. The earlier area is
rather simple with some reasonably straight forward puzzles. The room really
comes alive in the second Act, where the theming is excellent. There are some
great puzzles, climbing adventures and some dexterity/destructive sequences
that were a lot of fun (and which would never have been approved by planning
laws here in Australia). I really enjoyed this room – it is currently #138 on
TERPECA, but I think there are a lot of rooms in the top 100 that aren’t as good
as District 111. I would definitely recommend checking it out if you’re in
Barcelona. You can find out more about District 111 here.
La Cervesaria (The Brewery) (Egnimik) – Room 374
The Brewery was a really fun room. The puzzles were the main
star of the experience, with great theming as we progressed through the experience.
There were some nice moments where players needed to work together to solve
certain puzzles/dexterity challenges. The room flow was also really strong,
growing throughout until the really fun ending. The Brewery debuted back in 2020
as #11 on the TERPECA list, which is pretty impressive. It currently sits at
#161, but I think it deserves a much higher ranking. If you would like to check
out The Brewery, you can do so here.
11S (Open Mind) – Room 375
Of all of the rooms that we played in Barcelona (and
probably even across the whole of Spain), this room was probably the most unique.
The story is based on the September 11 attacks on NYC back in 2001. Some people
have criticised this room for unfairly seeking to profit from the 9/11 attacks.
I thought the room was respectful and sought to tell the story of some of the
victims on the ground on 9/11. At times, it was a little jarring whilst playing
the room, forgetting for periods of time that we were in an escape room. From a
pure escape room perspective, the room contained a lot of great puzzles and
elements to be solved, as well as some fun dexterity/adventure sequences. It is
difficult to sum up a room like this, other than to note that the ending of the
room sees players moved into an almost museum/memorial room where a video plays
of some of the survivors and heroes on 9/11. It was pretty confronting (and I
think it is something that teams should be aware of going in). If you would
like to check out 11S, you can do so here.
La Mina (Unreal) – Room 376
La Mina was a middle of the pack room. I suspect back when
it opened it would have been a strong room, but it was really showing its age
when we played. There was a nice ‘transport’ mode in this room, which was
pretty unique. Over all the puzzles were just ok, but nothing that really stood
out. If you would like to check out La Mina, you can do so here.
Slasher Party (Open Mind) – Room 377
I was really looking forward to this room – the idea of a
semi-satirical room based on 90s slasher films is very much up my alley. Whilst
there were reasonable puzzles and some decent theming, I was disappointed
overall with this room. It had a lot of potential but is was ultimately a
pretty forgettable experience. One element I enjoyed was one actor specific interaction
– the method of communicating with the actor/GM in that moment was excellent,
but that unfortunately was the only memorable aspect of this room. If you would
like to check it out, you can do so here.
Final thoughts on Barcelona rooms
Barcelona was a beautiful city. I vividly remember flying in
and seeing the impressive La Sagrada Familia from above. From an escape room
perspective, Barcelona is a sprawling city. We took ubers and taxis mostly, and
it was pretty expensive. They are also not reliable – there were some areas
(around Tao Massage Parlour) where we could not order an uber, and so we had to
walk a distance and get into a taxi. My suggestion would be to allow additional
time between rooms in Barcelona, particularly when venturing out of the city
either north towards Badalona or Mataro, and certainly when heading to Terrassa.
We played some fantastic rooms, as well as some pretty dated rooms. If you’re
heading to Spain, wear old jeans and know that you will be covered in dust – it’s
just the way it is. The standout was Taberna,
which is a must do room.
