Escape Rush - Submarine Bunker, Tokyo Lab, The White House and Botanist Manor Reviews (Belgium)

Hi everyone

The nineteenth to twenty-second (and final) rooms that we played on our May/June 2024 child-free trip to Holland were all of the rooms at Escape Rush Brussels. Their rooms are located a short drive south of the Brussels city centre (about a 10 minute uber trip).

We played the rooms as a duo and a trio (another escape room enthusiast and I played Submarine Bunker together and we were joined by another player for the other rooms). I had heard great things about Escape Rush’s latest room, Botanist Manor, so we decided we would come and play all 4 of their rooms back to back. Here is what I thought:

Submarine Bunker – Room 308

• I really did not enjoy this room. Some aspects of the theming were nicely done, but that was probably the only strong aspect about this room;
• the major flaw I think with this room was the puzzles. One puzzle in early part of the experience we just couldn’t solve due to very low light. Even when we were told where to look, it still wasn’t obvious given the low lighting – I thought this really needs to be improved;
• in the final section of the experience, there were some puzzles that I found were more of a chore than fun to solve. I didn’t find those puzzles particularly logical and I thought they really ruined the experience.

Tokyo Lab – Room 309

• Tokyo Lab was a much better experience (and it was my second favourite room at Escape Rush);
• There was some really nice theming, particularly in the first section of the experience. I liked the puzzles, which were fun and really suited the theme;
• I thought the second half of the experience was not as strong as the first, both in relation to the quality of theming/set design and the quality of the puzzles. The puzzles were good overall, but there was also a dexterity style puzzle thrown in (the type where players mash buttons on walls for 5 minutes). I didn’t think much of that ‘puzzle’, which was more busy work and definitely did not suit the theme (at all).

White House – Room 310

• The best aspect I think of the White House experience was the theming. There were nice details in the set design and props;
• we had one issue in that we left a walkie talkie in an earlier room (which was needed in a later room), but the design meant that we were unable to go back to retrieve it. We therefore had to have the GM break immersion and come into the room to hand it to us. Whilst this was on us, I think good room design (and a more attentive GM) might have avoided this;
• in the later section of the room, there were some puzzles that were ‘inelegant’ (which is a nice was of saying pretty illogical and required real leaps). Firstly, from a design perspective, the mechanism to input a solution is really unclear (and there is also a delay of a few seconds even when the correct combination is entered) – I really disliked this and I could not see how many players would know what is required without getting a direct hint. Again, I didn’t think this was particularly strong design;
• there was another puzzle in particular (again no spoilers) which was very poor – it didn’t make sense and was one of those puzzles when you get the solution you just look at your fellow players, with that look. You know the look I am talking about…

Botanist Manor – Room 311

• I am happy to report that although we didn’t have a fantastic experience with the rest of the rooms at Escape Rush, the exception was Botanist Manor. It was almost like Botanist Manor had been created by a completely different puzzle designer/ER business, given just how different the quality was between this and the other rooms;
• one of the clear aspects that Botanist Manor has over the other rooms at Escape Rush is pure scale. Botanist Manor is an enormous adventure (I lost count of how many spaces we explored our way through). The theming in Botanist Manor was also excellent and quite varied throughout the different spaces;
• the puzzles in Botanist Manor were also really strong (and I thought were better than their other rooms). There is also a really nice room flow in Botanist, which really evolves throughout the experience into something I didn’t expect or see coming;
• I thought many of the puzzles were on the medium to difficult end, which I really enjoyed. There was a really big variety across all of the puzzles as well, which was fantastic. As for the story behind the room, that too was far stronger than Escape Rush’s other rooms. The story grew and strengthened throughout the experience I thought, right through until the very impressive ending;
• I don’t have much on the negative to report with this experience. There was one ‘busy work’ puzzle (a bit like Tokyo Lab) which had players mashing buttons at one point. Whilst this was slightly more linked to the theme, it was still a pretty weak ‘filler’ puzzle in my view. But other than that one puzzle, I can’t recall anything that stood out.

Overall, the rooms at Escape Rush really vary in quality. I would give White House and Submarine Bunker a wide berth (pun very much intended on the latter).  When each of those rooms debuted, they were #188 and #236 on TERPECA. I don’t think they deserved to be in the top 300 at all (and I have certainly played many Australian rooms that were far better). Tokyo Lab was stronger and is worth your time (and its current TERPECA rank at #183 feels about right), but clearly Botanist Manor is the magical room here. An enormous set with really varied, strong quality puzzles and a great story that builds through to a kick-arse ending. It was a great room to finish our trip on.

Where:                 Rue de l’automne 30 – 1050 Ixelles

Duration:            60 minutes

Themes:              4 themes

TERPECA:             Botanist Manor #18

              Tokyo Lab #183 (formerly #74)

Price:                    135 - 180€ (3 players)

Overall Rating:     Botanist was fantastic, the others not so much

More details:         https://escaperush.com/  

Dystopia Escape Rooms - Dystopia Review (Belgium)

Hi everyone

The eighteenth room that we played on our May/June 2024 child-free trip to Holland was Dystopia at Dystopia Brussels in Belgium. The room is located a little south of the Brussels city centre.

I played Dystopia as a duo with a fellow enthusiast. To be honest, I hadn’t heard much about the room but it was geographically located near a bunch of rooms we were going to play, so we thought we could check it out. There is a 3 player minimum for this room, but they allowed us to play as a duo (as long as we paid for 3 people).

Dystopia was my 307^th escape room and here is what I thought:

• finding this place was the first challenge. We walked through a muddy industrial area and found our GM sitting on the ground (kind of in the middle of nowhere). He then took us around the industrial area to the escape room. I am not sure we would have found it without a guide;
• the room was very unspectacular, and by that I mean that it is not a modern polished escape room experience with a nice reception area, lockers for your things, etc. Instead, the reception is in a very cramped old building. This did not detract from the rest of the experience;
• there is a lot of high tech in this room. We thought most of the tech was well done, but the room was a little lacking overall in the quality of puzzles. Most were ok, but some were a little illogical for me (and there are areas of low light which was a bit of an annoying puzzle in its own right).

Overall, I would give this room a miss. It had some interesting tech but beyond that, there wasn’t anything else here to write home about. This room is not in the same league as many of the best (or even best-adjacent) rooms that we played elsewhere in The Netherlands/Belgium.

Where:                 Avenue de la Couronne 227, 1050 Ixelles Belgique

Duration:            60 minutes

Themes:              1 theme

Price:                    120€ (3 players)

Overall Rating:     Give this one a miss

More details:         https://dystopia.brussels/

De Gouden Kooi - Secret of St Rumoldus and Han's Revenge Reviews (Belgium)

Hi everyone

The fifteenth and sixteenth rooms that we played on our May/June 2024 child-free trip to Holland were The Secret of Saint Rumoldus and Han’s Revenge at De Gouden Kooi in Belgium. Their rooms are located in Mechelen, which from memory was about a 45 minute train and bus trip from Brussels city centre.

I played these rooms as a duo with a fellow enthusiast. I had heard great things in particular about Han’s Revenge, which was TERPECA #5 at the time that we played it. Here is what we thought about each room:

Secret of Saint Rumoldus – Room 305

• The theming in St Rumoldus was well done. We could tell though that this was an older room, based on some of the tech and set design;
• initially I was concerned that St Rumoldus might be a pretty scary room, but I can report that it is more spooky than scary. There are no character interactions at all – there are loud and dark moments which really add to the spooky atmosphere, but nothing super scary;
• we room flow was nicely done, which involved a reasonable amount of crawling by the end of the experience. The puzzles all made sense and were satisfying to solve; and
• overall, I thought St Rumoldus was a strong room. I understand that it previously sat at #22 on the TERPECA list, but I think its current position at #176 is probably about right based on its current competition.

Han’s Revenge – Room 306

• Han’s Revenge was the main draw card for us (and the reason we took a train and a bus from Brussels all the way out to Mechelen). To start with, I can, to some extent, understand why Han’s Revenge has an enthusiast following, which has resulted in a high TERPECA rating. It has a really nice room flow, a really large scale set and some really nice set design;
• the puzzles throughout Han’s Revenge were all quite varied. I really liked the room flow, which started slower and eased you into the more dramatic end game shenanigans. The puzzles were all satisfying (and fun) to solve;
• playing as a duo, we both managed to see pretty much all of the puzzles and we escaped with a reasonable amount of time to spare. There are no character interactions in Han’s Revenge and it was not a dark or scary room (although there were some quite loud moments which younger kids might not enjoy so much).

Overall, Han’s Revenge was clearly the better room of the 2 rooms that we played at De Gouden Kooi. St Rumoldus was strong, but no longer in the same league as the best rooms in Europe. And whilst I enjoyed Han’s Revenge, I also do not think it deserves the spot of #5 (as it did when it debuted), nor do I think it even deserves its current #11 spot. I have now played many of the rooms that sit beneath Han’s Revenge on the top 100 TERPECA rooms list and my honest opinion is that I think it probably deserves a ranking more like #50 or so. Don’t get me wrong – it is still a great game with some nice set design and effects, but I was surprised to see it quite so high on the TERPECA ranking given all of the other amazing rooms in Europe.

Where:                 Haverwerf 7, 2800 Mechelen

Duration:            70 minutes

Themes:              7 themes

TERPECA:          Han’s Revenge #11 (formerly #5)

                            Secret of St Rumoldus #176 (formerly #22)

Price:                    160€

Overall Rating:     Han’s Revenge is a great (but not top 11) room

More details:         https://www.degoudenkooi.be/en/

Push Escape Rooms - The Movies Experience Review (Belgium)

 

Hi everyone

The fourteenth room that we played on our May/June 2024 child-free trip to Holland was The Movies Experience by The Push Mystery Rooms, located at Dudzele, bout a 20 minute bus ride outside of Bruges.

My wife and I played The Movies Experience as a duo. I had heard great things about the room from so many enthusiasts, so I knew it had to be on our list. One of the challenges in playing The Movies Experience is that there are very few slots each day that it is run and usually, it is booked out well in advance. Each slot is available exactly one month before, midnight Belgium time. I vividly remember walking around The Easter Show in Sydney desperately logging in and grabbing my spot. All spots were gone that day within 2 minutes, but luckily we managed to get a spot too. A tip with this is that the owner recognises how difficult it can be to get a booking so he encourages enthusiasts to contact him early to try to secure a timeslot.

We caught a bus from Bruges to Dudzele, which from memory took around 20 minutes or so. We arrived at a home with a very large, modern garage roller door. We hit the intercom button and then the fun began.

The Movies Experience was our 304^th room and here is what we thought:

• so much care and effort has been put into the entire experience here. Anthony Boelaert, the owner and our GM, is an interior architect by trade and the attention to detail that he puts into every single aspect of the experience is crazy. The reception area is really cool and so too is the bar where we had a drink after our game;
• the Movies Experience involves players stumbling onto a magic golden ticket which takes players through several different movies during their adventure. I can only recall one other similar-ish concept, which was Pandores et Associes in Paris, where players travel through different fairytale stories. The Movies Experience excelled at the really strong backstory and storyline throughout;
• I do not want to give any spoilers, so rather than let you know the many movies that are involved throughout the adventure, I will say that there are a lot of them and that anyone playing is likely to have seen most of them (or at least have heard of them all). The scale of this adventure is fantastic;
• the puzzles throughout The Movies Experience are all really varied and were a lot of fun to solve. Most were medium level difficulty – not too easy and not too hard, but all satisfying to solve. The room flow is also really strong. Given we were only a team of 2, I was worried that we might have bitten off more than we could chew, but we managed to escape with a reasonable amount of time left on the clock;
• I think the biggest drawcard in this experience is the set design. Anthony clearly loves attention to detail and all of the spaces were movie-set quality. Every piece made sense in the space and was really nicely integrated into the puzzles/puzzle elements; and
• one thing to note is that there one scary movie that players will encounter during The Movies Experience. This can be played in one of two modes – the full experience or lite mode. The difference, as I understand it, is that the full mode involves a scary character interaction, with this being toned down considerably in the lite mode. We bravely went with the full version and although I don’t love super scary rooms, that part was probably my favourite moment of The Movies Experience. So if in doubt, be brave and go for it. [Following this trip, I have been to Spain and Greece and played some of the scariest rooms in the world – I can confirm that The Movies Experience is not nearly as scary as those Spanish/Greek rooms]

The Movies Experience is currently TERPECA #21. I think there are many reasons for this – the pure scale of the adventure, the quality of the puzzles and the unbelievable quality of the set design and props. The character interactions were also excellent. The Movies Experience was our favourite room on this trip and I would rate it within the top 10 rooms that I have played at the time of writing this review. Go and check it out, if you can get a booking.

Where:                 Damse Steenweg 28 8380 Dudzele

Duration:            100 minutes

Themes:              1 theme

TERPECA:          #21 (formerly #22)

Price:                    250€ per team (full experience)

Overall Rating:     An epic adventure with unmatched set design

More details:         https://www.pushpushpush.be/rooms/the-movies-experience/

Tales of Torchdale - Hunting Season and The Toy Factory Reviews (The Netherlands)

 

Hi everyone

The twelfth and thirteenth rooms that we played on our May/June 2024 child-free trip to Holland was Hunting Season and The Toy Factory at Tales of Torchdale, located in Zoersel, about a 35 minute bus ride from the centre of Antwerp.

My wife and I played these rooms as a duo. I had heard great things about The Toy Factory in particular, so we added a couple of days to our trip in Antwerp both to play these rooms but to also check out Antwerp city. I am really glad we did because Antwerp was beautiful and the statue Nello & Patrasche was phenomenal:

You can see that the cobblestones are wrapped up and over the sleeping boy and dog. We loved it.

I had read that at peak hour, catching an uber from Antwerp was difficult, so we decided to jump on a bus. This worked out well, although I had to allow extra time because were capturing public transport, which meant that we arrived very early and ended up standing in light rain outside Tales of Torchdale. The setting for Tales of Torchdale is a lovely old town with lots of wild flowers and animals, so there were worse places to be.

Hunting Season and The Toy Factory were our 302^nd and 303^rd rooms and here is what we thought:

Hunting Season – Room 302

• Hunting Season, which I understand has now closed, was an older room that I would describe as being a more gen 2 or gen 3 room. It was certainly not as high tech as many other rooms that we played on our trip;
• the experience starts in a cosy home, which we have broken into. The quality of the theming is strong. There are some nice puzzles and hide and seek fun, which we enjoyed;
• at about the half-way point, the mood of the room shifts and becomes much darker. There was one very short/minor character interaction, but there were very few jump scares or anything overly scary really at all;
• I remember a couple of really interesting puzzles in the end of the experience, one of which I apparently brute forced (I used one tool in a way that it wasn’t designed to be used); and
• We escaped Hunting Season with just over 5 minutes left on the clock.

Overall, Hunting Season was a solid room. The backstory was fine and the theming and puzzles were also good. We could see though why they had decided to retire the room, as it was ageing and it didn’t really keep up with other rooms out in the market.

The Toy Factory – Room 303

• This was the room we had travelled all the way to Antwerp to play. And I am really glad that we did;
• our game master, Emree, was our favourite GM of the trip. He was a young guy who was completely engaged in his experience and he had us laughing very quickly;
• the quality of this room is excellent. The theming of each space is so well done – it was amazing that on the other side of the door from our experience was a very quiet, suburban street in the middle of nowhere. The quality of the set, the props and puzzles was impressive;
• the storyline was also very strong and was woven seamlessly throughout the experience. The only live actor interaction was at the very beginning and then again at the very end of the experience, but we enjoyed that aspect the most;
• the puzzles in The Toy Factory were also excellent – really varied, generally medium level difficulty and all were really satisfying to solve. One of the most impressive puzzles is more of a dexterity puzzle, which we both thought was great fun; and
• there was one moment of separation, which was more eerie than scary. It involved a communication puzzle which was tricky, given it was hard to hear each other. But we did manage to solve it and ultimately escaped in 63 minutes of a possible 75 minutes.

The Toy Factory was easily one of the best rooms we played on our trip. The quality of the room design, theming and puzzles were excellent, as was the fun live actor interaction. The Toy Factory debuted at #16 on TERPECA a few years ago and currently sits at #45. I think it deserves that spot (or even a top 30 spot). It’s a brilliant room! I was still finding ‘items’ in my hair and clothes a few days afterwards… 😊

Where:                 Herentalsebaan 47, Zoersel, België

Duration:            60 – 90 minutes

Themes:              2 themes

TERPECA:          The Toy Factory: #45 in 2024 (formerly #16)

Price:                     169€ per team

Overall Rating:     Toy Factory was a superb room (and our favourite GM of the trip)

More details:         https://torchdale.be/en/home

Dark Park - The End Review (The Netherlands)

Hi everyone

The eleventh room on our May/June 2024 child-free trip to Holland was The End at Dark Park, located in Zoetemeer, about a 15 minute uber ride from the centre of The Hague.

The End was our 301^st room. The story behind The End is as follows:

“Your order is ready”, a creaky voice on the other end of the phone tells you right before hanging up. Before you know it, you find yourself trembling in front of an old casket store. The door squeaks as you open it and an enormous coffin stares you right in the face from square in the middle of the shop. What did you get yourself into and where will this adventure lead you?

And here is what I thought:

• I played this room with my wife as a duo.  The experience begins in a funeral home, standing alongside an empty casket.  The theming in this experience was strong, with all items making sense in the space;
• the experience starts off quite simple and straight forward, with an eerie undertone. However, things change significantly about one third the way into the experience. I would describe that section as being pretty full on ‘scare wise’, with live actor interactions. I think playing as a team of 4 would have been a lot less scary;
• we survived that section though and from that point on, the scare level decreased significantly. There were some nice live actor interactions in this experience – in fact, that was probably the most unique element of The End;
• the puzzles were all well-considered and all made sense. There was a mix of simple low tech puzzles, through to some quite high-tech puzzles towards the end of the experience;
• the finale of The End is pretty special – it was certainly one of the more memorable finishes to an escape room we had played; and
• overall, I thought this was a strong room but I did not think that this room deserved #65 on the TERPECA ranking, which was its ranking at the time that we played it. The End debuted at #13 in its first year in 2020 – perhaps back then it deserved that ranking, but since the time that we played it, The End currently sits at #91. I think that’s probably about right, based on various rooms I have played since.

Overall, we enjoyed our experience, although during the scary section I was wondering whether we had bitten off more than we could chew. We did survive it though. Whilst I would probably rank The End in the bottom half of the rooms that we played on this trip, we still enjoyed it and could appreciate those elements that other enthusiasts clearly loved about The End.

Where:                 Dorpsstraat 33A, 2712 AB Zoetermeer

Duration:            60 minutes

Themes:              6 themes

TERPECA:          #91 in 2024 (formerly #13)

Price:                    From 135€ per team of 2

Overall Rating:     Great live actor interactions and a great finale

More details:        https://www.darkpark.com/en/escape-room-zoetermeer-the-end/

Down the Hatch - Molly's Game Review (The Netherlands)

 

Hi everyone

The tenth room on our May/June 2024 child-free trip to Holland was Molly’s Game at Down the Hatch, located in Voorburg, about a 15 minute uber ride from the centre of The Hague.

Molly’s Game was the number 1 room in the world (on the TERPECA list) at the time that we played it. I was so incredibly excited to play this room. In fact, I planned the whole trip around this room and I managed to tee it up so that it was my 300^th room. 

As like many of the best rooms in the world, Molly’s Game has been constructed entirely within a large warehouse in a very unassuming industrial area. There is a gym in front of Down the Hatch and when we arrived, there were sweaty people both inside and out the front of the gym. We saw the Molly’s Game sign on a side gate and headed around the back.

The reception area is really beautifully-made and I was VERY excited when I recognised the backdrop I had seen in so many team photos online of players who had been lucky enough to play Molly’s Game.

Molly’s Game was phenomenal – more specifically, here is what I thought:

• Molly’s Game is incredibly special. I would not describe it as an overly scary room, but rather a narrative-driven experience that has a pretty dark story at its core. There are certainly eerie moments, but this is achieved not by live character interactions or jump scares, but by really well-designed audio and visual effects;
• the theming in Molly’s Game is off the charts. I lost count of how many spaces we walked through during our experience, but the scale of Molly’s Game is enormous. The way in which the various puzzles were woven seamlessly into the storyline was incredibly impressive;
• the room flow is also excellent – things start off relatively slowly, with tension building (and building) throughout until the finale. Molly’s story is at the heart of the experience. It is really multi-faceted story, with more details being revealed slowly during the duration of the experience. Lovers of narrative-driven rooms with intricately-told stories will love Molly’s Game;
• one of the most impressive elements of the best rooms in the world, I have come to learn, are the ‘wow’ moments. These come in all shapes and sizes – sometimes it is memorable character interactions, other times it is a moving wall (or ceiling, or floor!), or something simple like an unassuming door that opens up to a full-scale pirate ship sitting at a dock in water. I think of the latter ‘wow’ moments as ‘sleight of hand’ or misdirections. I can recall 2 specific moments in Molly’s Game where the misdirections genuinely amazed me; and
• I think what puts Molly’s Game ahead of so many other rooms is that not only does it have an enormous set full of high tech ‘wow moments’, but the puzzles are all excellent too. There is the typical hunt and seek fun, but then as players venture deeper into the experience, the difficulty and level of immersion/theming with the puzzles grows. We used so many of our senses, in interesting ways, in playing Molly’s Game and solving her mystery.

Molly’s Game was a fantastic room and at the time that I played it, it was hands down my favourite room I had played anywhere in the world. The reasons for this were many: the really strong storyline that is woven throughout the experience, the quality and uniqueness of the puzzles that are again seamlessly woven into the experience, the clever use of lighting/sounds to create an experience that is full of tension, which builds steadily throughout, the incredibly quality of the theming in all respects and the ‘wow’ factor moments. This experience ticks all of the boxes, not to mention the pure scale of the experience, which is enormous.

Molly’s Game debuted on the TERPECA list at #3. The following year it was #2, and then #1 in 2023. In 2024, Molly’s Game was #4. There aren’t too many escape rooms that can say that they have sat in the top 5 rooms for 4 years in a row.

Where:                 Populierendreef 966, 2272 HW Voorburg

Duration:            90 minutes

Themes:              1 theme (1 more opening 2025)

TERPECA:          #4 in 2024 (formerly #1)

Price:                    200€ per team of 4

Overall Rating:     A near perfect room – top 5 TERPECA room 4 years running!

More details:        https://www.down-the-hatch.nl/

Outerground Escape Rooms - Jason's Legacy Review (The Netherlands)

 

Hi everyone

The ninth room on our May/June 2024 child-free trip to Holland was Jason’s Legacy at OuterGround Escape Rooms in Rijswijk, which is about 5km south of the centre of The Hague.

I had heard about OuterGround from their Jason’s Curse room, which was a popular earlier room. We learned from our chat with the game master after our experience that that earlier room had, in real life, burned to the ground. They then decided to build a new room, Jason’s Legacy, which is the room we played.

Jason’s Legacy was our 299^th escape room and here is what I thought: 

• this room is really impressive. As with many rooms in both The Netherlands and across the world, the experience has been constructed inside a large warehouse in an industrial area. What is most impressive with Jason’s Legacy is that they have constructed a free-standing, two storey house! I don’t mean a façade or a studio set of a two storey house – it’s an actual, fully constructed house. Every space feels just like you would expect an old scary house to feel like as well;
• the theming is very impressive. All of the spaces made sense and the experience had a really nice flow throughout;
• there is a VERY short character interaction at the very beginning of the experience. I would describe Jason’s Legacy as one of the scarier rooms that we played on this trip, but compared to Athens/Spain rooms it wasn’t overly scary at all. We also played with 4 players, which made it much less scary (given that the ‘courage tests’ were executed in the safety of a duo, not solo). Jason’s Legacy is scary, but it is more about the darkness/audio/vibe than about being chased by characters. In fact, I can only recall a couple of minor jump scares;
• there are some really nice puzzles in Jason’s Legacy, including hunt/seek fun (which slowed us down a little at the beginning). Overall I would describe the puzzles as largely medium-level difficulty – challenging and fun to solve but not impossibly difficult. They were all pretty intuitive; and
• after our experience, we sat down with one of the managers to chat about the history of their rooms and escape rooms generally in Europe. We also had drinks with the manager, which we were learning was a pretty common thing in The Netherlands (but I have since learned is pretty unique to The Netherlands).

We all really enjoyed Jason’s Legacy. The most impressive aspect is the pure scale of the two storey house that they have constructed. It really is phenomenal. The theming and quality of puzzles were all first rate too. Jason’s Legacy debuted at #71 on the TERPECA list and in 2024 sits at #131. It is far better than many other rooms I have played in the top 100, so I highly recommend checking it out.

Where:                 Diepenhorstlaan 11c, 2288 EW Rijswijk

Duration:            75 minutes

Themes:              5 themes

TERPECA:          #131 in 2024 (formerly #71)

Price:                    165€ per team of 4

Overall Rating:     They built a full 2 storey house!

More details:        https://www.outerground.com/en/jasons-legacy/ 

Escape Room Katwijk - Pray Review (The Netherlands)

 

Hi everyone

The eighth room on our May/June 2024 child-free trip to Holland was Pray at Escape Room Katwijk, which is located about a 40 minute drive south-west of Amsterdam (or about 60-75 minutes by train).

I had learned about Pray from other escape room enthusiasts (I always ask Heiner Stepen for room recommendations when I head to Europe and this was one of the newer rooms that he said was a must play). For those of you who don’t know Heiner, he runs the Escape Roomers blog (https://escaperoomers.de/) and I am pretty sure he holds the record for having played the most escape rooms of anyone in the world (he has played more than 3,000 rooms at the time of writing this review). Unbelievable (I know), but true.

Pray proved difficult to book into, not because of their booking system, but because they were booked out during our trip. I contacted the owner, Johan, who kindly opened up a slot for us.

Pray was our 298^th escape room and here is what I thought: 

• we ended up taking an uber from Amsterdam to Katwjik, which took about 35-40 minutes. Escape Room Katwjik is located in an industrial estate. We had luggage with us, which we stored in the main reception building and then we headed outside to wait for our cue that our room was ready for us. A quick note on this aspect – we had to climb a long, external staircase to play this room, so less-abled players should be aware of this when booking;
• Pray is marketed as a scary room. At the time that I played Pray, it was probably one of the scarier rooms that I had played. After having since played rooms in Athens and Spain, I have a little more perspective on what a scary room is. According to TERPECA, Pray is “passively scary, which means that the game uses darkness, intimidation, simulated danger, hide and seek and other techniques to create anxiety, but doesn’t startle players much”. I think that is pretty accurate. Whilst there are interactions with a character during the experience, we were not being actively chased or touched by any characters;
• Pray is more focused on scary music and dark settings, with a few jump scares thrown in for fun. I think the anticipation was ultimately scarier than the reality in Pray, at least for me. I would rate it at about a 4 out of 10 for scary factor;
• the set and theming is beautifully done in Pray. The village scene and the various buildings within the village were incredibly thematic – we really did forget that we were in an industrial warehouse building throughout our experience;
• as seems to be the case with most scary rooms, there were moments of separation and ‘courage tests’ in Pray (where I was the ‘lucky’ chosen one who was separated for a period from the group), but it was fun and in fact allowed me to solve puzzles that the rest of my group weren’t able to access;
• the puzzles in Pray were, on balance, on the easier side. There was also a nice variety to the puzzles, with a mix of clever tech and more straight forward manual puzzles;
• after our experience, we were able to sit down with Johan and discuss his room and escape rooms generally across Europe. It is common in The Netherlands to have a drink after the experience. Johan’s integration of his bar area within the Pray world was my favourite integration I have seen to date.

We all really enjoyed Pray. One of our team members doesn’t like scary rooms but she did pretty well with Pray. The main drawcard for Pray is the theming and quality of the sets, which really are beautiful. Pray is a new room and scored the very impressive spot of #13 on the TERPECA ranking. I think it is well-deserved.

Where:                 Naast Gelegen Gebouw, 2223GG Katwijk (Z-H)

Duration:            80 minutes

Themes:              3 themes

TERPECA:          #13 in 2024

Price:                    190€ per team of 4

Overall Rating:     Phenomenal theming and great puzzles

More details:        https://escaperoomkatwijk.com/

Sherlocked - The Lost Cabinet Review (The Netherlands)

Hi all

The seventh room on our May/June 2024 child-free trip to Holland was The Lost Cabinet at Sherlocked Escape Rooms. It is located in Amsterdam, but the specific location where the game can be played is subject to change.

Having previously played Sherlocked’s The Vault room online during the pandemic, and then having played The Alchemist room the night before, we were excited to get our hands on The Lost Cabinet.

The Locked Cabinet is a unique experience. It is steeped in secrecy – in fact, if you go and take a look at Sherlocked Escape Rooms’ website, you won’t find any mention of The Locked Cabinet. I only learned about The Locked Cabinet from a review by Room Escape Artist, which you can check out here. Sherlocked - The Lost Cabinet [Review] - Room Escape Artist

The only way to (attempt to) book in The Locked Cabinet is by sending an email to lostcabinet@sherlocked.nl. You cannot book this experience on their website.

The Lost Cabinet was our 297^th escape room experience. We played as a team of 4 and here is what I thought: 

• one of the owners of Sherlocked Escape Rooms, Victor, was our host. The Lost      Cabinet can be moved and played in different locations, but our experience was enjoyed at Sherlocked Escape Rooms’ offices, which are located about a 15-20 min walk south of their main Amsterdam location. From memory, we played on a Sunday morning, so the office was empty and after setting us up with tea/coffee, Victor walked us into a separate room where The Lost Cabinet was waiting for us;
• the experience is a locked box experience. At the time of playing The Lost Cabinet, I had played a number of different locked box experiences, of varying levels of quality and difficulty. The Lost Cabinet was easily the best experience of that type we have played to date;
• the quality of craftmanship in The Lost Cabinet is unrivalled. There were so many intricately-constructed elements and so many concealed items. My only concern was that some of the elements felt like they could easily be broken with a modest amount of force, so we were VERY careful at every step. This did not detract from the experience at all, but it did explain why Sherlocked is careful to screen those players that they allow to play The Lost Cabinet;
• the puzzles within The Lost Cabinet are varied, intricate and of varying difficult levels. There were nice ‘wow’ moments with certain elements that I will not forget. The puzzles all made sense to us, although there were a few that had us scratching our heads for a little while;
• thematically, the story of The Lost Cabinet is a precursor to the Alchemist. We ultimately played the experiences in the opposite order, but this did not detract from our enjoyment of either;
• I do not recall how long it took us to work our way through The Locked Cabinet, other than being told that our time was better than a certain legend…..ary actor 😉 I would allow yourselves around 2 hours for this experience.

We all really enjoyed The Lost Cabinet. If there is a better 'escape room in a box' anywhere in the world, we are yet to see (or hear anything about) it. 

Where:                 Beurs van Berlage, Damrak 247, 1012 ZJ Amsterdam

Duration:            Allow 90-120 minutes

Themes:              4 themes

Price:                    Prices from 249€ per team

Overall Rating:     The best ‘locked box’ experience we have played

More details:        https://www.sherlocked.nl/  

Sherlocked - The Alchemist Review (The Netherlands)

Hi everyone

The sixth room on our May/June 2024 child-free trip to Holland was The Alchemist at Sherlocked Escape Rooms. It is located in the centre of Amsterdam in a lovely old former stock exchange building.

I had previously played Sherlocked’s The Vault room online during the pandemic, which at one point involved our game master/live avatar exiting the building and walking down the main street of Amsterdam. So it was a little surreal to be there in person this time, standing in front of the same (very impressive) building. The Vault was one of the most fun online escape rooms I played during the pandemic, so I had high hopes going into The Alchemist.

The Alchemist was our 296^th escape room and here is what I thought: 

• the venue is great. It is such a beautiful, historic building. Whilst this no doubt would have thrown up many challenges for the owners in designing the room, they did a great job. One thing to note is that we had to walk up a number of stairs to play this room, so keep that in mind;
• the theming in The Alchemist is incredible. There was some really nice misdirection (although we had been to enough Dutch rooms at that point to spot it coming) and then we entered the main escape room area. It was amazing. The scale was impressive and all elements suited the theme beautifully;
• the room contained a really nice mix of varied puzzles of varying levels of difficulty. There was also a nice variety to the puzzles – several relying on some clever tech and others more straight forward. There were some unique puzzles thrown in as well (of a type we had not seen anywhere else); and
• there are 3 specific moments in The Alchemist that are honestly spectacular. I won’t give anything away, but the most visually impressive moment is the ending which is honestly the most impressive sequence I have seen to an escape room (before or since).

We all really enjoyed The Alchemist. The room flow and puzzles were excellent. The main drawcard here though is the spectacular moments, which are the reason why The Alchemist is currently holding the #32 TERPECA ranking. It is well-deserved.

Where:                 Beurs van Berlage, Damrak 247, 1012 ZJ Amsterdam

Duration:            90 minutes

Themes:              4 themes

TERPECA:          #32 in 2024 (formerly #31)

Price:                    Prices from 39€ per person

Overall Rating:     A truly spectacular room!

More details:        https://www.sherlocked.nl/experiences/the-alchemist