Another room that we played on our November-December 2024 trip to Athens and Spain was Bites Motel from Bite the Fly in Madrid.
I had heard good things about this room, but in the busy run up to the trip I had not looked into what story behind this room was. About 6 seconds into the experience, it became pretty clear that this room paid homage to Hitchcock’s Psycho, and that Bites Motel is a play on Bates Hotel from the film.
The backstory to this room is as follows:
Come to the quiet village of Bite The Fly and get to know it, you won't regret it. You can stay at the family-run Bites Motel run by Norman, a shy boy, and his mother. They will make your stay an unforgettable experience. Your rest is of paramount importance to them.
Bites Motel was my 349th room to date and here is what I thought:
- The theming in Bites Motel was excellent. They have managed to create an entire world within a warehouse building, which includes an outdoor area and a multi-storey house. It really is awesomely constructed.
- There is a nice flow this experience, beginning with a character interaction and then the level of suspense increased slowly as we progressed through the house and the storyline.
- Speaking of that initial character interaction, we had a lot of fun while checking into the Bites Motel. Our game master/actor, whose name I have forgotten but let’s assume it was something like Norman, asked us to quit ringing the bell on the reception desk while we were talking to him. After about the fourth time we rang the bell, he gave us a murderous look and ripped the bell from our reach, while yelling obscenities at us. He later confessed he had difficulty not laughing and because his English wasn’t great, all that he could do was yell the same insults at us over and over again. I knew immediately it was going to be a great room because of that initial interaction.
- And a short tangent here, but to any game masters who read my reviews, do not underestimate the value that a great game master can add to an experience. We usually like to try to get actors to break character – sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but it usually leads to the most memorable times I have had in escape rooms. A great GM can play with it and get on board and it really can lift the enjoyment of a room incredibly. However, I have seen it go the other way, with GMs getting really annoyed with us for playing around and trying to have fun. Here is my take on that – lighten up a little and don’t read from a script, but instead adapt to the players, because they are the ones paying for the experience so take their lead. Try to match their energy. The best examples I can think of this have been in rooms with trained actors as the GM – the clearest examples I can think of are Magnifico in Montreal (TERPECA #1) and Intruders at Mission Sydney. Both examples had actors who really knew how to improvise and react and be open to having fun. But equally, with non-trained actors, we have had a lot of fun in making them break character and trying on things to help for an memorable experience for everyone
- The puzzles in Bites Motel were also really good. We were stuck on one for a little while and then with a nudge in the right direction, we saw the solution and were really impressed. This experience covers a large space and there are a lot of puzzles to get through. This is definitely one of those European rooms that, whilst scary, still has a primary focus on the puzzles and not jump scares.
Overall thoughts
I really enjoyed this room. The GM/actor did a great job and it was fun chatting with him afterwards. Judging this room from a fun and quality of puzzles perspective, it was my favourite room in Madrid. Really great theming, fun character interactions and great puzzles that were satisfying to solve.
Where: Calle Puerto de Pozazal 4
Duration: 90 minutes
TERPECA: 97 in 2024 (previously 75)
Themes: 2
Overall thoughts: A scary room with great puzzles and character interactions
More details: https://www.bitethefly.com/bites-motel
No comments:
Post a Comment