Hi all
The next escape room that we checked out on our November-December 2024 trip to Athens and Spain was The Sculptor at Freaky Minds Escape Rooms.
The Sculptor was a brand new room that had not been open for very long at the time that we played it. We played as a team of 2 and I had heard that this was a scary room, so I was pretty nervous going in. We had asked for the ‘light’ version of the room (ie without touching) but that did not prove to be the case.
The backstory to The Sculptor is that you are traveling in a vehicle on Route 66 when your car runs out of petrol. Luckily, the car breaks down near a little town with a diner and a petrol station. The fun then ensues.
The Sculptor was our 332nd room to date. Here is what I thought:
- I will start off by noting that there were some elements that Freaky Minds did really well with the Sculptor. The set was really nicely done - they have constructed an authentic world within what looked like a multi-storey residential building in a quiet side street in Athens. The different areas of the experience were all well-constructed and felt like the real thing. The puzzle elements largely made sense in the space and were all satisfying to solve (although thematically, I thought the storyline got a little weirder towards the end of the experience).
- I also thought the use of ‘cut scenes’ was really well done. Although this was a scary room, there were a number of times, which were cued by music and lighting, where we could pause (without fear in that moment) and watch prerecorded video elements or live actors progressing the storyline. This was really nicely done and added to a sense of ‘light and shade’ in an escape room which could have otherwise been 120 minutes of jump scares (which we encountered in many other Athens rooms).
- As for where Freaky Minds did not do so well, unfortunately there are a number of items here to raise. Firstly, we had asked for the ‘light’ version, without touching and not as many jump scares. If what we had was the light version, I am glad we didn’t get to experience the usual experience. The actors we engaged with were pretty rough – one man-handled me at one point, by grabbing me on the shoulder (pretty forcefully) and then manoeuvring me down stairs and into a cupboard. It felt like the actor was a little too into his role and perhaps thought it added to the experience to be rough with players. I also cut the palm of my hand at one point in one of the rooms as part of the experience.
- There were also a couple of safety issues in this room. I appreciate that different parts of the world have different safety standards. Coming from Australia, I think we are at one end of the spectrum where planning laws here require an incredibly high level of safety for players. Contrast that with the Athens experience, where safety seems to be a lot less of a focus in many rooms. The biggest safety issue in this room was the use of real fire in VERY close proximity to players. Room Escape Artist has recently played this room and has done a great job of explaining the very significant risks in having open flames in escape rooms, which has resulted in deaths in 2 separate instances. You can check out their thoughts here. There is also talk that in an effort to reduce these unsafe practices, TERPECA is considering making any rooms with open flames ineligible for nomination/voting, which is something I would support.The reward just does not justify the risks.
- The puzzles in The Sculptor were all interesting and quite varied. I enjoyed some more than others, but they were all reasonably well done. There was also a satisfying ending to the experience.
- My lasting memory of The Sculptor though was my interaction with the owners at the end of the experience. We were having a nice chat with the owners (one of who gave me a bandaid for the cut on my hand). Things became a little awkward though when one of the owners asked me what my favourite room had been on the trip so far. I told them I loved Hide and Seek and their tone changed immediately. They told me their view that Hide and Seek was not an exciting setting like their diner (and that anyone can do a boring hospital themed room). They were also pretty critical of the TERPECA process. I hadn’t appreciated that at that time, The Sculptor was not eligible in 2024 for nominating/voting as I do not think it had been open for the minimum number of days to qualify. It was a pretty awkward situation – I felt like they were genuinely surprised/offended when I told them that my favourite Athens room was a room other than their room.
Overall, I thought The Sculptor was a strong room. Unlike most scary rooms in that region of the world, the experience contained a really nice blend of challenging puzzles, a nicely-created set and strong theming. Where I thought the room was let down was by some overly-excited actors who got a little rough with us and some unnecessary safety issues that should simply be removed from the game. I also thought their approach of criticising another room in their market after I told them how much I enjoyed it was the wrong call (and spoke more about them than their competitors).
Where: Τριταίας 2, Αθήνα 104 41
Duration: 120 minutes
Themes: 1 theme
Overall Rating: Well-themed but unnecessarily rough and safety issues
More details: https://freakyminds.gr/en/home-en/
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