No Exit - Wanted: Dead or Alive Review (Athens)

 

Hi all

The next escape room that we checked out on our November-December 2024 trip to Athens and Spain was Wanted: Dead or Alive at No Exit.

Going into this room, I knew that Wanted: Dead or Alive was a current TERPECA top 100 room (having debuted at number 55 and sitting at 77 at the time that we played it). What I didn’t know at the time was just how joyful this room would be to play.

The story behind the room is that we are looking for the brothers McFailures, well known for their robberies, the worst band of thieves the town of Holy Cow has ever had to deal with.

Wanted: Dead or Alive was our 339^th room to date and here is what I thought:

• the reason why this room is as good as it is, is due largely to the amazing quality of the acting and interaction between players and the actor. Our actor played I think about 7 or 8 characters throughout our experience, all with a level of wit that I suspect is adapted depending on the audience. Some of the elements of the character interactions were stupidly silly, which I loved;

• there was a large number of puzzles to solve throughout the experience. After having played so many jump scare rooms without too many traditional escape room-style puzzles, we really enjoyed using a different part of our brain here;

• the theming of the wild west world that had been built was really strong – perhaps not at the same level as the best-themed rooms in Athens, but still strong and enjoyable.

Overall thoughts

Wanted: Dead or Alive is a room that completely sticks out from the norm in Athens, a city full of horror and scary rooms with live actors chasing you, grabbing you and jump scaring you over and over again. Instead, Wanted: Dead or Alive is a light-hearted, very family-friendly room with an enormous amount of actor interactions. We laughed our way through 90 minutes of fun, which was a really nice relief at the end of a long week of scary rooms.

Where:                          EF. Dedousi 13, Ilioupoli 16346

Duration:                      90 minutes

TERPECA:                   77^th in 2024 (previously 55^th)

Themes:                       6 themes

Overall Rating:            A uniquely comedic room that was a heap of fun!

More details:               https://noexit.gr/rooms/dead-or-alive-en/

Lockhill - Chapel & Catacombs Review (Athens)

 

Hi all

The next escape room that we checked out on our November-December 2024 trip to Athens and Spain was Chapel & Catacombs at Lockhill.

I had been looking forward to checking out Chapel & Catacombs for such a long time. I knew that this room was previously the number 1 room in the world and the current number 8 room in the world, so I was VERY much looking forward to playing it. I was however a little worried about the scare factor – again, we played as a team of just 2, which means there is no safety at all in numbers.

Chapel & Catacombs is a continuation of the story that players learn about in The Sanatorium (another room at Lockhill). You can see my review of The Sanatorium here.

Chapel & Catacombs was our 335^th room to date and here is what I thought:

• the incredible production value of this room begins upon entering the building. The room is a ‘cold start’ room, which I have come to learn is pretty common in Europe. A cold start room is where players start their experience immediately, without any introduction to the GM (and without any acknowledgment at all of the escape room business itself). It was a completely seamless integration that we absolutely loved;

• the quality of the theming, set design and props were all incredible. The pure scale of Chapel & Catacombs was also enormous – I easily lost count of the number of different spaces that we traversed throughout our adventure, but it was easily one of the bigger experiences we have played;

• in our adventure, we interacted with a pretty large number of actors. Sometimes the interactions involved players just watching the actors from a distance, while other times we had long discussions with several different actors. I really think actor interactions can absolutely lift the immersion in a room and that was certainly the case here;

• the puzzles in Chapel & Catacombs were really varied and there were many of them. They ranged from some dexterity puzzles to character interaction puzzles, high tech puzzles and hunt and seek fun. I really enjoyed the puzzles (and they were of a high standard) and I think what stood out here compared to other scary rooms in Athens was that a lot of thought had been put into the puzzles and not just the scary elements of the room;

• on the scary front, this was a very scary experience (particularly I think as a team of 2). This was particularly the case where certain courage tests had us separated on more than one occasion. I found the second half of the experience 100 times scarier than the first (and I am happy to admit that I spent part of the time with my eyes closed ‘feeling’ my way around as actors trying to scare me were within centimetres of my face);

• at the end of the experience, I was incredibly tired and drained, no doubt because I had been on high alert waiting to be scared for a reasonable amount of the 150 minutes. This was not a case though of jump scare after jump scare – in fact, I don’t remember many true jump scares at all. I think it was the combination of beautiful (and at times dark) sets, fantastic lighting and music/noise effects, and well-choreographed actors that made for psychological fuckery.

Overall thoughts

I understand why Chapel & Catacombs debuted at first place on the TERPECA list of best rooms in the world (and why 3 years later it is still in the top 10). Its scale is off the charts, with incredible attention to detail in all aspects of the theming, set design and room flow. The use of different cut scenes also allowed for some lighter moments, which helped to even out the scariness in this room. That scariness was also punctuated with some laugh out loud character interactions, which really made this one of the best escape rooms in the world.

Where:                          Averof 30, Nea Ionia 142 32

Duration:                      150 minutes

TERPECA:                     8^th in 2024 (previously 1^st)

Themes:                        5 themes

Overall Rating:             Phenomenal set design, enormous scale and brilliant actor interactions deserving of a top 10 room 

More details:                 https://www.lockhill.gr/chapel--catacombs.html

Clock Escape Rooms - Truth or Dare Review (Athens)

Hi all

The next escape room that we checked out on our November-December 2024 trip to Athens and Spain was Truth or Dare at Clock Escape Rooms.

I do not recall how I had first heard about Truth or Dare, given it only debuted on the TERPECA list while we were in Athens. But it was a really solid room with really fun puzzles to solve.

Truth or Dare was our 334^th room to date.  Here is what I thought:

• as far as theming goes, this room was probably slightly better than average. It was therefore not in the same league as the top TERPECA rooms in Athens, such as Catacombs or Hide and Seek on that front, but it did have its charm;

• we had some fun actor interactions, which I always enjoy and which I think can really lift the enjoyment of a room;

• I thought the standout aspect of Truth or Dare was the puzzles. I thought they were strong (and in some cases, multi-layered), which was something that at that point in our trip had not been very common in the Athens market. There was one puzzle in particular that had us scratching our heads until the satisfying penny finally dropped;

• Truth or Dare is not a scary room – there are dark elements and certain actor elements that can be scary, but compared to the Athens market I would rate the scare factor here about 0.5 out of 10

Overall thoughts

I thought Truth or Dare was a great puzzle room. It does not compete with the incredibly vast sets or amazing theming of some of the best Athens rooms, but for more traditional puzzle lovers who enjoy making actors break character, this was a really fun room.

 

Where:                          Dorieon 7 & Lagada, Agia Paraskevi

Duration:                      110 minutes

TERPECA:                     227^th in 2024

Themes:                        4 themes

Overall Rating:             A more traditional puzzled-based escape room

More details:                https://www.clockescaperooms.gr/en/

 

Freaky Minds Escape Rooms - The Sculptor Review (Athens)

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 332^nd 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/