Mind Maze, Prague - Review of Galactic Pioneers and Nautilus (Prague)

 Hi all

During our travels in December 2023 in Europe, we played 2 of the many rooms available at Mind Maze in Prague.  Here is what we thought:

Galactic Pioneers – Mind Maze, Prague (Room 266)

This was a very high tech room.  There were no padlocks to be seen at all.  The room uses an “AI” voice in place of a game master, which worked pretty well.  There were a lot of puzzles in this room, some more challenging than others. The room is largely non-linear, with points of convergence.  We had fun.

Nautilus – Mind Maze, Prague (Room 267)

This was their standout room.  The theming was magical, as was the backstory.  The game master in Nautilus is a head in a jar (it’s beautifully done and not at all creepy).  All of the spaces were beautiful, least of which was the submarine itself. I thought this was one of the best children-friendly rooms we did in all of Europe and definitely the best children’s room that we did in Prague.

Final thoughts

Both rooms were great – nice variety of puzzles and great theming.  We liked Nautilus the most as it was more charming and certainly better suited to our girls.  I would recommend both rooms if you find yourself in Prague.

Where:                        Balbínova 32, Prague 2, 12000

Duration:                    60-90 minutes

Themes:                      7 themes

TERPECA:                 Galactic Pioneers - #355 in 2024 (formerly #46)

                                    Nautilus (formerly #116)

Cost:                           From 1,690 CZK

Overall Rating:           Awesome theming, especially Nautilus!

More details:              https://mindmaze.cz/en/

The Padlock Escape Game, Prague - Review of Mission 53 and Safe: The Secret of Jack Daniel (Prague)

 

Hi all

After our adventures in Finland (in December 2023), we travelled to Czechia.  The first escape room venue that we went to there in Prague was The Padlock.  We were lucky enough to have the escape room designer and owner, Alex, as our game master for the first room that we played.  We went to both of their venues during our stay in Prague, first playing their Mission 53 room and then later their Safe: The Secret of Jack Daniel room.

Both of the rooms were marked as scary rooms or 18+ rooms, but I reached out to Alex ahead of our trip and he confirmed that both were not too scary for our daughters.  Here is what I thought: 

Mission 53 – The Padlock, Prague (Room 265)

This was a really beautifully-themed room. It is a really large space and contains a huge amount of puzzles. The theming was really well done.  Mission 53 previously ranked number 187 on the TERPECA list and I can see why enthusiasts love this room – very challenging puzzles, unique puzzle elements, great attention to detail with theming.  It was a great room – the only aspect to note is that if you are coming with children, there is one section of the experience that is dark and which might scare them – there are no jump scares at all, it’s just dark.

Safe: The Secret of Jack Daniel – The Padlock Prague (Room 268)

At the time that we played this room, it had a TERPECA ranking of 36.  And I think that rating was well-deserved.  The quality of the theming was brilliant, from the second that we entered the space.  There was a really lovely mix of puzzles, that kept us all engaged and challenged.  There were some unique puzzle elements and many that were high tech, as well as some low tech and hunt and seek fun.  The storyline was very strong and the ending was spectacular.  I can’t say too much about this without giving spoilers, but we got to make our own ****** and then ******* what we made and it was awesome 😉

Final thoughts

We really enjoyed both rooms at The Padlock.  They are both packed full of puzzles and the theming is incredibly strong. There are dark sections in Mission 53 which my girls were afraid in, but it was short-lived. The puzzles were all challenging and a lot of fun to solve. I think Safe is the better of the 2 rooms, but both are really strong rooms. In fact, Safe was my favourite room in Prague.

Where:                        Orebitská 2, Prague 3 and Kubelíkova 21, Prague 3

Duration:                    99 mins / 77 mins

Themes:                      3 themes

TERPECA:                 Secret of Jack Daniel - #217 in 2024 (formerly #36)

                                    Mission 53 - #378 in 2024 (formerly #187)

Cost:                           96-109 Euro per team of 4

Overall Rating:           Excellent rooms – challenging and fantastic theming!

More details:              https://www.thepadlock.cz/