VR experience at Mobile World Centre: A Mobile Story [Review]

Location: Mobile World Centre, Plaça Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain

Date completed:  April 2017 (3 players). Succeeded escaping!

Creativity: 3; Difficulty: 2; Atmosphere: 5; Fun: Variable (motion sickness)

Requirements:

• English, Spanish (Castillian) or Catalan
• Solo experience
• 10-minute Virtual reality room
• It’s free!

In our recent trip to Spain, my sharp-eyed cousin suddenly tapped me on the shoulder, gestured towards a commercial building in Plaça Catalunya, and said, ‘a free escape room!’ Free? How often does that happen? In one of the busiest places of Barcelona no less!

‘What? Where?’ I replied. And there it was. Written on this scrolling ticker of a building, known as Mobile World Centre, was a message in English indicating that there was a free virtual reality (VR) escape room experience. How could we pass this up?

Ultimate Roomscape: Viral Outbreak [Review]

Location: Ultimate Roomscape, Malaga, Perth, WA, Australia

Date completed:  January 2017 (5 players). Succeeded escaping!

Creativity: 7; Difficulty: 7; Atmosphere: 6.5; Fun: 7

Requirements:

• Intermediate English
• 2-8 players
• Acute senses

You and your friends are attending a demonstration by Aerodyne, a world leading medical research facility which has potentially developed a cure for the EBL-01 viral strain. This lethal virus turns its victims into zombies, and Aerodyne claims to be able to revert the syntoms.

As you step into Viral Outbreak, you will probably remember “wait, I’ve never seen a story with zombies that ends well.” That’s right: before the human trials are presented, things get really out of hand – and you find out the trial had more selfish reasons than you expected! You have one hour to make your way out , and there is a dark, complicated path ahead!

Ultimate Roomscape: Kidnapped [Review]

Location: Ultimate Roomscape, Malaga, Perth, WA, Australia

Date completed:  January 2017 (3 players). Succeeded escaping!

Creativity: 8; Difficulty: 8; Atmosphere: 8.5; Fun: 8

Requirements:

• Fluent English
• 2-8 players (we recommend 4-6)

The situation was no good. We were cuffed to the floor of a dark bathroom, kidnapped by a group known as ‘The Clowns’. It seemed like they were trying to use us as exchange for the release of their leader, but negotiations with the authorities went South and we were probably going to be killed on the spot – unless we found a way out.

At least that was the dark story behind Kidnapped on Ultimate Roomscape’s website. As the game developed, the plot changed drastically (we did not find information about the Clowns), but it became way, way creepier…

Trapt: Madhouse [Review]

Location: Trapt and Lantern Ghost Tours, Point Cook, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

Date completed: June 2017 (6 players). Succeeded escaping!

Creativity: 5.5; Difficulty: 5; Atmosphere: 7; Fun: 7.5.

Requirements:

• Fluent English

In Trapt’s Madhouse, players are accused of a murder and must exonerate themselves within one hour. Sounds like a typical escape room scenario right? What’s not usual is that this escape room is located in a supposedly haunted location – a 19th century homestead in the middle of nowhere in Point Cook, South Melbourne.

Whenever we travel, both Pa and I really enjoy going on tours about ghosts and ‘dark pasts’. If nothing else, they provide a means to understand the lesser known ‘street histories’ of places and give insights into the lives of normal people. Like city walking tours, they’re also really good at giving visitors a feel on how to navigate a city. While were were looking for ghost tours to do in Melbourne, we came across Trapt’s Madhouse. Our interest suitably piqued, we made the booking and drove down with two friends.

I’ll admit, the way there was pretty spooky.

Trapt: Prohibition [Review]

Location: Trapt, Melbourne CBD, VIC, Australia

Date completed: June 2017 (3 players). Succeeded escaping!

Creativity: 6; Difficulty: 4.5; Atmosphere: 6.5; Fun: 8.

Requirements:

• Intermediate English
• 45 minute room

Some weeks ago, Trapt Bar & Escape Rooms retired their beginner level room Prison Break and added a new entry-level challenge to its patrons. Who would expect that the chosen theme for the new room would be Prohibition? In a bar?

Trapspringer and I joined another friend to give this new room a go, and we were not disappointed. It is simple, but well done. A very good room to bring friends who are new to the hobby, or to warm up the brains of a group willing to attempt harder rooms later!

Lock-Clock: Gaudi’s Secret [Review]

Location: Lock-Clock, Gothic Quarter, Barcelona, Spain

Date completed:  April 2017 (5 players). Succeeded escaping!

Creativity: 7.5; Difficulty: 7.5; Atmosphere: 7.5; Fun: 8

Requirements:

• No language required; hints in English or Spanish (Castillian)
• 2-5 players

It’s 1936, the Spanish Civil War is raging and Barcelona’s famous Sagrada Familia basilica, then under construction (as it still is now), is attacked by Anarchist militias! They set the workshop of the genius Antoni Gaudi on fire, and you have one hour to recover his architectural plans for the Sagrada Familia from complete destruction.

A number of escape room venues in Spain tap into the rich local history to provide inspirations for their rooms. In Gaudi’s Secret, Lock-Clock draws upon events which marked the development and continue to affect the construction of Barcelona’s landmark attraction. If you have visited the city before, you will be familiar with many items in this recreated workshop.

Lock-Clock: Aztec Treasure [Review]

Location: Lock-Clock, Gothic Quarter, Barcelona, Spain

Date completed:  April 2017 (5 players). Succeeded escaping!

Creativity: 8; Difficulty: 5.5; Atmosphere: 8.5; Fun: 8.5

Requirements:

• No language required; hints in English or Spanish (Castillian)
• 2-5 players

Yo-ho-ho, a pirate’s life for me! Yarr… Actually, no really. They would spend months in the sea pillaging and lacking vitamins, which is not all that appealing. But everyone has played pirates before, right? And their popularity has had a recent resurgence, reinforced in recent years with the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise and Black Sails tv series. A key part of this genre has been the treasures taken from the new world, shipped back to the Spanish crown in treasure fleets, which were some of the prime targets of pirates because they would transport tons of gold and silver from Latin America to Europe.

Lock-Clock used the historical background of Spanish navigation to create a very fun and family-friendly escape room, Aztec Treasure (Tesoro Azteca, in Castillian). You are the assistant team to Captain Pablo in a galleon loaded with gold. In an unfortunate night a storm hits and the ship is sinking! Your mission is to recover as much of the treasure as you can. If you will retrieve it for your boss or sell it to the pirates later, it’s your call… But find the gold coins, yaaarrrr!!!