Escape Travel Guide to Sao Paulo, Brazil (2016)

When you ask most people in the world that aren’t from Latin America what they think of Brazil, the response is usually along the lines of parties, crime and jungle, somewhat like this Simpson’s episode. Truth is though, Brazil is the size of Australia and you can find many types of terrain and people within it. Sao Paulo, in particular, is a booming megacity of 11 million with a truly diverse makeup. For example, did you know that it has a Japanese population of around 2 million making it the biggest Japanese city outside Japan? The country has an incredibly diverse society with a rich source of culture and unique style of creativity.

For those who love escape rooms, a small but highly creative escape room industry is emerging from Sao Paulo. With the Olympics underway in Rio de Janeiro, we thought this would be an appropriate time to introduce Sao Paulo’s escape room scene, given that is only 1 hour flight away from Rio. If you are over in Brazil for the Olympics or are headed there in the near future, why not take a look at the escape rooms in Sao Paulo?

Escape Room SP: B Side [Review]

Location: Escape Room SP, Vila Mariana district, São Paulo (SP), Brazil

Date completed: June 2016 (4 players). Failed, but we got SO close!

Creativity: 6.5; Difficulty: 7.5; Atmosphere: 6.5; Fun: 8

Requirements:

• Fluent English or Portuguese
• 4-10 players

 

You are called to inspect the lab of a scientist who has gone missing. Apparently, he was very fond of travelling. Or were all those maps and postcards related to his research? Looks like he was making tests with light – and trying to reach the speed of light by different means. It does not take long for you to put two and two together and realise that your fellow scientist is not only lost “somwhere” but is also lost “sometime”.

As a Tardis is not available, you do have a hard task ahead! You only have one hour to find where and when he is!

Escape Room SP: Atelier [Review]

Location: Escape Room SP, Vila Mariana district, São Paulo (SP), Brazil

Date completed: June 2016 (4 players). Succeeded escaping!

Creativity: 8; Difficulty: 9.5; Atmosphere: 7.5; Fun: 8

Requirements:

• Fluent English or Portuguese
• 4-10 players
• At least one team member not colour blind

Your investigation team has received information on an art forger operational in São Paulo and the leads have pointed to his/her Atelier. You do not know the identity of this forger or if the pictures in the Atelier are original or fakes. There is, however, a big scheme and a lot of money involved, so you better start investigating!

A police team is heading to the airport, which closes in one hour after the international flights depart. That’s the time you have to find the information to identify the forger and the proof to convict him/her. Otherwise, this person will get away to an unknown destination.

If you like art, this escape room is for you – real information about paintings and painters is used in abundance in Atelier. Put your inner artist to work!

Escape Room SP: Harbinger [Review]

Location: Escape Room SP, Vila Mariana district, São Paulo (SP), Brazil

Date completed: June 2016 (2 players). Failed to stop the Eldritch gods!

Creativity: 7.5; Difficulty: 6; Atmosphere: 10; Fun: 9

Requirements:

• Fluent English (planned for Aug 2016) or Portuguese
• 4-6 investigators

It is 1920 and players of Harbinger are assailed by a collective nightmare and united by a disconcerting letter from a stranger named William Briden. The unhinged prose of the letter speaks of unnerving discoveries and hints at something dark being unleashed on the poor Briden, who seems to be in a shaken state of mind. Players of this escape room must investigate the mystery behind Briden’s disappearance and prevent an unspeakable horror in less than one hour.

After finding out about how Escape Room SP created an escape room based in the Cthulhu mythos, I was extremely excited and keen to try this rooom. Why?  For readers not familiar with the Cthulhu setting, it was the creation of legendary horror author H.P. Lovecraft whose stories have influenced many horror authors including Stephen King,  Bently Littleand and others like Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman.  Lovecraft stories typically revolve around discovery of ancient forbidden knowledge which reveals cosmic horrors of the universe to unprepared minds – the path of knowledge is paved with madness. It is a terrifying setting where the unknown and the unexplainable are best left undisturbed.

With that in mind, Pa and I took on the roles of classic Lovecraftian investigators to satisfy my insatiable curiosity behind this room. I had to know!