Za dnia ekipa lockme i ER Champ, popołudniami miłośnicy escape roomów. Odwiedzamy pokoje nie tylko w Polsce ale i za granicą, a to nasz escaperoomowy pamiętnik! Zapraszamy do nowej serii, w której opowiemy Wam, gdzie warto pojechać i jakie escape roomy wybrać w Europie.
New series
Hi, it's the lockme team! Following our career paths, it's not a coincidence that we chose to work in the escape room industry - we are lovers of puzzles and brain teasers, we love puzzle games, board games and, of course, puzzle rooms. So we decided on the pages of the new series From the lockme diary to tell you about our escape room adventures abroad.
The capital of horror games - Athens
The first city we will tell you about adventures in is Athens. The capital of Greece has recently become a very popular destination for escaperoom thrill-seekers. The top-rated Athens escape rooms are horror movies, many of which have a fairly high scare factor (the level of fear of the scenario). In this installment, we'll introduce you to the top 4 horror escape rooms (we played a total of 12 rooms in Athens). Subsequent parts will appear weekly.
Don't take a breath
The company: Verone
Themes: burglary, theft
Fear level: 3.5/10
Position in TERPECA 2023: 8
Position in TERPECA 2024: 20
We want to start our Greek flashback with a room that raised the bar very high for future horror scenarios. If we had to name one thing that captivated us the most here, we would fall silent for a long time, because in this room simply everything worked together to create an amazing experience.
Many modern horror escape rooms, much to our sorrow, build atmosphere by using poor lighting. It's easier to scare someone in the dark, but after all, the visual experience is also a very important factor in our enjoyment of the game! However, this accusation does not apply to this room. Don't Take a Breath was a masterful combination of a well-thought-out and interesting scenario, correct design, great acting and tension sustained throughout the game.
If you are familiar with the movie Don't Take a Breath - the plot will not surprise you. The players' task is to break into a certain man's house and steal a certain item from him. Sounds easy? Easy it won't be. Because despite the loss of his eyesight, the master of the house has excellent hearing. And he is armed to the teeth.
Don't Take a Breath is not a classic escape room, in which we escaped from the actor in the meantime solving puzzles. The rules of interaction and the purpose of the game is clear and transparent from the very beginning. You do not follow the rules - poor your fate. Although it will not end your game, but the adrenaline spike is bricked.
There must be some downsides, right? Right. Escape room is located far from the center of Athens, which makes it not so easy to reach - even by cab. And that would be the downside.
Chapel & Catacombs
The company: Lockhill
Themes: dark forces, occultism
Fear level: 5/10
Position in TERPECA 2023: 3
Position in TERPECA 2024: 8
Chapel and Catacombs was the room for which we had the highest expectations - number 3 in TERPECA, the best room in Greece, numerous reviews from escape room enthusiasts from all over the world raving about the grandeur, acting and level of immersion. And when expectations are high, the clash with reality can be really painful.
We're not saying Chapel and Catacombs is a bad room! You can see that a lot of work was put into building it, the script was very well thought out and nothing was left to chance. The room also had its really strong moments and kept you in suspense. The acting also deserves a mention - walking through the town of Lockhill we met many amazing characters, some more sympathetic to us, others we tried to avoid by a wide margin. The decor itself, in places where there was enough light to admire, was stunning and will certainly remain in our memory for a long time. We would like to write out all these beautiful places and elements in detail here, but why spoil the fun for you - check it out for yourself!
What bothered us most about Chapel and Catacombs was the darkness. Twilight builds tension, it makes the immersion higher, it was well thought out and specially designed this way - we understand. However, the darkness, in which you can't see anything happening in front of and next to the player, bumping into each other, bumping into objects, it all makes the group uncomfortable and knocks you out of the immersion. In addition, after we left the room and daylight returned, we noticed that we were just very dirty - both on our bodies and on our clothes. If we were 5 years old, we would probably laugh about it, but we consider it a huge downside of the room.
Let's move on to the puzzles, or rather their disappointing number. Several very simple puzzles, often based on finding or putting things in the right places, left us with an unbearable sense of malaise after the game.
We have to confirm what we've heard from several people - the Chapel and Catacombs scenario has changed over time and no longer provides as much entertainment for players as it once did. We know that we missed out on some of the fun because not all elements of the scenario played out. However, it was an interesting experience, and thanks to the cooperation and understanding in the team, those with weaker nerves did not feel much discomfort. An important element was the safe word that allowed to stop the interaction with the actor if someone didn't feel like it, as well as buttons that gave the option to end or temporarily stop the game to a person who would feel weak or out of sorts to continue.
Do we recommend it? Of course! Especially with a close-knit team.
Mystic Project
Company: Mystic Corporation
Themes: investigation, experiments
Fear level: 5/10
Position in TERPECA 2023: 75
Position in TERPECA 2024: 109
When choosing the rooms to play during our escape trip, we suggested reviews, rankings (TERPECA and Escape Roomers DE), as well as the level of fear - not everyone in our team has nerves strong enough for three days with horror movies. That's why some of us opted for rooms that were a little less scary - but still horror. One such choice was the Mystic Project escape room, and we don't regret our choice.
Mystic Project started innocently enough - as a group of journalists, we were to visit the world's first escape room and, if possible, interview a living relative of its creator. However, it quickly became apparent that we were embroiled in a conspiracy, and the longer we stayed in the museum of the first escape room, in addition to being completely cut off from the world, the more dangerous it became. The atmosphere was built with well-thought-out procedures and a brilliantly constructed storyline, not cheap gimmicks, and the tension kept rising as the game progressed - we felt time pressure, but it was not frustrating, but motivating.
Absolutely everything deserves credit in Mystic Project - the plot, the decor that fit the story, the puzzles that at times were really challenging and set this escape room apart from other Athenian horror movies, the brilliant acting and the size of the script!
The downside of the room that we must point out is the flashing lights, which can be problematic for people who are hypersensitive or have health problems. Before the game, it's a good idea to let the Game Masters know your concerns and problems with this. Another thing we regret is the short time to talk to the staff after the game. It was the game masters who made Mystic Project a memorable experience for us. We had a lot of questions about technical solutions, plot threads that we didn't get to ask.
In our opinion, Mystic Project is a really good item on the Athens market and is worth considering. It deserves a much higher place in TERPECA's ranking.
Manifesto
Company: Dark Vision Project
Themes: theater, time travel
Fear level: 5/10
Position in TERPECA 2023: 80
Position in TERPECA 2024: 171
Manifesto was the second room on the list of Athenian horror films with a moderate level of fear. And as we know - fear is relative. Despite a similar level of fear as Chapel and Catacombs and Mystic Corporation, we put this one first because of its unpredictability.
The room started out humorously, but our faces got dark very quickly and it got serious. The dark atmosphere kept us in suspense throughout the game and no one could feel safe in the place we moved to. The puzzles were fairly straightforward, although some required us to get more involved and separate, which was Manifesto's biggest challenge for us. The scenario was visibly worn out by now, but that didn't take away from the fun of the game.
What did we like best? The atmosphere and decor, although it could have been a little cleaner. Also, a big round of applause for the Game Masters, who went to great lengths to make it memorable for us and get shivers at every mention of the game, even months after returning from Athens. A huge role was played by the storyline with an absolutely capital ending - for this story, Manifesto is worth considering during a trip to Athens.
The downsides, unfortunately, were also there, but minor - more of a warning to future players than a caution against the game. The room is located quite far from the center, in a residential area with few bars and stores open late into the evening. This is worth bearing in mind when booking this escape room. Another downside for us was the UV lamp, which for those sensitive to this type of light can spoil the fun.
Next part next week
These are not all the horror escape rooms we managed to play in Athens. Join us for the next part next week on Thursday!
