Challenge # 1

The First in a Series of Many

THE ROOM: "The Beast"

It was about a year ago when a colleague of mine asked me to come along to a so-called Live Escape Game. I had heard of this before but never had either the money or the teammates to want to try it ( at that time I had jsut started a good-salary job and could finally afford more on free-time spendings. The colleague didn't specify on the price after all, and I had read that 20 € per person is pretty normal for this new trend. 

He also didn't elaborate on the location, just gave an address to another colleague who was gonna play with us in a team of 5 and who was supposed to pick me up. 

So we arrived at this factory/storage unit parking lot in front of a brownstone building in between a Lidl supermarket and a Greek restaurant to be seen at the end. And had to get a bit closer to see that our other 3 colleagues had already arrived in front of the unsuspicious glass door that was labeled "The Room - Escape". 

Inside, an istructor was just explaining things to another group in English before we were attended by a second guy who spoke German with an (American?) Englisch accent. He explained not to pay attention to anything above 2 meters' height, not to touch anything with a so-indicating yellow logo and that hints were going to be given via a screen in the room. Surveillance cameras - I then learned - are a big part of Escape Games, so that your game supervisor can tell you to ignore one thing you are deeply investigating (but might be useless) and to pay closer attention to object X that you discarded minutes before.

So then we were carted down a few levels by elevator to arrive on an ominous white hallway with suspicious-looking doors. Through one heavy one and into a little ante-room, we were given the little story of Chief Inspector Ernst Gennat in Berlin roaring 20's. A serial killer apparently struck in his office and excaped but not through the only door in the windowless room. So it's the players' task to find the way through which "The Beast" escaped. 

The level of detail used in designing the inspector's 1920's office with thick carpet flooring, dark-wood furniture, old books and classic paintings sets you back in time right away and you are naturally careful when pulling at the desks drawers or looking through the books for clues. There's lots of number and key locks to be "picked" and the creativeness with which the makers of this game hid the clues is simply inspiring. Some puzzles are almost too obvious while other take time to take apart and put back together to find the right way out of the office. And let me just say without giving too much away: the game doesn't end when you leave that room!

Be aware, "The Room" says (and I know this from personal experience), this game is

"Not for the faint hearted!"

My rating: 5 STARS !

Honestly, this is one of the expensive ones, but so worth its Price:

2 Players: 66 € (33 € each)

3 Players: 77 € (25,66 € each)
4 Players: 88 € (22 € each)
5 Players: 99 € (19,80 € each)
6 Players (only available for ROOM # 2): 111 € (18,50 € each)

Opening times:
Wednesday to Friday 12:30-22:30, Saturday & Sunday 9:30-22:30

Level of difficulty:

Servicer quotes "4 of 5" (with 5 = most difficult)

Instructions:

Suitable for 2 to 6 players.Not for children under 12 years.Be there 15 minutes before your slot to receive a detailed briefing.

Book a week in advance to get any slot at all. Better a month before to get your desired slot.

THE ROOM - Live Escape Game Berlin

Address: Ruschestraße 64-66 / 10365 Berlin - Lichtenberg

Telephone: +49 (0) 30 373 065 11

E-mail: info@the-room-berlin.com

U-Bahn: U5 - Magdalenenstraße (10 mins walking distance)

Tram: M13 - Loeperplatz (8 mins walking distance)

Bus: 240 - Josef-Orlopp/Vulkanstraße (6 mins walking distance)

Plenty of free parking.

About the Challenger

Granted, Escape Games are anything from new now and most of you probably have played the one or two. And you're hooked now, aren't you? 

Based in Berlin, I have started playing about a year ago and am not regularly exploring the options our city has to offer with a group of friends. 

Turns out, being the mathmatician or the engineer or the megamind of the group just isn't enough. 4 eyes see more than 2, 6 more than 4, etc. So just shouting out "I found x" a lot of times and pulling back old items again a few minutes later seems to be my best tactic in helping my group progress. So much that we haven't lost a game as of yet. Sure, it's bound to happen at some point, but so far, by some fortunate happenstance, we continue on our lucky streak. 

This blog here is about my experiences with the different escape or exit room servicers, and over time drawing up a good database to pass on to you guys for commenting and re-evaluating. And maybe for inspiring one or the other to either try the Escape Challenge for the first time or just find the next spot to try out your analytic skills, cooperate well with your teammates and chance your luck!