| Game experience: GOOD |
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Immersion |
Puzzles  |
Hosting |
 |
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| A well-made immersion into the horror story. A nice variety of manipulations. |
Some relatively simple decors at times. |
Book here
When Leavinroom opened in January 2015, it was a relatively classical escape game company, with two rooms themed around Alice in Wonderland and Around the world in 80 days. In June of the same year, they started to move towards more mature themes with their room Instinct de survie (formerly named ‘Saw’) which quickly became a favorite in the capital for many people – including us. They later opened another room, Motel (formerly named ‘Hostel’), in a different location, confirming their turn towards horror themes.
The venue puts you in an immersive environment from the very start, with the decors mimicking one of this dirty, old-school hourly motel that used to be a common sight in the district. You will start in a regular hotel room but as you can expect, you might find some darker places on your way to the exit. The decors fit well with the horror theme, even if they are sometimes relatively simple; and the game will play with your fear and disgust, putting you occasionally in unusual situations, although it is unlikely that adults would really be emotionally disturbed by this game. Finally, there are some elements of scenario that are pleasant to discover.
The puzzles are a strong asset of the game, are they are quite varied and imply a lot of manipulations – there was only one padlock in the whole game. There is not much item searching per se, though we lost quite some time on one observation challenge. The puzzle structure is relatively sequential, so a team of three experienced players or four beginners would be quite fitting.
You will receive hints through a tablet that will accompany you during your whole game. The gamemaster was sympathetic and energetic and gave us adequate help – though maybe a bit too fast at times, as we eventually exited after 35 minutes, so we could have spent more time trying to solve the puzzles on which we blocked.
Overall, this was a good escape game with a nice variety of puzzles, though we had a preference for Instinct de survie at the same company. Note that this game exists as both rooms 13 and 14 – so you can make two teams to see who will escape first. We played in room 13, but could visit the room 14 after playing, and found it maybe even more impressive, though they both are very similar. Finally, note that Leavinroom recently opened a new horror-themed room named Game Over, a follow-up to their Instinct de Survie.
Game played in July 2018 (Photo 1: LeavinRoom / Photo 2, 3 & 4: Escape The World)
Other reviews :
- in English: The logic escapes me
- in French: Allo escape, Ce que pensent les hommes, Escape blog, Escape game blog, Escape game France, Escape game Paris, Escape gamer, Polygamer.
