Emmelocked Escape Room - "Water of Life"

Updated: 6 days ago

LOCATION:  Emmeloord, Netherlands

Photo above is property of Emmelocked Escape Room

Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

📝 ETR DECODER

🔑 GAME: Water of Life
📅 DATE PLAYED: November 4, 2024
🎬 GENRE: Fantasy
🧠 DIFFICULTY (Based on 2 ppl): 5/10
👥 TOTAL # OF PLAYERS: 2-6 ppl
🕒 LENGTH OF TIME: 60 Mins.
💰 PRICE: €95/ 2 ppl, €105/ 3 ppl, €115/ 4 ppl, €127.50/ 5 ppl, €132,50/ 6 ppl
☎️ BOOKING TYPE: Private
🔓 ESCAPED/ COMPLETED?: Yes

📖 THE STORY

The magical realm of Emlia is under dire threat from the Fire People. The Water People's great protector has disappeared, and the local water has been poisoned. If you cannot reverse this tragedy before the blood moon rises in 60 minutes, this land and its people will be doomed forever. Can you traverse the land and decontaminate the water in time?

Video above is property of Emmelocked Escape Room

🎯 HIT THE BULLSEYE

As fantasy nerds, we were all about the imaginative lore and world that was created for Water of Life! The intro is creatively and effectively delivered to prime you for your quest.
The world of Emlia is a beautiful one to be in. We appreciated many of the details and scale of their construction, which are evident from the moment you enter the building. Elements such as the decor outside the entrance and the fetching cloaks you can wear are small extras that ramp up the immersion and anticipation. The joy of playing in such a lovely environment certainly contributed to this very charming experience.
We enjoyed many of the varied puzzles in this game, with several fresh ideas and nice hands-on elements. There is a fair bit of searching, which invites you to explore the environment without being excessive or frustrating. Overall, the challenges are on the easier side but still entertaining and feature several communication puzzles to keep you honing your teamwork.
Emmelocked focuses primarily on delivering hints and nudges in more subtle but effective ways to draw players' attention, such as sound and lighting cues, along with a few other types of hidden in-game hints that can be activated as needed. We always love when this can be done in such a way that players don't even realize they've been assisted.

🧩 MISSED THE MARK

There were a couple of puzzles that didn't feel like part of the same world, which pulled us out of the immersion. This included one element near the finale that merged the room's creative storyline with a well-known bit of a different story. This felt out of place, and we would have loved to instead have something more in keeping with its own fresh lore.

🏹 TAKE A SHOT?

We were happy we made the trip out to Emmeloord for this delightful game. Its fairy tale environment delivered lots of joy and "ooh"s and was simply a joy to traverse. Between that and the accessible puzzles with suitable hints, Water for Life would be a great room for families or newbies. However, its whimsical nature has a lot to offer players at any level and makes a refreshing change from the many excellent but darker-themed rooms so common in the Netherlands.

ℹ️ ADDITIONAL INFO

There is plenty of free parking, as well as bathrooms, drinks, and a cabinet for your things.
Be sure to take some time to appreciate the fanciful decor outside of the building itself and the thematic lobby, both of which enhance the world-building from the moment of arrival.

🔎 HINT

Consider using a traditional object in a modern fashion.…

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

BOOK NOW

(If you do decide to try this game, give us a shoutout or tag us on social media so we know you heard it from "ESCAPETHEROOMers"!)

Disclosure: We thank Emmelocked Escape Room for comping our tickets for this game. Although complimentary admission was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.