Enigmik Escape Room - "La Cerveseria (The Brewery"

LOCATION:  Barcelona, Spain

Photo above is property of Enigmik Escape Room

📝  ETR DECODER

• 🔑 GAME: La Cerveseria (The Brewery)

• 📅 DATE PLAYED: June 27, 2024

• 🎬 GENRE: Mystery, Cooperative

• 🧠 DIFFICULTY (Based on 3 ppl): 6.5/10

• 👥 TOTAL # OF PLAYERS: 2-6 ppl

• 🕒 LENGTH OF TIME: 80 Mins.

• 💰 PRICE: €22/ pp

• ☎️ BOOKING TYPE: Private

• 🔓 ESCAPED/ COMPLETED?: Yes

📖 THE STORY

This room was created in collaboration with the Estralla Damm beer company. In it you have been chosen to continue the lineage of creating the greatest beer in the world out of a secret recipe, given to you by the very charming and whimsical old world brewer named Mr Josep (who is played by a very famous local actor in the disneyland level introductory video).

🎯 HIT THE BULLSEYE

• There's a reason this game has been a Terpeca stalwart for all these years, and that's because it's a solid certifiable gold classic, a master work of intelligent semi-mimetic design, executed economically in a very modest space. It hasn't changed much if any over the years because it honestly is in its own way perfect, starting with the premise and its implementation of making the players cooperate as brewers in a very escape roomey but true to life brewery scenario.

• The first genius thing they do is assign each player different respective control over the aspects of brewing, thereby separating their roles so as to make the process a collective effort of their coming together. Very smart design that plays out really well.

• The onboarding video that gives you the whole story and mission is very charming and well done.

• The making of puzzles out of the process of brewing, along with the set which looks reasonably like what a brewery might look like, is done in a very creative way. The responsiveness of the set as well is really good, as well as the puzzle variety which is akin to a very smartly designed playground. The puzzles are as much fun in a tactile sense as they are intelligently designed. It'll have you running around, pressing this, scooping that, jumping on this, plugging on that, throwing this, etc.

• The host was amazing, very charming, as well as informative when we had a chat at the end about the room, and escape rooms in general - you're getting a human touch, which is very common in Spain.

• You get to taste your own creation at the end! 😉

🧩 MISSED THE MARK

• It didn't really miss the mark in any ways, but it is an old school room, meaning it relies on good old fashion puzzles, as opposed to immense sets replete with live actors. But what set and tech it uses in creative ways.

• The one criticism I might have is within the set and puzzle design is that yes, even within the idea of brewing and how it lends itself to our understanding of the set, sometimes we were at a loss for just how to engage with the puzzles. This is not a bad thing per se, as identifying the puzzle itself is part of the puzzle, but i would say as a resultlike 30% of the time we were directed by the eventual hint which arrives when you fail to keep up a brisk pace or when you appear to the game master to be treating the set like test monkeys let loose in a control room, and this means that 30% of the time we were not solving the puzzle as completely as it could have been done if possibly we just had a little more natural direction.

🏹 TAKE A SHOT?

It is a certifiable old school classic game that everyone should play, and which is in many ways a model for how escape rooms should be designed. It reminds me of how far you can go with a good premise and smart puzzle and set design. The making of an escape room out of a brewery points towards escape rooms as being more than just puzzles in a room, but as scenarios, the idea of which greatly pushes and expands the possibilities of what an escape room can be. Even if this room eventually gets pushed off the Terpeca - as it will - I believe it will continue to be recognized for its originality and creativity, and continue to be an influence on escape room design.

Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

ℹ️ ADDITIONAL INFO

• Best to book ahead as the room is quite popular, and it takes some setting up.

• Enigmik is located in downtown Barcelona.

• Street parking is available but limited, best to take the subway which is very close.

• The building itself is somewhat non-descript beyond the banner, you have to ring the doorbell to be let in, and as usual with Spanish games, it has something of a cold open.

• You do get a bottle of beer as a reward for completing the game, so let them know if you do not want to partake.

• Again, as with all Barcelona rooms for some reason, there is the possibility of getting wet, and also some degree of climbing and crawling, but it's fairly minimal - take your time with these.

• You will be given bracelets with your corresponding ingredients that you will use to interact with the game, as well as a lanyard with a phone that will transmit information and clues.

Photo above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers

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