LOCATION: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Photo above is property of Escape Manor Toronto
Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
📝 ETR DECODER
🔑 GAME: The Asylum
📅 DATE PLAYED: March 16, 2023
🎬 GENRE: Horror, Detective
🧠 DIFFICULTY (Based on 5 Players): 6/10
👥 TOTAL # OF PLAYERS: 4-8 PPL
🕒 LENGTH OF TIME: 60 Mins.
💰 PRICE: CAD $33/PP
☎️ BOOKING TYPE: Private
🔓 ESCAPED/ COMPLETED?: YES
📖 THE STORY
What the hell happened here? After finally finding his room, through the ghostly and decrepit halls of the hospital, you take one look around the place before realizing what your gut has been telling you this entire time... that the good Doctor has most certainly and completely gone mad.
Fresh blood (barely dried) stains the operating room. The walls are splattered with the last desperate pleas of his doomed patients. The diabolical tools of his infernal work sit freshly set, awaiting their next subject. Amongst the horror, you peruse the evidence as fast as you can, working through the mad riddle of his work, hoping to find the key that might help you end this horrible experiment. But wait, did you hear that? What was that noise? Do you get the feeling that somebody is watching you?
The doctor is coming, act quick, before you become his next patient...
Video above is property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
🎯 HIT THE BULLSEYE
Escape rooms and horror are a match made in heaven. The room did a great job impressing the horror theme upon us as we entered, and they at least had me on edge the entire time we were in there.
The décor was on point. Classic corrupted hospital-sanitarium scene, with a page taken of out of movies like Saw, amongst many other horror films. A giant operating table, a restraining chair, a secret passageway, mad graffiti.
The puzzles were generally pretty clever and originated naturally from out of the theme. It was well designed and there was enough happening for everyone to go off on their own little mission. We never got stuck really on anything. Cool implementation of props, like the x ray reading machine, Rorschach tests, case files.
The finale had a cool setup where the group is forced to make a choice, lending an extra dimension and reality to the narrative.
🧩 MISSED THE MARK
Puzzles were mostly classic lock and code type puzzles, so that it was an old school kind of room, which is not bad per se, but I would love to see the room get a remake, and am very excited to imagine where they could take it. More tech-based puzzles, more gore, dimmer lighting, disturbing visuals, terrifying use of sound, anything to crank up the scare and scramble factor.
Thematic use of the horror: without spoiling anything, I wish they had ramped up the tension a little more, and had a more thematic and scary ending. Punctuate the groups progression with an ever accelerating degree of horror intimating the doctors approach. They should be holding us in the palm of their hands. Players are not just there for the puzzles, its the horror theme and the fear it invokes, the terror induced by the risk of taking each and every step, which makes it such a thrilling experience.
🏹 TAKE A SHOT?
Overall, I thought it was well done and would recommend the room. Especially if your a fan of horror-themed detective games. The room was well designed and fun to explore, and the puzzles were inventive, and suitably challenging and engaging for the average escape room player. They did a good job of inducing that element of terror in the players, a sense of being watched, of being where your not suppose to be, and of terrible horrors right around the corner, which all add up to a thrilling experience.
Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
ℹ️ ADDITIONAL INFO
Paid public parking nearby
Near public transit
Food and beverages served, alcohol, you can even have drinks ordered to your room!
Photos above are property of ESCAPETHEROOMers
(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 Escape Manor Toronto for comping our tickets for this game. Although complimentary admission was generously provided, it does not impact our opinion on the review whatsoever.
Comments