David: Towards the end of last year, I returned from a trip to Madrid where I had just completed my first Unboxd escape room tour. I wrote about the amazing time we had here.
Not six months later I find myself in a similar position, returning from my second trip with the Unboxd crew; this time however in Germany, specifically spread across Hamburg, Berlin, Bamberg and an extraordinarily hidden-away little town called Bad Steben. What was particularly special about this trip was that for the Berlin leg, I had the pleasure of being joined by none other than our very own Mairi!
Mairi: It was a pleasure being a part of it! I need absolutely no excuse to come play escape rooms in Europe, and I’m super pleased I got to try out Unboxd after hearing so much about it before.
What this does mean for this article is that since we only overlapped in that one city, we didn’t play all of the same escape rooms together. So, we’ll be tag teaming on this article to cover all the rooms in the trip! I’ll write about the ones before David arrived, David will write about the ones he played once I’d headed home, and for the ones we played together.
Since we don’t tend to cover non-UK escape rooms in depth on The Escape Roomer, and in the interest of brevity(ish), here are some quickfire(ish) reviews of the 14 rooms we played.
Day 1: Hamburg
Mairi: The Unboxd Germany trip officially kicked off in Hamburg. Home of a gorgeous industrial architecture port, beautiful canals to wander down, Miniature Wonderland (which was excellent), and of course… Several award-winning escape rooms! There I met up with the Unboxd organisers, my fellow escape room players, and my fantastic friend Alex (of Clockwork Dog fame).
Big Break Hamburg: The Toy Maker
⭐⭐⭐⭐💫
It’s equal parts funny and fitting that the very first escape room I played on my trip ended up being one of my personal absolute favourites of the trip.
(…Okay, okay I hear you David! I didn’t get to do the Bad Steben ones and I’m sure they’d have trumped this one!)
But, in terms of an all-rounded, well balanced and utterly satisfying escape room, The Toy Maker is that room. If you’ve ever criticised a room for being “too gen 1” or not having enough technology, I’d encourage you to head over to Hamburg and try out this one. It’s absolutely packed with delightful, child-like wonder and really makes good use of the playfulness of toys. There’s something tactile about this room and it’s a veritable feast for the eyes, ears, and brain from start to finish.
In The Toy Maker, you explore the legendary shop of a fabled toymaker as a part of a peculiar game in of itself. You’ll explore multiple spaces throughout your adventure, and the experience of being in those physical spaces really tells the story well. I found the room a whole lot less scary than the company’s branding might suggest it is. In fact, I’d put that scariness rating at “absolutely not scary at all, I’m surprised anyone would consider it so” but hey, each to their own.
As a final thought, The Toy Maker was probably the most puzzley escape room I played on the entire trip. I didn’t know this at the time, but the Germany rooms would largely be narrative or impressive set focused, but The Toy Maker? Puzzley!
Skurrilum: Ghost Hunter Ernie Hudson and the Wailing Woman
⭐⭐💫
After a brief break for lunch to refuel, off we headed to our next two rooms at the curiously named Skurrilum. Both of the two rooms here fit into the same cinematic escape room universe, which is following the TV ghost hunter Ernie Hudson on his various escapades. If I had a dollar for every time I played a room with the name format Ghost Hunter “Someone Someone” and the “Something Something”, I’d have… Well, only three dollars. But it’s a lot considering these “Ghost Hunter” rooms have no connection to the Ghost Hunter room at The Room in Berlin.
Of all the rooms on the trip, this one was the one that didn’t click with me the most. It had an incredible set, a very engaging narrative, and one of the most impressive theatrical “show stopper” moments I’ve ever seen in any escape room ever. But something about the puzzles just tripped us up a few too many times. The Wailing Woman occasionally suffers not from needing prior knowledge, but from needing prior skill. We encountered one puzzle which either you could do it, or you couldn’t, and there wasn’t an easy way for the Games Master to override it for us. Eventually after some 20 minutes of struggling, we did complete it, but I can imagine many teams being unable. This, and many of the other puzzles acted as a chokepoint that just one person could tackle at once. It would be a room I’d recommend for a team of 2, or 3 maximum for this reason.
That said, I can totally forgive it that snag, because even in a frustrating moment there was still plenty to admire and explore.
Skurrilum Ghost Hunter Ernie Hudson and the Zoo of Death
⭐⭐⭐💫
By comparison, I really enjoyed Ghost Hunter Ernie Hudson and the Zoo of Death. What’s not to love? It’s got a unique theme I’ve not played before. It’s got running, jumping and climbing. It’s got a giant gorilla who is now my best friend in the world. And let’s not overlook how fun the puzzles were too. If I had to guess, I’d say the hosts really enjoy running this escape room too. There were several moments of fun interaction with our Games Master whilst in the room – parts I’m still laughing about now. The Zoo of Death is just that. Really fun. So if you only have time to play one room at Skurrilum, make it this one.
Amusingly, Skurrilum is located opposite a building which seems to be perfectly divided down the middle as “the cheapest” (and most pink) strip club and a McDonalds. Honestly if you time your day right, between the nice places to eat and the escape rooms too you could have quite the afternoon here.
Day 2: Berlin
Illuminati Escape: Titanic 2.0
⭐⭐⭐💫
David: For the Berlin rooms, Mairi, Alex and I played as a three. The first room of the trip was Titanic 2.0, a wacky game with an even wackier narrative. I seem to remember we had three separate main objectives, but exactly what, I cannot tell you; a result of the combination of my inability to pay attention during non-puzzling moments, some tweaky translations, and somewhat of a frantic introduction from our host.
One of the two games of the trip where we would have to split up for part of the game, and another which did something I’d never seen before in an escape room – everything was ‘upside down’!
I really enjoyed this room – possibly more so than the other 11 people on the trip – but that’s because there was a lot of climbing, and I’m a big fan of physically-challenging experiences. Well, that’s not the only reason – I thought it had a great variety of puzzles, many of which I had not seen before.
Some criticisms – it did feel quite cramped (even if it did narratively make sense), and the person who took the scientist’s role (Mairi in this case) had the disadvantage of being locked away in a little booth with little to do until the others (Alex and I) had let them out (about 15 minutes for us).
Oh, and you know when I mentioned the boat was upside down? It meant that every single clue was upside down, which – although not too difficult to comprehend – just became annoying by the end.
Miraculum: Frankenstein
⭐⭐⭐⭐
The next two rooms we played were at the same location, Miraculum – a company who very much pride themselves on their pre-game intros and for good reason! From the outside, you’d be mistaken for thinking it was an actual bookstore. I mean, considering the words ‘MIRACULUM BOOKSTORE’ are emblazoned across the windows, I would be surprised if random passers by didn’t try to enter on the regular.
Once we were let in at our designated time, the robed-host ushered us through a doorway and into a cosy alcove adorned with books. I won’t spoil the magic (it was definitely actual magic by the way), but the introduction was really quite magical.
Puzzle-wise, nothing was particularly taxing, but unfortunately neither was it particularly inspiring.
There was one seemingly out of place puzzle (read: activity) though…oh good lord please modify that prop! Reducing it to only one quarter of its current task would be acceptable, but it really didn’t need to be that long (I’m told it wasn’t part of the original design of the room, hence why it felt so out of place).
Frustrations aside, the set was better than top-level. Alex and I agreed that Frankenstein had one of…if not the best set we’d ever seen (Mairi probably would too, but we didn’t ask her at the time 😛).
Mairi Addendum: Yes, I agree! Every nook and cranny, every weird winding disorientating corridor, and that ending, absolute *chefs kiss*
Miraculum: The Golden Phoenix
⭐⭐⭐⭐
A brief interlude had us take a short walk down the street to have lunch in the sun. Turgid with food, we returned waddling back to Miraculum for our final game of the day (curry and beer was, on reflection, a terrible idea just before playing an escape room).
Thankfully, digestion reigned supreme and by the time we had been whisked off to our next mystery location (German Hogwarts btw), I was raring to go.
As with Frankenstein, the set was fantastic; when your sleuthing is interrupted by often having to stop to look at some of the finer details of the decor in favour of, that’s when you know a good job has been done.
I was pleased to discover that the puzzles were, on the whole, better than the previous room. That being said, it was very evident that some of the interactions were host-triggered – which although not inherently an issue – becomes one when the host isn’t paying attention (please pay attention, hosts!).
Day 3: Berlin
The Room: Beast of Berlin
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Day 3 saw us head over to one of Germany’s oldest and most celebrated companies, The Room. Founded by famed designer Chris Lattner, our expectations were already suitably set for the day.
[Side note: Over half of the rooms on this trip were designed by Chris. He has a built a reputation for making games with unparalleled levels of immersion, so unless I have something specific to say about a particular aspect of the set design, I’m just going to get it out the way now save sounding like a broken record – every build Chris had a hand in the sets was flawlessly good, the best you can possibly hope for in an escape room – nay – any experience really. Top marks.]
We started with The Beast, touted as being a bit more on the horror-side of things – although it really was light in that respect – just a smattering of gore and some moody lightning at times.
Puzzles were good – better than I expected – I particularly enjoyed some of the searching elements (probably because this is where I usually fall down, so I make this comment with an essence of smugness).
One puzzle we semi-bruted early meant that the story skipped forward slightly, making the next task very difficult for us (poor puzzle design or a lesson in patience, hmmmm?). Either way, great game. Onto the next.
The Room: Ghosthunter Brandon Darkmoor
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Regardless of how good an experience is at its core, there is one variable that can really mar an experience… and that’s a bad host.
We had the same person for the next two games, and thankfully she couldn’t be any further from that! From our collection outside, to that moment in Brandon Darkmoor, the hosting was flawless (I’m sorry for constantly trying to throw you off, you didn’t deserve it. I can’t help it, I’m one of those players).
The narrative set-pieces were brilliant, and the humour was both a breath of fresh air and very welcome. That being said, with fewer puzzles than the other two games, a slightly broken show=piece, and a moment where we had to (spoiler) SING(!), I found myself enjoying this game much less than the other two (please don’t make me sing again simply because we didn’t do it loud enough, (on reflection, maybe I was too nice about the host 😛).
The Room: The Lost Treasure of Alexander von Humbolt
⭐⭐⭐💫
Save the best till last! I love Indiana Jones, and this is a true love-letter. Absolutely packed with references, not only to Indie but to other beloved pop-culture IPs, including a nod to one particular British Escape Room of late.
There was A LOT of crawling in this game – more so than I’ve ever done. Accessible, it is not, and if I was getting annoyed by it, I can’t imagine how irritating it must be for people with mobility issues! Also, fair warning: absolutely do not do this experience wearing nice clothes.
The other annoyance I had was with one specific puzzle, which is IMO desperately asking for more sign-posting. Though I fear 10+ years after running, they aren’t going to change it now.
Day 4: Berlin -> Bamberg
House of Tales: One Night in Hong Kong
⭐⭐💫
We were due to play a third room at our next destination in Bamberg, but sadly it wasn’t open in time, so we settled for a last minute consolation prize room (and it really did feel like that 🫠).
We lost a couple of people, but we also picked up a person – my old Bewilder Box partner, David Middleton, primed ready for the second leg.
Splitting into two teams of 5 & 6 respectively (that’s why we lost, yeah?), we went head to head; ‘best’ team wins.
Both teams finished around 25-30 relatively unforgettable minutes. Yes my team lost, but that didn’t really bother me (it diiiiidn’t, I swear) – it was more that the room was unsatisfying, and the puzzles fell flat, with one element in particular having been dismantled, causing a road block for us.
Sadly, uninspiring, but it was a last minute, unexpected appearance in our itinerary, so no real disappointment was had.
Mairi Addendum: So this was the last room I played before I headed home to the UK and… Yeah! I agree. I have my own personal reasons for not loving this room (you’ll have to get that story out of me over a drink). One Night in Hong Kong gets points for having a lovely set, but it’s otherwise an unremarkable room and one that enthusiasts will get through in under an hour, as we all did.
Finest Escape: The Holy Sepulchre
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Saying farewell to Berlin (and also sadly to Mairi!), it was southbound to Finest Escape in Bamberg! Built in a gutted-out cinema, this place was huge – the foyer alone was twice as big as both my old rooms (Bewilder Box) put together!
The first of two rooms we played here, The Holy Sepulchre started off incredibly strong – a particularly well done low-hanging hazer effect in the first area got a big ‘Ooooooh’ out of us. There was also one absolutely fantastic puzzle that I’m pretty sure used a gyroscope function (although I can also see how something like that would have it’s fair share of technical issuescease to function and thus).
As we progressed, the puzzles became a little bit more on the obtuse side, I think we needed clueing on everything through the first door (and believe me when I say much space equals many doors).
The narrative was too notch, it was quite disturbing at times, but there are no jump scares so I wouldn’t call it a scary room. A fantastic performance by our host made for another very immersive experience.
Finest Escape: Tomb Hunter
⭐⭐⭐⭐💫
Carrying on the theme of nods-to-famous-temple-plunderers, Tomb Hunter clearly wanted us was clearly trying to tell us we were Lara Croft, ready to get her raid on – right down to uncovering the whereabouts of the missing father.
Once again, we did these games in the right order – better puzzles, a bigger space (which didn’t even seem possible!), an awesome set-piece, and some cool action moments meant for a very enjoyable experience indeed. This would have been my favourite room of the trip if it hadn’t been for what was about to come…
Day 5: Bad Steben
Dream Labs: The Tale of the Heartless Pirate
⭐⭐⭐⭐
The final two games on our trip had us all get cosy for a couple of hours; travelling by minibus to a tiny remote village in the heart of Bavaria, Bad Steben. To where the famous Dream Labs resides. You see, having shot to #6th and #9th on the Terpeca world rankings, there’s a reason why enthusiasts continue to undertake the bonkers journey into the heart of the Bavarian nowhere. Screw water, knowing the budget on these rooms would make your eyes DROWN;
If you read my review of Scumm Island – the escape room we did in Toledo late last year – you’ll know I’m a huge Monkey Island fan. I had been told that Tales was the one – the homage to end all homages. The hype was dangerously thermospheric, I was excited…
It is so hard giving a truly honest review, because I felt so very torn – on one hand, the game was clearly Monkey Island-themed, on another hand the set was, once again flawless (the Dream Labs rooms were also Lattner designs), and on a third hand, the puzzles were actually pretty good.
But something felt off. Perhaps it was that the tie-ins with Monkey Island felt too tenuous – the narrative for one thing felt a bit…random?
It definitely partly was because the host we had was not good at all. The introduction wasn’t the issue though, he joined us for the first quarter of the game, posing as a pirate character in the game. It felt like the owners had hired their son to take the role of someone who – all things equal – should really have been an actor. One major drawback of being based in a remote village, I guess!
Or perhaps it was simply that it had been hyped a little too much? (I mean…I imagine it was all of these things together).
There was one specific attention to detail involving splitting up and the reasons why that made me think ‘well done, Chris, well done’.
Dream Labs: Metropolis 2099
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Normally I would structure these reviews in the order I played them, and that’s true for the most part here, however I switched the order of these last two reviews round specifically because I had to just to end on Metropolis 2099.
I don’t really know what to say. I feel like no words could possibly do it justice, so I’m just gonna go ahead and say it – this is the best escape room experience I’ve ever had. I could complain about the lack and complexity of puzzles throughout the game, but it’s all completely irrelevant. The experience was perfect.
I know it’s not easy to justify taking a trip to Bad Steben just to play, but I don’t care – if you enjoy Escape Rooms or immersive experiences, rob a bank, sell a kidney, or your children, just please dear lord go and play this room.
I’m breaking your scoring conventions for this, Mairi. 6 stars.
