E-Exit: Santa Muerte (Budapest)

A Colourful Game

In our Santa Muerte room you can experience the colourful and lively atmosphere of the Mexican Day of the Dead, created with an artistic style reminiscent of Frida Kahlo and the movie Coco. This game represents the new generation of escape rooms with its absolutely unique puzzles and extraordinary decoration. The brave adventurers will not find any padlocks in the realm of the Lady of Bones, and we guarantee that no player will leave the room on their two feet! We recommend this room to smaller teams, it is perfect for couples too.

The gracious Saint Death offered you 60 minutes to get back to real life… Good luck!

The last three games of our Budapest trip were the ones we had hoped would leave us on a high. We had already played Heaven and Hell, a classic by E-Exit (at a different location to this game), and our final two games were Santa Muerte and Secret Subway – arguably the two heavy hitters of the city.

We had a small amount of downtime between our games, but not much. So after a short rest in their waiting area, it was time to get down to business. Unlike with Secret Subway where you go downstairs into the basement (obviously, it’s a subway), Santa Muerte had us climb the stairs to go up to the first floor.

The bio for this game states that ‘no player will leave the room on their two feet’, and before you even enter the room, you will understand why! Because of that reason, and the stairs up to the entrance, I would question how accessible this room is, but if that’s a concern, best to check with the venue.

IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN

I can’t really comment on how immersive this experience was, but it was certainly pretty as it was filled with vibrant colour and decorations as you would expect from a game themed on the Mexican Day of the Dead (not to be confused with a zombie movie).

There were ambient noises and music being played at all times which helped to keep the tempo up and the mood light. Playing this game really did feel like a celebration and one that was designed to be fun throughout. One or two areas felt a tad toasty, so I would wonder how it would feel in a heatwave, but it’s set in Mexico, so perhaps that’s part of the theming? Talk about attention to detail!

Santa Muerte has glimpses of what’s to come even before you enter the game, and those glimpses are just enough to show you that there are some fun times ahead. As you progress through the game, you’re waiting for those moments to appear, and then when they do it oddly feels like closure. Oh and the ending? Silly, but just pure good hearted fun!

We played as a team of four and this felt like the perfect size. There were one or two smaller spaces but for the most part we had plenty of space to split up, although the gameplay was mostly linear, so it didn’t really get us through any quicker.

PUZZLES

Like I mentioned above, this was a mostly linear game where one puzzle led on to the next, so possibly not great as a large team if you don’t like standing around. Saying that, many of the puzzles were larger and we found that quite often we were all working on the same puzzle, at the same time and we all had something to do.

Santa Muerte is another padlock-free game where it relies on tech to trigger actions. So solving a puzzle relied on tactile interactions rather than just putting a code into a padlock. Spatial awareness, memory, observation, searching, teamwork, communication, and colour all play a part in the puzzles, and all felt like they belonged in this vibrant Mexican world.

Sometimes with a padlock-free game it can be hard to know where to go next, especially if some tech triggered on the other side of the room without any notification. That wasn’t the case in Santa Muerte though, the signposting was spot on and we rarely had to guess where to go next, which helped give this game a wonderful flow.

GM/CLUE SYSTEM

For a company with a reputation like E-Exit, you would be expecting something a little more special than simple walkie-talkies for the hint system –  and you’d be correct. E-Exit have created a hint system that feels diegetic to the space we’re in, and asking for, or receiving help felt like a natural extension of the game. Ok, the only negative is that someone has to carry it the entire time – but it’s good to have a purpose, right? This system also beautifully integrated a timer to keep an eye on your remaining time.

ANYTHING ELSE

I love it when a company adds a bit of whimsy to their games, not because it’s needed, but simply because they can. Santa Muerte was a joy to play, and even more of a joy to exit. Great signposting, fun puzzles, vibrant theme – what’s not to love?

Success/Failed

Final Rating:

Team: 4 players – 37:00 taken

Address: Budapest, Klauzál u. 34, 1072 Hungary

Website: https://escaperoom.hu/