A lesson in horror games
“DEVOUR”
It was a small but harmful sect, it consisted of kidnapping men, women and children, to be sacrificed and delivered to the king of hell, in this way, the family would be protected and all their wishes would be fulfilled. The hallmark of this sect was to pluck the teeth of its victims, and leave them in a small sack of human skin.
For a few years, nobody and nothing suspected, until the same owners of the sect committed suicide for being guilty of serious crimes such as, harassment, kidnapping and death to several cases of missing persons. Billie, unlike her parents, her belief is in God. Her life consists of taking care of her sister who suffers from cerebral palsy.
One morning, Billie proceeded to give her sister breakfast. Upon entering his room, he saw that the object that protected them from all evils had disappeared. Something inside him stirred and he quickly tried to wake his sister, who to no avail, saw that she was in a “coma”.
Billie knows what is happening and that it haunts them every night, so she contacted a company of paranormal experts to find that object again, and help her sister. Since then, every week the same offer has been published in the newspaper:
It requires experts in the paranormal.
YOU DARE?
La Posesión has been around since at least 2019, when it claimed the #3 slot on the Spanish Escape Room Awards Best Horror Game rankings. But it wasn’t until the game was available in English in 2022 when the TERPECAs took notice, and the game made its debut on those rankings that year by placing 11th, just missing out on the Top Ten. Although newer, and shiner experiences have emerged and started to push the game down the rankings list, La Posesión continues to be strongly recommended, especially for fans of horror games.
La Posesión isn’t technically located in Barcelona, but rather Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, just outside the city. While it was possible to get there using the public transportation network, during the planning sessions for our trip to the Barcelona area, it was decided that the easiest way to fit in some of the outlying “must-play” games in the area would be to rent a car when we arrived and have a mini road trip before making our way into Barcelona-proper. In the end, our mini road trip ended up just being La Taberna and La Posesión, but those two were definitely firmly placed on the “do not miss” list.
It had already been a long day by the time we made it out to Sant Sadurní d’Anoia, after our 4am start, flight, the drive, and of course, La Taberna, but at that time of day, the on street parking was plentiful, and we had time to relax a bit before it was time. We made our way around the corner, and knew immediately we were in the right place as we approached the entrance of the haunted looking building. Exactly on the hour, the door cracked open, and we were ushered inside…
IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN
The glorious sunshine outside was a stark contrast to the almost pitch black of the interior once we stepped over the threshold. The experience began almost immediately, with no preamble, and barely an opportunity to stow away our belongings in some mysterious space, not unlike a vanishing cupboard, before we were thrown straight into the deep end. The rules were simple: stay together and follow the light. Of course, things don’t always go to plan…
There’s no getting around it – this game is dark, but the skillful use of lighting let us know where to go, when to solve something, and when to wibble in fear. Of course, that does mean that the game unfolds in a very linear manner, with only one possible path to follow to progress and solve the mystery.
La Posesión is loosely based on the film Insidious, and on the face of it, there is an abundance of story. But the reality of it is that this story sort of disappeared into the abyss as we did our best Scooby-Doo impression shuffling from space to space, all the while being spooped, in our quest to find the item we needed to stop the haunting. As we traversed back and forth between the rooms, we found that there was a surprising amount of detail in the set for a space that is often so dark you can’t make out those details. The attention to these little things here and there helped to further immerse us in the world.
But let’s face it, this experience is about neither the story, nor the puzzles, it is about the scares and the fear, and La Posesión does these exceptionally well. The lighting and sound design play together to enhance the atmosphere, and at times, the sounds are so over stimulating (i.e. loud) that even a brief flicker of light was enough to ramp up the tension. The game plays on your fears, and it does it exceptionally well.
PUZZLES
Often, with horror, we find the puzzle side somewhat lacking, both in quality and quantity of the content, so we were somewhat surprised by the abundance of puzzles we encountered throughout La Posesión. But not only that, the puzzles that were present were decent. They weren’t the most difficult of challenges in the light of day, but even the simplest task can become more difficult in the face of fear, which is exactly how La Posesión is designed.
The puzzles themselves were fair, with plenty of clear telegraphing to ensure that once players can calm themselves enough to focus, the solution would eventually present itself. However, La Posesión definitely subscribed to the “difficulty by darkness” newsletter, as the lack of light made some things infinitely harder, like being able to clearly see padlock dials to unlock something once you had a code.
GM/CLUE SYSTEM
The introduction to La Posesión was perhaps one of the most memorable of all the games that I’ve played. And not just those games in Barcelona, but in all the games. The so called “cold start” employed here is exceptionally common in Spain, and for good reason; It immediately sets the scene. But this mechanism is only as good as the actors, and the performances of the actors throughout La Posesión were, simply, superb. The well timed, but not exceptionally overdone, jump scares, and incredible theatrical style cut scenes had us both watching in amazement, and wanting to flee in terror. In fact, my mind is still a little blown by some of the things that happened throughout the game.
La Posesión were kind enough to open up especially for us, despite normally being closed on a Monday, and we are exceptionally grateful for this, and their excellent customer service. With the nature of horror escape rooms, it is imperative that the hosts know where the players are at every moment, and it’s clear from our post game debrief that the team here were paying very close attention to our progress throughout the game.
ANYTHING ELSE
La Posesión feels almost like it has a cult following. Throughout our time in Barcelona, whenever we were discussing our trip with the GMs and owners we met in our games, one of the first things they asked was, “Are you playing La Posesión?” followed by a knowing smile when we said we had.
Success / Failure
Final Rating:
| Operation | |
| Puzzles | |
| Room Design | |
| GM/Clues | |
| Excitement |
Team: 4 players
Address: Passeig Can Ferrer Del Mas, 24-26 08770 Sant Sadurní d’Anoia
Website: https://www.arcanum.es/
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