AROOM: House of Escobar (Budapest)

What a Lovely House

There are several ruined houses on the street, one of them is the notorious Pablo Escobar’s drugstore . Your wisdom introduces you through the fence to the depths of the house and beyond. Find Pablo’s hiding place.

We’d initially only booked to play three games at AROOM; Sky Heist, Deadland and House of Escobar. But we ended up booking another, Ghost Castle because we were having such a good time and were ahead of schedule. Anyway, the game at hand was House of Escobar, a game whose theme is quite apparent just from the title.

After a little rest in between games in the comfortable waiting area (with retro games consoles and free water) it was time to get down to business. Our GM, whose name I can’t recall, led us through the outdoor corridor to a very non-descript door – a door that looked like it belonged to a regular apartment. Stepping through this door however was like stepping into a portal, as on the other side we were suddenly in an alleyway in Columbia.

In the room/alleyway we received our mission briefing and then our GM left us to it. After a short intro, our mission was clear. We had to find a phone number, then find a phone and call the number – simple enough.

IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN

All of the games at AROOM that we played had a very high level of set design, and that was especially so with House of Escobar. Rather than just experiencing a ‘room’, House of Escobar took us on a journey from the street and into the house, and even then there were more surprises in store for us.

Each space we encountered was well decorated and drove the story forward. I’ve only watched some of Narcos, and it’s been a while since I did, but House of Escobar contained all the things you’d expect to see in a game about the infamous Pablo Escobar (although no hippos).

Ambient noises were played most of the time which again helped with the immersion. When we were outside the house it was quite a lovely place to be, shame we had a 60 minute time limit as we couldn’t hang around and enjoy it for as long as I would have liked. The game started in a very open space which means larger teams won’t be falling over each other, but as it progresses some of the spaces do get tighter, and you’ll need to be comfortable with stairs.

PUZZLES

According to the AROOM website, House of Escobar is one of the hardest games that they offer, and at times it certainly felt more challenging than some of their other games that we played. Saying that, we still completed the game in around 21 minutes so it wasn’t too challenging. Although admittedly we were a very experienced team of four players.

The puzzles all felt like they belonged in the theme, with very little feeling out of place. At times we split up and worked on different things, sometimes this was a necessity and other times it was because we could work on things independently. Communication, teamwork, observation, audio, searching, and colours made up the bulk of the puzzles. They generally resulted in combinations for padlocks or triggered some form of tech.

After playing a few hundred escape rooms it’s nice to still see puzzles that we haven’t seen before. House of Escobar had a few fun elements that managed to add some light hearted fun, while still keeping on theme.

GM/CLUE SYSTEM

We didn’t actually need any clues in House of Escobar, but going on AROOM’s other games I would assume that if we did, they would have come over the TV screen in the room. For some reason they limit clues to five, so I’m not sure what happens if you need more than that?

Once again our GM was very enthusiastic when she greeted us after we completed our mission which makes me believe she was watching us closely. Of course, getting out in a little over 20 minutes means we gave her a pretty easy ride.

I guess being picky, the only thing that actually broke with the immersion of this game was the timer that was in the room. Still, there’s always got to be an element of disbelief as I most certainly wouldn’t last close to 20 minutes if I was trying to steal from Mr Escobar!

ANYTHING ELSE

Another solid game by AROOM. House of Escobar wasn’t overly challenging but a large, expansive set with plenty of puzzles to solve made for an enjoyable experience.

I think if we ever go back to Budapest we’ll be sure to head back to AROOM and complete the set by playing their remaining games.

Success/Failed

Final Rating:

Team: 4 players – 21:34 taken

Address: Budapest, Király u. 14, 1061 Hungary

Website: https://www.locked.hu/en/