Escape Barcelona: K.O.N.G Protocol (Barcelona)

Next. Level. Stuff.

Enter an abandoned park of creatures where the corporation carried out experiments with ancient animals.

While it is not the be-all-end-all of escape room rankings, when we book a trip abroad specifically to play escape rooms, one of our first points of call in determining which rooms to book are the TERPECA rankings. The Top Escape Room Enthusiast Choice Awards (which is certainly a mouthful) started in 2018, and every year since then Escape Barcelona have the honour of not only being nominated, but having at least one game ranked in the Top 50. And more often than not, those games were actually ranked in the Top 10.

Needless to say, Escape Barcelona has been on our radar since even before we started Review the Room, and while we weren’t able to fit all of their rooms into our schedule, the three we were most keen to play – CyberCity 2049, Tomb Hunter: Akasha’s Legend, and K.O.N.G Protocol – were some of the first games we booked once our flights were confirmed. Of those, K.O.N.G was the game I was most intrigued by – probably because Escape Barcelona’s marketing claims it was inspired by Resident Evil and Jurassic Park: two of my favourite things. (Although, to be honest, they should probably also mention that some things seem to be very much inspired by the Monarch Monster universe as well…)

K.O.N.G Protocol is the company’s latest game, opening in 2024. Despite the short amount of time it’s been open, the game shot straight to #10 on the TERPECA rankings, and it’s certainly receiving a great deal of attention and hype. And with good reason. The game is impressive, and certainly a step, if not a leap, forward in the evolution of escape rooms. But I’ll do my best not to add to the hype, as while the game is excellent, it is not without its flaws.

For anyone thinking of playing both K.O.N.G and CyberCity, the mechanics of the games are similar enough that we were warned not to play them back to back. If you can split them across several days, that would be best, but if that’s not an option, definitely try to throw in a palette cleanser in between  – which is exactly what we did with Tomb Hunter. Tomb Hunter and K.O.N.G are even located in separate venues, so we even had some time to walk around and get a bit of fresh air before making our way back to the Calle Francesc Moragas location to prepare for our mission to the abandoned facility.

Standing outside the entrance to K.O.N.G, I couldn’t help but start to feel a little nervous about what was to come as I took in the gouges across the door. That feeling only intensified when the door opened, and we found ourselves in an eerie corridor, with flashing lights, the booming audio of our mission briefing, and the presence of something down the corridor, waiting for us to come a bit closer…

IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN

Immersion is a word we often throw around  in an almost lackadaisical fashion when discussing escape rooms, but it is rare to find a game that is truly immersive, but K.O.N.G is exactly that. K.O.N.G Protocol isn’t quite a horror game, but rather what the Spanish seem to call a “tension” game, and if anything, I found this style of game is even more immersive than a true horror experience; the suspense heightens your awareness of everything, building a sense of foreboding, but I never actually found myself becoming numb to my feelings as I so often do in horror games with a constant barrage of jump scares. Yes, there is “something” in there with you, and teams of a more nervous disposition may choose to avoid K.O.N.G because of this, but, thanks to the clearly spelled out rules of any encounters with the inhabitants of the park, it is easier to control your fear and act in spite of it.

While the tension certainly helps with immersing players into the world of K.O.N.G Protocol, it’s the combination of this with the set, sound, and lighting design that truly make this game the spectacle that it is. You’re not just playing a game, you are living it. The physical nature of some game elements makes it inaccessible for players with mobility difficulties, but helps to bring the story to life. Not only that, but the choices you make and your success within the game directly impacts the outcome of the game, further sucking you into the story.

The one moment where K.O.N.G Protocol lost me, however, was the finale. Don’t get me wrong, it was good, it just had the potential to be better. Everything was building to this moment, and the climax of the game was a frantic, high adrenaline situation that felt like a fight for our very lives. Then, with a sprint to our final salvation, I was prepared for an incredible conclusion, which ended up just feeling a bit… cheesy. It just didn’t fit with everything we had just experienced. In my (admittedly very picky) opinion, Escape Barcelona could have done this so much better, and more cheaply, by simply leaving some things up to our imagination.

PUZZLES

Some games have puzzles that steal the show while others have a show that overshadows the puzzles. K.O.N.G falls into the latter category, but mostly because of the style of puzzles present throughout the game. Diegetic puzzles are my absolute favourite type of puzzles; I love it when something feels “real,” and not like an artificial construct placed in my way with no connection whatsoever to the world we’re in or the story that’s being told, and the puzzles throughout K.O.N.G Protocol were exactly that. The style of those puzzles and tasks varied, with challenges that covered communication, teamwork, logic, maths, and so much more, but each was perfectly meshed within the narrative and their surroundings. The nature of set design does mean that many of these puzzles are heavily tech based however, and there are no shortage of screens or buttons to push.

While puzzles that don’t feel like puzzles are my favourite kind, they’re not for everyone. Players that want a real puzzle to sink their teeth into are likely to feel disappointed with the content in K.O.N.G Protocol, since there aren’t many, and the style of puzzles found throughout this game makes it difficult to pinpoint exactly what was done by whom, especially when completing those tasks that require the input of multiple team members. This left some of our team feeling as though they didn’t really properly solve anything, despite being involved. It’s also worth mentioning that there were not an insignificant number of puzzles that relied on colour throughout the game, making certain things impossible for colour blind players, and further alienating some of the team.

GM/CLUE SYSTEM

To be honest, I can’t remember receiving any overt clues throughout KONG, as the telegraphing for the puzzles was clear enough to our team that we were never really at a loss for what to do. But based on the other games at Escape Barcelona, I’m confident that the delivery method wouldn’t break the immersion, be it written text on any of the screens that were integral parts of the set, or simply voice over booming throughout the . It is possible clues could have even been as subtle as a change in lighting.

We were thrown into K.O.N.G with no preamble, (and no opportunity to use the toilet, so come prepared) and never actually met our GM until after the game finished. As such, we never actually got his name. But, his performance, both within the game, and behind the scenes, was spot on, and he was an absolute pleasure to chat with after the game – answering our questions, and even allowing us the time to explore the set a bit with the lights on just to take it all in.

ANYTHING ELSE

K.O.N.G Protocol is not just an escape room, it is an experience. If you ever wanted to know what it was truly like to live a video game, and not just play one, K.O.N.G Protocol is pretty much as close as you can get.

Success / Failure

Final Rating:

Team: 4 players

Address: CALLE FRANCESC MORAGAS 18 LOCAL, 08922 Santa Coloma de Gramenet

Website: https://www.escapebarcelona.com/en/