Escape Rush: Botanist Manor (Brussels)

Escape Room Inception

Your mission “Botanist Manor” will take you to Kirkwall, Scotland, in the Orkney Islands. In 80 minutes, you will have to infiltrate a mysterious escape game called “TimeGates”, owned by the eccentric Ewan McAllister, in order to find Sarah Fisher, a famous journalist who disappeared a week ago.

We planned our Belgium/Netherlands road trip as a knee jerk reaction to Demise of the Gricers closing (they didn’t, they’re still running), but obviously we had to add in extra games to really make the trip worthwhile. We thought we had all the games nailed down, and then along came the 2024 TERPECA awards and at position 18 was a game that we weren’t aware of, Botanist Manor by Escape Rush. This was the perfect addition to our trip, especially because it was in Brussels and was an easy (in terms of location) last game.

After returning our rental car to the airport, we hopped in an Uber and in no time at all we were outside Escape Rush. First impressions of Escape Rush, even before we got inside were very good – the decoration outside had us questioning if we were in the right place as it looked like we had arrived at a rather fancy tailor’s shop. Fortunately our host, Louis, appeared while we were lingering outside, confirmed we were in the correct place, and showed us to the waiting area.

The waiting area was one of those spaces where we could have quite easily spent hours just relaxing. With lovely Chesterfield couches, enchanting smells in the air, and elegant piano music being played – this did not feel like where an escape room experience would begin. Even the hand dryers in the bathroom were disguised/hidden to ensure the bathrooms kept the same classy feel.

Of course we weren’t at Escape Rush just to enjoy the waiting room, and soon it was time to get down to business. We locked our personal items away in the footlockers in the waiting room, and when it was time for our mission the lightning and the music in the whole waiting area changed, letting us know that something was about to happen. Shortly after, Louis returned and escorted us through to a secondary briefing area.

In this secondary briefing area we received our mission briefing and then a secret pathway appeared that took us to the start of our mission at Botanist Manor.

IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN

What better way to create immersion in an escape room than by the story of the escape room being that you’re there to play an escape room? Of course that’s how the game starts but then it takes many twists and turns and you soon realise that things are not quite as they seem. For lack of a better word, this game was beautiful. With huge sets, plenty of spaces to explore, and a finale that I certainly won’t be forgetting any time soon.

Often when we play a game with ‘manor’ in the title we will start in the manor directly from the hallway of the escape room. Escape Rush have designed a beautiful set where we get to be impressed from the moment we enter the experience, until the moment we leave. Actually getting to view and visit the manor from the outside before delving deeper inside.

We’re playing more experiences now where there is a little piece of the game that you get to take home as a souvenir, and that was the case at Escape Rush too. We’ve got a lovely memento sitting at home in our escape room shrine that is a permanent reminder of our experience here. Of course it could have gone horribly wrong if we had made a different choice but fortunately I (Gord) was behaving on this occasion and was sensible.

A lovely personal touch in the game itself was great too. It gave our team a laugh and showed a nice little attention to detail by Escape Rush that both felt personal to us but also helped immerse us in the experience. Couple that with some really cool tech moments, and this was a really beautiful experience.

PUZZLES

As you would expect from an escape room that was set up as, well, an escape room, the puzzles were varied and because of the theme, nothing felt out of place. Thinking back on our experience in Botanist Manor, there was a lot to take in. Each space we encountered had puzzles that felt unique to that space, and they were varied and enjoyable to solve: observation, teamwork, logic, perception, following directions, and a little bit of searching made up the bulk of the puzzles.

It’s worth pointing out that a few of the puzzles involved colours – so if you or someone on the team is challenged with colour perception, then there may be a few bits in the game when they’re standing around like a lemon – saying that, there are quite a few things to get on with, so if they can’t easily participate in one puzzle, there’s a lot of other things to get on with.

Solving the puzzles generally seemed to result in some form of tech triggering. I’m sure there were passwords too, but I honestly can’t remember now – so if there were, there can’t have been that many!

I said that all the puzzles we encountered were enjoyable, and that’s true. Although, one of the last puzzles we solved felt a bit weak. It felt like we could have done a lot more with this but it was a very quick win, but that did set us up nicely for the rather epic and unexpected finale.

GM/CLUE SYSTEM

Louis was the person who greeted us when we arrived, and he was also the host for our time in Botanist Manor. He was welcoming, warm, and enthusiastic – a good combo! I don’t recall needing much help in this experience as the puzzles all made sense, and seemed to click pretty well with our team.

If we did need help, it was delivered through a mobile phone that was part of the game. It was delivered as a message and an audio alert would also signal its arrival. Fortunately we found the puzzles to be fair and not overly taxing so I don’t recall needing to receive any help.

ANYTHING ELSE

Botanist Manor is a ridiculous experience in terms of story, but somehow it works, and it’s surely a must play if you’re in Brussels. An epic set, fun puzzles, and a grandiose finale – what’s not to love?

If we have one regret about our visit to Escape Rush, it would be that we only had time for one game. We not only heard great things about Botanist Manor, but also their Tokyo Lab game. We will be back, and we cannot wait.

Success / Failure

Final Rating:

Team: 4 players – 50 mins

Address: Rue de l’Automne 30, 1050 Ixelles, Belgium

Website: https://escaperush.com/