What’s your favourite scary game?
Friki Escape Room presents our first game: Stab. An escape room experience where you won’t have to escape a room, but a killer, and survive. With this game, we aim to pay homage to the slasher genre, with plenty of nods and references, as befits true horror geeks.
It’s a genre we think is ideal for giving you a terrifying experience, but one where the fear is balanced, giving way to numerous tests and puzzles, focusing more on a high-tension game than pure horror, suitable for all types of players.
Shortly after the 2025 TERPECAs were announced, we managed to snag an English booking for Magic Universe. Originally intended to be an extreme day trip, this actually ended up being an overnight in Madrid. And with extra time on our hands, we started looking at the other games that we might have missed on our last trip to Madrid. When Gordon informed me that there was an escape room loosely inspired by the Scream franchise, he had my attention.
Scream is one of my favourite films of all time, so it’s unsurprising I was on board. Literally translated, Puñalada means ‘Stab,’ which is even more fitting for a game inspired by Scream than actually calling it Scream would have been. And it just so happens that Friki Escape Room is on the perfect side of Madrid to stop off on the way from the airport. So after a frighteningly early flight, and a detour to a delightful little churrería, we found ourselves standing outside the doors to Friki Escape Room in the beautiful Spanish sunshine waiting to be allowed inside to be terrorised by a killer (as you do). At precisely 2:30pm, we rang the bell, the door buzzed, and we started to wonder just exactly what we were getting ourselves into.
IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN
One thing I’ve noticed that appears the standard across Spain – the games here heavily favour the cold start. We stepped from the glorious sun into a room so dark, it took a little while for our eyes to adjust enough to be able to see the chest where we could put our belongings. But, this wasn’t quite a cold start. Unlike those situations, where one is greeted in character, if you’re greeted at all and not just chucked straight into the action, it was made very clear that we were there to play an escape room. And with the almost standard briefing out of the way, we were asked to put on the blindfolds to be guided into the experience.
Once inside the game, however, there was a shift, and a blurring of the lines. Were we playing an escape room, or was it something else? Like its inspiration, Puñalada is a little bit meta, playing on the common tropes of the horror genre, whether it be film or escape rooms. It’s not just the Scream franchise that Puñalada pays homage to, however, it is many, with easter eggs from several popular horror franchises, peppered throughout the experience to surprise and delight fans of the genre.
The game managed to build the tension, revealing an unexpected narrative that raised the stakes, keeping a fast and almost frantic pace. But despite the moments of horror, there was still plenty of focus on the puzzles, making Puñalada just as much of an escape room as it is a horror experience.
PUZZLES
All too often, with horror experiences, the puzzles are limited, to practically non-existent. However, that is not the case here. Puñalada is surprisingly puzzly, with some of those puzzles actually being quite complex, and multi-layered. Searching, logic, recognising patterns, and more all came into play, but solving under threat added an extra level of challenge.
Alongside the actual puzzles, there’s another test, of sorts, to add a bit of a twist to the rules. Players will need to test their bravery, over and over, risking their “lives” (yes, like a video game, you can lose a life here) to complete key elements of the game.
GM/CLUE SYSTEM
It’s bizarre to receive clues from someone that is supposedly trying to kill you, but in keeping with the movie this game plays homage to, that’s exactly what happens. You simply need to pick up the phone when it rings. And you really have no option but to pick up the phone.
The interactions with the killer are thrilling, humorous, and occasionally helpful (on the occasions we were being a bit dim.) Our host seemed to be in multiple places at once, taunting us both over the phone, and stalking us through the corridors, to add both laughs and thrills to the game.
ANYTHING ELSE
If a horror game can be classed as joyful, then that is certainly a word I would consider using to describe Puñalada. Like the film it was inspired by, Puñalada doesn’t take itself too seriously, giving an adrenaline fuelled experience, as filled with humour as it is terror, not to mention some pretty decent puzzles. A word to the wise though, definitely heed the warning to wear comfortable clothes that you’re not worried about getting dirty.
Success/Failed
Final Rating:
Operation Puzzles Room Design GM/Clues Excitement
Team: 4 Players
Address: C. de Fuentespina, 13, Villa de Vallecas, 28031 Madrid, Spain
Website: https://www.frikiescaperoom.com/
Leave a Reply