Mama Bazooka: The Dome (Bunschoten-Spakenburg)

Welcome to ThunderDome

For an investigation, you and your team participate in a dozen tests at THE DOME Research Facilities. At the same time, in your research room, the life-threatening criminal cyborg Hector undergoes CMNT (Controlled Molecular Neuro Transmission) treatment.

Partly because Hector’s henchmen take out Thommas Wigg -head of security-, Hector manages to hack THE DOME’s system with his internal computer.

As a result, there is nothing that can stop the outbreak of Hector. The result; the escape of an extremely high dose of Sodium Cyclate into THE DOME’s research space. You and your team will be intoxicated by this substance and from then on enter a hallucination where the line between reality and fantasy is completely blurred. Despite the illusion created by this hallucination, in reality you will never leave the research room of THE DOME!

Can you and your team, after Hector’s escape, let go of all logic and go with the flow of your hallucination? Or will you get caught up in the illusion?

When The Dome rocketed to the #1 spot in the 2019 TERPECA awards, Gord and I started debating a visit to The Netherlands; after all, Amsterdam isn’t really all that far from London, and the Eurostar just makes it so much more convenient. But when The Dome claimed the #1 spot again in 2020, #2 in 2021, and #3 in 2022, before sneaking back up into the #2 spot in 2023, we were desperate to see what all the fuss was all about.

Now, I believe that it’s true what they say – hype is well and truly the killer of enjoyment. If this is a game you know nothing about, I would thoroughly recommend it stays that way. Don’t read any reviews, in fact, don’t even finish this one. Forget how many people claim they love it, and just give it a go to make up your mind for yourself. It will honestly be better that way.

Of course, you probably didn’t actually pay attention to what I just said, and are still reading this, so I’ll just get on with it, I suppose. Despite what I said about Amsterdam not actually being that far from London, Mama Bazooka isn’t technically located in Amsterdam, and although it is possible to get to the venue using public transport, it is much easier if you drive. The Dome was scheduled to be our third and final stop on the first day of our mini Netherlands Road Trip, and we arrived with plenty of time to take full advantage of the spacious waiting area – complete with a bar with drinks and snacks for sale, and all the games tables and retro video games consoles one could desire.

We parked on the street outside the building and made our way in, only to be slightly confused for a moment, because yes, that really is the entrance. But our confusion was short lived, and we made our way up the stairs, where we were confronted by a screen in the hallway, where we stopped to watch a little welcome video. But with that out of the way, it was time to spend a bit of time enjoying the waiting area before it was time for the main event.

IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN

Once you enter the reception area of Mama Bazooka, although there are other games located at the venue, it’s very clear where we would be going next, with the entrance to The Dome front and centre. It looks a bit like something straight out of a sci-fi film, and when our GM Ekzme (we think that was the name) approached us, we had already spent quite a bit of time just staring at the entrance in anticipation.

Now, I very rarely have any prior knowledge of the back story when we play games, and often rely on the GM when we arrive or the name of the game to give me some clue as to what the theme will be. I’ll be honest, I had literally no idea what was happening in The Dome. The premise of The Dome is meant to be a research facility, but alongside that, there is apparently a narrative, and a rather complex one at that. After all, there’s a whole blurb about it on Mama Bazooka’s website, but it certainly wasn’t explained prior to entering the Dome. Instead, I felt a bit like I was on a trip for the vast majority of the game, and sometimes it was a bad trip. (Although, in retrospect that might actually be the point.) Of course, while I was utterly baffled by what was happening most of the time, there was still an underlying sense of adventure as we made our way through the space, never quite sure what would be happening next.

The Dome was full of both moments of joy and moments of sheer frustration. Each section we encountered was different to the last. The tasks flowed in a linear manner, keeping the team focussed on what was right in front of us, as we made out way through the facility. The game felt enormous, and everything about it was designed to make you feel fully immersed, from the tasks, to the pounding music throughout. The pace was almost frantic, as we were never sure just exactly how much more we would encounter, and there were moments of whimsy, followed swiftly by an adrenaline fuelled race to the next thing.

PUZZLES

When the premise of a game is an intelligence test, it gives license to create puzzles that have no need to fit into a narrative, and in fact, can cover any range of possibilities. Add in the actual story of the release of a hallucinogen into the atmosphere, and you get a game that is just full of mentally stimulating and occasionally delightfully weird puzzles and challenges, that cover everything from manual dexterity, to spatial relations. Physical coordination to teamwork and communication, and pattern recognition to memory. There was very little scavenging, but a keen eye for observation was essential.

For the most part, we enjoyed the tasks we encountered, however, while I try never to write anything that could be considered a spoiler, there was one aspect of The Dome that we didn’t really care for, and in order to describe why, it might just be a tiny bit spoilery. (So if you haven’t taken my advice and are still reading this, you really may want to skip this.) If you want to read this text, just select the blank space with your cursor. **Essentially, where the majority of games are designed to bring the team together as a cohesive unit, The Dome felt like it had some design choices that are there to make players doubt their teammates, and drive a wedge between you (we could be mistaken, but that’s how it felt to us at the time).** In a way, this design choice does actually fit into the narrative that I didn’t even realise existed, and of course, it does test one’s ability to remain calm under pressure, but it’s frustrating to say the least. For our team, it definitely killed some of the fun, and therefore the wow-factor, of the entire game.

GM/CLUE SYSTEM

I honestly have no idea how clues would be delivered if you needed them. Perhaps it’s not even that type of game. We definitely didn’t receive any overt help, at most it was subtle nudging with lighting and sound. But it may well even be that things are timed to just move you on at a certain point, regardless of if it has been completed correctly. Honestly? I have no idea, it’s all a bit of a blur.

But our GM was lovely before and after the game, and one thing I will say is that the debrief of the game was so thorough, we even got to watch a recording of our game, which may, or may not, have been a good idea considering how angry one of the tasks made us. But that does mean that she was also paying very close attention throughout our time in the game and would have been able to send help if The Dome does actually have a more traditional clue structure.

ANYTHING ELSE

The best way to describe The Dome would be to call it a spectacle. And I’m inclined to think that’s the reason this game has been considered by escape room enthusiasts to be one of the top three games in the world for the last five years. However, taste is subjective, and honestly, we didn’t really gel with The Dome. I wanted to love it, but the best I can say is that I enjoyed it. But, that’s not to say it isn’t objectively great. Either way, it is a game that is worth going out of your way to experience for yourself.

Success / Failure

Final Rating:

Team: 4 players

Address: Nijverheidsweg 5b, 3751 LP Bunschoten-Spakenburg, Netherlands

Website: https://escaperoom.nl/en/