Skurrilum: Ghosthunter Ernie Hudson and the Zoo of Death (Hamburg)

A fun day at the Zoo…of DEATH!

A new case for ghost hunter Ernie Hudson and his team. The investigation will take you to the abandoned sandy bay zoo. It is said that strange noises can be heard between the cages and gates at night. A case for real professionals! Do you have the courage to take on the case? The story is also told using radio play elements. Look forward to various locations, countless effects and lots of surprises. Note: Both “Ernie Hudson” games can be played independently and do not require any prior knowledge.

This Room is not accessible and not suitable for physically impaired players.
* * Not suitable for People with a Peanut Allergy.

One of the best things about living in Europe (well kind of; The UK is still Europe, right?) is the availability of often reasonably priced flights to another country, allowing so many opportunities for an escape room break. Especially if you want to just pop over to meet friends that happened to be on a cruise. Of course, what we didn’t realise is that Halloween is a public holiday in Germany (although not because it’s Halloween), and also coincided with the UK half term – but what’s a little extra insanity in the streets in St Pauli, anyway?

When we were planning our short break in Hamburg, Skurrilum was one of the venues I was most looking forward to visiting; most especially for their Ernie Hudson games. And after playing Ernie Hudson and The Wailing Woman the night before, I was even more excited to check out The Zoo of Death. So while the rest of Hamburg’s party district slept off the night before, Gord and I were up, and in search of Franzbrötchen to fortify us for our Halloween afternoon ghost hunting mission.

Fortified by pastries, and after a morning of sight seeing, with a wander through the Alter Elbtunnel to meet up with the cruisers, and a climb to the top of the St Paulie Bunker, we found ourselves back on the Reaperbahn awaiting our allotted ghost hunting time. But it wasn’t long before the door opened and we met our host, Tobi.

After a slightly embarrassing exchange, where we may, or may not, have returned a walkie talkie that may, or may not, have accompanied us back to the hotel after our time investigating The Wailing Woman, it was time to get down to it. Since it was clear we knew the gist of an escape room (what with stealing a walkie talkie and all), Tobi’s briefing was short, but included some crucial health and safety pointers, before he opened the door and we found ourselves outside the entrance to the zoo…

IMMERSION/ROOM DESIGN

Both Ernie Hudson games at Skurrilum have a similar structure, in that the story is critical to the game; so much so, that they don’t leave it to players to glean bits of it as they progress through the game. Instead, the game plays out almost like a radio play, with a narrator accompanying us on our mission to tell the story as we uncover bits of it. This style adds a touch of drama, and even makes the game feel even more like we’re acting out our own adventure than an escape room usually does.

Truth be told, Zoo of Death made me feel like I was in an episode of Scooby Doo. I would not have been surprised at all if the game ended with unmasking a gorilla only to discover some villain who then proclaimed he “would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for those meddling kids!” Sadly, we were lacking a Great Dane and snacks for our investigation, but even without a canine sidekick, there was some creeping on our tiptoes through darkened spaces, and of course, a few surprising reveals.

The zoo itself was impressive, and the spaces took us on a journey, with twists and turns. With narrative voice overs, almost like a radio play, the story unfolded around us as we went about solving the mystery before us. With the narration, the impressive surroundings, and a rather heavy atmosphere, it was easy to become fully immersed in our tasks. The Zoo of Death was creepy, but the few moments of whimsy helped to lighten the mood, at least until we progressed further into the game, where it built in intensity until reaching the climax and eventually, the dramatic finale.

PUZZLES

With the heavy emphasis on the narrative, it will probably be unsurprising to learn that The Zoo of Death was rather linear in its game play. After all, the vast majority of games with a great deal of story to follow tend to follow a linear puzzle path. Of course, there were a few points where we could investigate things as individuals before coming back together as a team, but for the most part, one puzzle led to the next.

But this structure was also due, in part, to the nature of the puzzles. Yes, they had a typical sort of escape room style logic, and there was a bit of scavenging to be done, but for the most part (with a few exceptions, of course), the puzzles weren’t “puzzles” but rather more tactile tasks, and problem solving in the moment. This allowed the puzzles to evolve almost organically out of their surroundings, and made the solutions the most logical next step.

GM/CLUE SYSTEM

The staff at Skurillum were some of the most hospitable hosts we encountered in Hamburg, and Tobi was no exception, with his willingness to have a chat with us, and excitement, about the escape room industry and the games that we had played and had planned. But not only that – he was on top of it when it came to hosting the game itself.

Clues came over the speakers in the same manner as the narration of the story, and often they were phrased in the same way as the narration, making them more likely subtle nudges to get us back on the right track if we had veered off course. Tobi never let us flounder for long if we were close to a breakthrough, but not quite there yet. But he also didn’t over-clue. In short – it was perfect games mastering.

ANYTHING ELSE

I was very much looking forward to investigating the Zoo of Death, and to be honest, it didn’t disappoint. While the Wailing Woman is perhaps a slightly better game, it is subjective and entirely dependent on player preference. I will say, however, if we had had more time in Hamburg, I would have preferred to play them a bit further apart due to the similarities in play style.

Success / Failure

Final Rating:

Team: 4 players

Address: Spielbudenplatz 21, 20359 Hamburg, Germany

Website: https://skurrilum.de