The escape in Zürich

Escape Rooms leben von drei Dingen: Der Atmosphäre der Räume, der Qualität der Rätsel und dem Betreuerteam und die Hintergrundstories. Und hier gelingt es The Escape Zürich, in allen drei Bereichen voll zu punkten. Wir sind erst aus einem Gefängnis ausgebrochen, nur um dann in eine Bank einzubrechen. In beiden Fällen waren die Räume mit einer sehr beeindruckenden Detailverliebtheit gestaltet, man wähnte sich wirklich im Gefängnis und im Bereich eines Tresorraumes einer Privatbank. Die Rätsel sind knackig und in den meisten Fällen völlig logisch und rasch nachvollziehbar. Die technische Umsetzung ist super und wer die Zeit besiegt, wird besonders beim Banküberfall mit einem grandiosen Highlight belohnt. Die Hilfestellungen der Betreuer sind nicht einfach ein "Hier ist die Lösung", sondern immer noch so, dass man selber nachdenken muss. Das Betreuerteam selbst ist superfreundlich, engagiert und motiviert. Wir hatten riesigen Spass und waren dankbar, der Hitze draussen zu entfliehen, um in wirklich coolen Räumen coole Rätsel in coolem Ambienten (Danke Klimaanlage) zu lösen. Weil The Escape Zürich nicht nur zwei oder drei Räume bietet, werden wir auf jeden Fall wiederkommen und die anderen Geheimnisse ebenfalls lösen.

We were a group of 4 people doing the "Prison" room in Zürich and manage to exit just before the end of the timer. They do sessions in both English and German, we did it in English. Our group of 4 all have experience in escape rooms and I have done roughly ten myself. Overall, we all came out a bit disappointed from the experience and would not recommend the "Prison" room. Regarding pricing, it is slightly expensive but it is switzerland and we didn't find it over the top compared to other european regions. I will still try another one of their rooms to have a better overall view. Overall rating of 3/5. - Room and puzzles 3/5: The room difficulty is supposed to be medium-hard and we felt it was well rated. The team work needed (specific to this room) is a very good addition. But the puzzles are very standard (repetition of codes to unlock traditional locks) and there is a lack of search that is a bit frustrating (not enough props). The escape is also limited to only 1 medium size room, some escape games propose sets with 2 or 3 connected small rooms that give a better sense of progress in the story. Would recommend to the owners to provide directly on the website what is the amount of search vs. puzzles vs. manipulation for each room (have seen it in other places and allows to better tailor experience) - Atmosphere & Story 2/5: this is a key feature for an escape room and the "Prison" is not immersive. The decoration felt too minimalist (even for a prison set) and out of place, there were still many elements from a normal appartment room (normal windows, wood type of floor, standard radiators, etc.). The cell bars and handcuffs are a nice addition but unfortunately not enough. Last point the story is non almost existent, it feels forced, too short and overall not interesting. In addition there is no real "storytelling" and the game master spent a good 5 min talking about rules once we were inside the room itself. Other escape rooms do it before and outside of the room itself, using if needed copies of real emergency buttons or others as examples. Security and safety is important but explain it outside as much as possible, not inside the room. - Location & Team 5/5: location couldn't be better, less than 2 min away from HB and facilities are well maintained. People there are also very friendly, you feel welcome. They propose sessions in both English and German, their English is very good.