Entered – I Can Hear You – Immersive Experience
Maaseik / 3 – 7 Players / Price: 60 – 50 Euro per Person /
Location: Monseigneur Koningsstraat 10, 3680 Maaseik
Date of Play: 19.06.2021
Players: 3
Language: Belgian, English
On our first trip to the Netherlands in 2019, we were already informed by the operators about an experience in Belgium. I Can Hear You is a real-life horror game that combines Escape Room elements with an interactive theater and haunted house. Unfortunately, it was not yet playable in English.
We were all the more excited shortly before our trip when we learned that the operators were working on an English version and that we would be the first group to experience I Can Hear You in English.
The special thing about the game is the break-in into a real but shut-down hospital. We were hired by a detective agency to investigate the strange occurrences as well as noises inside the hospital more closely.
In advance we received via e-mail numerous documents with directions to the mission, a detailed assignment of the mission as well as exact rules of the game for I Can Hear You. This was actually the first time we had to sign at an Experience that we would not touch the actor under any circumstances, but that the actor could touch us.
The briefing area is an old patient’s room, which allowed us to dive into the adventure right from the start. Equipped with various equipment, we were left alone and, after a short intro via voice recorder, had to find our own way into the game.
I can hear you
Atmosphere
At first, the burglary actually felt like a burglary. It started with a little scavenger hunt, where we first had to gain access to the hospital. In the process, we literally climbed into the hospital with the help of tools. Afterwards, a hospital complex of almost 1000 square meters awaited us with numerous patient and examination rooms, which we explored one by one.
The use of the original scenery is absolutely authentic, even if the cleverly positioned furniture at times indicated that this was an artificially staged game. Overall, we didn’t find a perfectly styled hospital setting or scary fog here, but an abandoned and littered hospital, which came across absolutely believable for that very reason. The game only has a few light sources, so you shouldn’t be afraid of the dark. The background music intensifies the tense atmosphere.
In keeping with the story, there are other game areas throughout the game that surprised us in the context of the hospital, but subordinate themselves well to the narrative of the game. The use of different scents enhanced the contrast between the game areas.
Things got hectic in the finale and the mission game turned into an escape game. Until the very end, the doctor tried to keep us from discovering the truth. We would classify this game as a psychological thriller rather than horror. Please note that there may be moments of isolation in this game as well.
Story
The goal of the game is to find out the truth about the doctor. The story is retold mainly through writing such as diary entries or patient information. These were quite obviously positioned and stuck due to the darkness. A visualization with the help of real patient records would be more atmospheric here. In addition, we received voice messages via dictaphone, with which we got closer to the truth. It was nice that these felt a bit more integrated into the story.
However, as mentioned above, the story is also retold via backdrop. The twist in the story surprised and convinced me personally. Nothing seems at first glance to be as initially thought. For a real-life horror game, the story is elaborated in detail and conveyed in a believable way.
Puzzles/Tasks
The puzzles are, apart from some tasks such as the burglary, a large main puzzle consisting of several puzzle threads, which can be solved non-linearly. This puzzle seems very simple at first glance, but many steps are necessary to complete it. The progress is well visualized at all times and therefore motivated us as players. Construction-wise, the puzzle wasn’t implemented in a too high-quality way, but it makes sense in the story context
The individual puzzle strands are varied and logical, especially in the context of the story. Since it is an experience, the focus here is also on the interaction with the actor, who tried to distract us several times.
Actor
In I Can Hear You, the interaction with the actor dominates. In the game there is no gamemaster and thus no hinting, so the success of the mission depends on each player himself.
It is important that you put yourself in the role of the detective and investigate the events in the hospital unnoticed. If you are too loud and the doctor catches you, the game is over for him immediately. Our team also did not make it to the finals with a full complement of players.
Please keep in mind that you should be physically mobile. With the consent form for the game you also confirm that the actor is allowed to touch you. However, this will only happen as mentioned above if you do not follow the rules of the game/role.
Conclusion
I Can Hear You entertained us for almost 2 hours. Even without big show effects, the setting of an abandoned, run-down hospital is convincing here and creates an immersive character precisely because of its simplicity. With I Can Hear You, Entered has staged a horror experience that deliberately focuses on the story and tells it with a twist.
