Lockhill – Chapel & Catacombs – Escape Room Athen
Athen / 2 – 7 players / Price: 24 – 40 Euro per person / Rating: 9.9
Location: Averof 30, Nea Ionia 142 32, Greece
Date of Play: 18.10.21
Number of players: 3
On our previous trip to Athens, the Lockhill Sanatorium made a strong impression on us. Thereby, already the mystical reception of the provider gave us goosebumps. What followed were 90 minutes of playtime full of adrenaline, fear and tension.
The reception area of the provider was designed as a village backdrop of the fictional town of Lockhill, so that you enter different parts of the buildings of the old village depending on the game and thus uncover the dark past of the village.
The new adventure Chapel & Catacombs is set in a new location and tells the grand finale of the story about the mysterious village.
Chapel & Catacombs
“This is the only place of worship in Lockhill. Even though it is supposed to be a place of peace and quiet, my skin crawls whenever I go near it. Maybe its just the catacombs next to it, or maybe its something else…” – Excerpt from the diary of Professor Nathan Jones.
Atmosphere
Our journey to North Lockhill started unexpectedly this time. Lockhill’s new location integrates the village setting directly into the game, immersing us in the story even more immersively. The 130-minute experience spans multiple levels, a 500+ square foot play area including a high number of actors in various roles. It is absolutely impressive what the provider has created here. The complex experience is a mix of an interactive theater, a horror maze as well as an escape room. The quality of the setting is consistently on a high level and very varied. From the name of the game, you can already guess which rooms have to be explored in Lockhill. Nevertheless, our imagination was only a fraction of what Lockhill presented us with.
Overall, Lockhill sends us on a roller coaster ride in Chapel & Catacombs that deliberately plays with our emotions and feelings. Lockhill manages to cover a high range that goes far beyond creepiness and fear.
Story
The story about the village of Lockhill finds a worthy conclusion in Chapel & Catacombs. Like a puzzle piece, all of the vendor’s rooms fit together at the end and left me speechless. The amount of work that went into the grand finale is tremendous. The finale’s setting alone would be the highlight of some other providers.
Riddles
The tasks are a pleasant mixture of rather classic Escape Room tasks and interactive moments with the actors. The more classic tasks can be solved both analogously and technically and cover cognitive and motoric puzzle components. They are subordinate to the narrative of the room throughout and cleverly tell the story. If there is anything to criticize about this game, it is the rather classic puzzles, which seem minimally contrived at times. Nevertheless, they kept us well entertained.
The interactive tasks and moments in Chapel & Catacombs especially stand out. These are very varied and range from verbal and non-verbal communication with the actors, hiding and running away, to just observing what’s going on.
Actors
The actors’ performance is definitely remarkable. The embodiment of the inhabitants of Lockhill is believably successful. This is also due to the fact that all characters involved stay in their role(s) during the entire playing time. Even the giving of hints works cleverly via interaction with the actors, which feels very harmonious. The clues are always adapted to the respective setting of the room section and are thus varied.
Conclusion
Lockhill has outdone itself with the Chapel & Catacombs room. The focus is deliberately on storytelling, so that Chapel & Catacombs can be experienced even by anxious players. The quality of the varied setting, the effects as well as the acting make this an absolute favorite game for me. Overall, our visit to Lockhill’s Chapel & Catacombs feels like exploring a complex, alien world that we were drawn deeper and deeper into.
Hey liebes Team von Escape Maniac,
ich kann eurer Bewertung nur im vollsten Umfang zustimmen. Ich selbst kam vor einigen Wochen in den Genuss den Raum zu spielen und war einfach nur baff, was dort geschaffen wurde. Der Raum hat für mich sogar “The Dome” von meinem persönlichen Platz 1 gestoßen. Auch wenn die Räume aufgrund unterschiedlicher Thematiken schwer vergleichbar sind, empfand ich “Chapel & Catacombs” als spielbaren Blockbuster mit sich selbst in den Hauptrollen.
Einfach unfassbar gut!