Best Rooms In The Netherlands & Belgium: A Traveller's Guide

Beautiful Bruges (Belgium)

I finally made it out to Europe this year to play the top games in The Netherlands and Belgium after the initial trip in 2020 got postponed because of the pandemic. This was part of a larger tour of 39 games played that also included Paris and Geneva (these cities will featured in a separate post). 

The games in this part of the world were outstanding with some great storytelling and smart uses of physical space. We were thrilled to be able to play so many wonderful games and highly recommend a visit to this area for all escape room enthusiasts.

Special thanks to local enthusiasts Helena and Sven for joining us for some of the games we played! It is always great meeting new people and so far every single person we have met over the years has been a blast to hang out with.

Impressions & Observations During The Netherlands & Belgium Escape Room Trip

Getting Around
To play the top games in this region, a car was needed in order to get around. Unfortunately, the games were really spread out in various cities so there were no other feasible transportation options.

English Translations 
All but one of the rooms we wanted to play were available in English. GM's were perfectly fluent, some videos had English subtitles and there were no major language issues at all.

Cash Is King
Many games required payment to be made in cash, so it is wise to prepare for this and not be caught off guard. Be aware of daily limit cash withdrawals from ATM's.

More Action, Less Puzzling
There were more physical elements in the games in this part of the world when compared to the U.S./Canada but less than what we experienced in Barcelona. You should be prepared to crawl and get dirty.

Private Bookings
Like most of Europe, all the games we played had private bookings. You could  get away with two players but for economic reasons you would have to book for three or four players.

The Netherlands & Belgium Escape Room Recap

Mama Bazooka: The Dome
The Dome was the reason why we made it out to The Netherlands. It was voted the #1 escape room in the world for a few years on TERPECA. We have played other former #1 rooms and usually, hype kills. Would The Dome also be cursed with unrealistic expectations? I am happy to say that this game lived up to its reputation. 

The Dome was a technological marvel with great reveals and creative puzzles all blended into a fun theme. The experience was so magical and we really felt immersed into the world they laid out in front of us. It is hard to be impressed after playing almost 500 rooms but The Dome was able to do it! If you are an escape room enthusiast, this is a a must play. 

• Difficulty: Medium
• Price: 169€-189€/team
  
• Number of players: 4-6, private (we recommend 4)
• Duration: 60 minutes
• Overall Rating: ★★★★★

Mama Bazooka also had a massive lobby with tons of games!

Down The Hatch: Molly's Game
Another top room with an expansive set and some physical elements that surprised us. Molly's Game redefines how to create an escape room that delivers on storytelling in a creepy environment with some great moments. I thought I was done with the "creepy house" settings but I was wrong!

• Difficulty: Medium
• Price: 165€/team
  
• # of Players: 2-5 (we recommend 3-4)
• Duration: 60 minutes
• Overall Rating: ★★★★★

Dark Park: Stay In The Dark / The End / The Orphanage
Dark Park was a premier Escape Room company with multiple high quality games. 

Stay In The Dark: This game took place in what is likely one of the largest facilities for an escape room in the world. It spanned over multiple floors with each floor being larger than 95% of the escape rooms I have played. The premise was fun in that we were "looking to purchase real estate" and stumbled upon this old factory and then the shenanigans began. I don't want to spoil this so I will not say more but it was quite an ambitious project that lasted 2.5 hours.

The End: A very interesting story with a twist and a super fun ending that I highly appreciated. There are some fun moments as well that really make this room unique. Sven was also a pleasure to play with!

The Orphanage: This was one of the first rooms that we played in The Netherlands and I was extremely impressed with the lighting effects. The timing and use of effects were great at moving the game along.

• Difficulty: Easy-Medium
• Price: +145€/team
  
• Number of players: 2-6 (we recommend 4)
• Duration: 60-150 minutes
• Overall Rating: Stay In The Dark ★★★★★, The End / Orphanage ★★★★½

Epic Escape: Illusion
There are a lot of magic themed games out there but Illusion was able to make us feel like we were actually in a magician's studio. This game was more puzzle-y than others in the area and I was fine with that. We also had Helena join us and that made it even more fun!

• Difficulty: Medium- Difficult
  
• Price: +135€/team
  
• Number of players: 3-6 (we recommend 3-4)
• Duration: 90 minutes
• Overall Rating: ★★★★½

Kamer 237: Kamer 237 / The Concierge
The original room, Kamer 237, was about 5 years old and it was incredible in terms of physical manipulation and story progression. The mechanic used to progress to different rooms was simple yet so satisfying and we slightly preferred this game over The Concierge which can only be played by two players.

• Difficulty: Difficult
• Price: 80€-125€ 
  
• Number of players: Kamer 237 - 2-6 (we recommend 2-3), The Concierge - exactly 2
• Duration: 70-75 minutes
• Overall Rating: Kamer 237 ★★★★½, The Concierge ★★★★
  

Time Adventures: Inferno
This fireman themed escape room had a feature that I don't think I will ever see again. It was quite crazy and it was worth playing just to see it.

• Difficulty: Easy
• Price: +89€/team
  
• Number of players: 2-6, private (we recommend 2-3)
• Duration: 60 minutes
• Overall Rating: ★★★★½

Escape Room Katwijk: Here I Am
This game was inspired by the Spanish show "Vis-a-Vis" and somehow made us feel like we were in a real prison, despite having played so many games of this theme. Make sure you read the email they send you before playing this game.

• Difficulty: Easy
• Price: 150€/team
  
• Number of players: 2-5 (we recommend 2-3)
• Duration: 70 minutes
• Overall Rating: ★★★★½

 

Rock City Escapes: Soup Du Jour

I loved the start of this game and how the GM role played when introducing the team to the room. The first half started off great with some smooth puzzling and it transitioned into more of a traditional escape room setting towards the end.

• Difficulty: Easy
  
• Price: 140€/team
  
• Number of players: 2-6 (we recommend 4)
• Duration: 75 minutes
• Overall Rating: ★★★★½

De Gouden Kooi: The Secret of Saint-Rumoldus

The game flow of "The Secret of Saint-Rumoldus" was seamless and the unique story line towards the end made us laugh. Definitely a standout in the Belgium market!

• Difficulty: Medium-Difficult
• Price: +120€/team
  
• Number of players: 2-6 (we recommend 3-4)
• Duration: 70 minutes
• Overall Rating: ★★★★★

Escaping Belgium: Le Prince
Le Prince was one of the more puzzle-y games we played on our trip and we were lucky to have Helena for the added brainpower! Overall, it was a clean and polished experience that would satisfy many puzzlers and escape room enthusiasts.

• Difficulty: Difficult
  
• Price: +90€/team
  
• Number of players: 2-6 (we recommend 2)
• Duration: 90 minutes
• Overall Rating: ★★★★½

Other Notable Escape Rooms In The Area

 

 In The Netherlands:

• Escape From Wonderland: A colorful room with a ton of puzzles!
• Escape Room The Cube - Triplicate Institute: Great execution in creating a mind-bending experience
  

In Belgium

• Push Mystery Rooms - The Movies: An ambitious take on the world of blockbuster movies
  

We hope this post helps out anyone who is hoping to venture off to The Netherlands or Belgium to play world class escape rooms!

Hatch Escapes: Lab Rat (Los Angeles, CA)

We were the rats in this lab 

Hatch Escapes was one of the new LA locations that opened up in 2018 and there was lot of hype about their game "Lab Rat". In June, I was in New Orleans on Room Escape Artist's Escape Immerse Explore Tour when Amanda (Queen of Escape Rooms) told me about Lab Rat and how it was one of her all-time favorite rooms out of +700 played. When someone of that stature says a game is good, you take it seriously, so I immediately booked a flight to LA for after the tour. (Actually, I already had it booked in advance but that doesn't the former sound much more exciting?)

Being a "rat" in a lab sounded pretty unique, so right off the bat, I was excited to see the room. From their site:

"Lab Rat takes place in a laboratory where giant rats are doing experiments on human beings, specifically you! The somewhat unhinged Ratkenstein, a doctoral student in the field of human intelligence (or, in his estimation, the lack thereof), has tasked you with completing a series of tests and puzzles. If you succeed, he can finally write his dissertation. If you fail, he’s going to put you and your friends in the old test-subject chipper (like a wood chipper, but for test subjects!). You’ll have one hour to complete the tests and attempt to get out of the laboratory for good, before Ratkenstein turns you into mulch!"

Evil Genius: Occam's Apartment & Norcross Art Gallery (Los Angeles, CA)

Chapter One > Chapter Two

Evil Genius created a two chapter adventure that you can book in a single two hour slot. This was the first time we had seen such a scenario and we hoped that there would be a natural transition between the rooms. Chapter One came out a few years ago and they more recently added Chapter Two, so these rooms could also be played separately. When played in one session, teams can bank the extra time from Chapter One and put it toward Chapter Two and that's exactly what we did. The transition between the chapters was fun and the layout of the location also helped make it feel more immersive.

60out: Titanic, Wizards Workshop, Senator Payne (Los Angeles, CA)

60out is often touted as having extremely high quality set designs and “Titanic” in particular is recommended on many escape room blogs. This company actually has a few locations in the LA area after some independent rooms were merged together so expect some variation in style between the different franchisees. "Titanic" and "Wizards Workshop" are at the Marina Del Ray location while "The Mystery of Senator Payne" was at Corinth spot. We also played Grandma's Masterplan at the Melrose location which was one of our favorite escape rooms of all time. We love tangible puzzles and beautiful set designs but we're aware that this alone doesn't make a great room.

60out: Grandma's Masterplan (Los Angeles, CA)

This room is gold!

As we head towards the 80 games played mark, we become more appreciative of new themes. Given that a handful of themes (prison, bunker, lab, serial killer, castle...) seem to make up 90% of the market, it's not easy to find something vastly unique out there. Via word of mouth, we heard some good things about 60out's "Grandma's Masterplan" and the scenario looked different enough for us to put this on our "must-do" list for our LA trip. From their site:

"The story begins when your granny suddenly disappears without notice. No one has a clue where she is, but one day you come across a letter in which your grandmother reveals a secret about her inheritance. All you have to do is to go into her house and find it -- simple, right? We'll see about that."

Omescape: Sorcerer's Sanctum (San Jose, CA)

It took some veteran escape roomers (+ a relative newbie) to escape this challenging room!

Omescape's latest room, "The Sorcerer's Sanctum", was located in the same facility that has Pandemic and Dark Altar. Sorcerer's Sanctum was a polished game with automated puzzles and also one of the most challenging games, in a good way, at Omescape. We were the 67th team to play the game and only two had escaped so we knew this would be a challenge. The story was as follows:

"You and your friends have accidentally stepped into a house occupied by great magicians. Your team work will be crucial in helping you pass through a series of magical puzzles in order to escape from the spell in time!"

This escape room starts off with the team split into two rooms and while there wasn't that much in each room, they were sufficiently challenging enough to occupy both groups. As the game progressed, there were some fun reveals and some not so obvious puzzles that we could see people having a hard time with. While not totally unfair, you do have to pay attention to detail (surprise!) or risk being stuck on some riddles.

Locurio: The Vanishing Act (Seattle, WA)

One Wizard to fight them all

"The Vanishing Act" is consistently highly rated by escape room enthusiasts and we headed over to Seattle to play it for ourselves. We were five people, which turned out to be a good number and most of us had some decent escaping experience. The story centers around the magician, Noximillian and the disturbing disappearances of his assistants. His latest assistant, Casey, asks for your help in uncovering the truth behind what's going on and sends you into Noximillian's private dressing room while he is performing on stage.

The immersiveness of The Vanishing Act was second to none. This escape room had an actress that help set up the story well and also provided hints with one of the best (seamless) hint mechanisms we've experienced to date.

The Basement: The Study (Las Vegas, NV & Los Angeles, CA)

The Study, Seriously, go play this room right now

"The Study" is the newest room for the much talked about location,"The Basement". The storyline revolves around a cannibalistic killer who captures you and locks you in his basement. After you escape "The Basement", you end up on the first floor of the house and have to find your way out of "The Study". While the continuity of the story is great, we played them in the reverse order and it was perfectly fine.  The BIG difference with this room and others of a similar "Psycho killer" theme is the immersiveness and in-game actors which make for an amazing escape room.

The Basement: The Basement Room (Las Vegas, NV & Los Angeles, CA)

The Basement (room), the original room

For those easily scared - be warned!  This room is not for the faint-hearted ... but this is mainly because it is so very immersive - impressively so.  Our group of half boys - half girls did well to upkeep those gender stereotypes with many a high-pitched scream emanating from the girls while escaping this room.

The Basement is the original room from this chain - rooms such as The Study (see review) and The Boiler Room follow on from this story.  In The Basement, your team is kidnapped, taken to an underground lair, and threatened with death by notorious serial-killer, Edward Tandy.  You have 45 minutes to escape a terrifying and gruesome death.

Enchambered: Whispering Halls & Containment Breach (Sacramento, CA)

Enchambered is often hailed as the best escape room in Sacramento. We did both rooms here and as most reviewers have said, the production value was top notch. The puzzles were solid and the themes, although common, worked out well. All the rooms are open to the public, so everyone who books the same timeslot will be mixed together. The physical spacing of the rooms relative to the number of people was a downside which should not be overlooked.

Time Run: The Celestial Chain, London (England)

We scored 78% in this Time Run

Time Run touts itself as an immersive cinematic experience that takes escape rooms to the next level. This was definitely a unique experience and quite an extravagant production. The set up was completely immersive as you wait outside the premises in some industrial area where the entrance seemed to be the back of an old shipping area. You only go in once your time has come (there is no lobby to wait in) and once inside, you're in the story. The actor was quite good and never broke character. He didn't even ask for my name for the booking, he just took us in at our time and boom, right into the theme.

ClueQuest: Revenge of the Sheep, London (England)

Bow to the Master! 

ClueQuest had an interesting take on Escape Rooms in that their theme was based on a secret agency run by a mouse named Mr. Q. It's hard to describe so here's an except from their site:

"Professor BlackSheep is back again to destroy mankind as we know it by turning us all into sheep! And this time he is not alone - he’s got an evil side-kick and together they have built a dangerous device: the SheepMutator."

Future Technology Escape Room: Reason, San Francisco (CA)

A bunch of weirdos

Reason, the room that promises high tech gadgets, but does it live up to the hype? We were conflicted when rating this room as people had very contrasting opinions. The technology was cool, you get to use a 3D printer, a drone and a VR kit and some riddles were clever. Mike, the founder and moderator was chill and we liked him a lot. There was also a story line communicated through videos but if you aren't there when it's revealed, it's impossible to follow.

Palace Games: Roosevelt Room, San Francisco (CA)

Team Commonwealth
The Roosevelt Escape Room at Palace Games is one of the highest rated rooms on most review sites. While it is one of the greatest rooms, the cost is pretty steep and a few puzzles are repetitive. In the final room, a few of us had to sit out and wait in another previously explored room as there was no space for us and nothing for us to contribute. Nonetheless, expect some great "eureka!" moments and exceptional grand reveals.

Omescape: Pandemic, San Jose (CA)

20 minutes to spare with no hints!

Omescape Pandemic deals with a virus breakout in the sewers and the story gives a slight nod to the 1990's "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" cartoon.  It was one of the most enjoyable room due to the quality of the room designs and seamless automation of reveals. The production value for this room was exceptional and it was also very spacious, probably only second to the Palace Games rooms which are already ridiculously large.