Best Escape Rooms In Athens (Greece)

Odeon of Herodes Atticus (Not an escape room but a beautiful Roman theater you should see)

Athens had the highest amount of world class games in one city. You can play 17 of the top 100 TERPECA games in Athens, which was unparalleled! If you like escape rooms, you need to make a trip out here unless you are unwilling to play horror games, then I would recommend going to Barcelona or The Netherlands/Belgium. We played 20 rooms in Athens which was quite a lot given the average runtime of two hours. 

Here are some general notes and tips for Athens.

Horror Themed Games 

Most of the top games were horror. Locals must love jump scares, loud noises and being chased by monsters in the dark. At least for me, playing multiple horror rooms in a row made it tougher to fully appreciate the genre as it became repetitive with pitch black rooms and jump scares. Also, even in some non-horror games, actors randomly came out and made loud banging sounds which felt forced. However, the top horror games were absolutely amazing as they blended immersive theater with puzzle solving.

Pro Tip: Bring Earplugs

The volume of the music in many rooms, even the non-horror ones, was overwhelmingly loud. Bring a good pair of ear plugs! This made the horror games much more enjoyable. For context, we had a team member quit a top TERPECA winning room because it was too loud, even with ear plugs! When we asked to lower the volume, GM's said they were not able to and didn't seem to think it was an issue. 

English Friendly

English was widely spoken by most locals, except for some of the older folks in retail stores. This was in contrast to Barcelona where many people of all ages do not speak any English. 

Cash Is King?

Bring some cash for escape rooms but many of the rooms also accepted credit cards. Check in advance with the company.

Commuting

Games and taxis were super affordable, probably 30%-50% less than US prices. FreeNow was also significantly quicker than Uber and I recommend using that app. Food was even cheaper and delicious!

Safety

Safety standards were visibly less stringent compared to most countries we've played in. Often times, we were truly locked in handcuffs or in a room with no emergency release. Also, pools of water were changed out maybe monthly (?) so you may want to be careful around that. 

Athens Escape Room Recap  

I gave 11 rooms a 4.5 star ratings or higher which was quite incredible after playing over 600 escape rooms around the world. I am not a horror lover but still loved the top horror games.

Athens

😱 = Horror

Way Out: Ice Tiki

This light hearted escape room was amazing and deserved to be higher on TERPECA. It was a whimsical room so maybe locals or those who love horror disliked that. Ice Tiki was one of my top games overall and a must play! ★★★★★ 

No Exit: El Exorcista 😱 

I am not a horror fan and somehow this room was one of my favorite rooms of all time. This game was about five years old and still had some of the best cinematics and actor performances that I had ever seen. Another must play in my book. ★★★★★ 

Lockhill: Chapel & Catacombs 😱 

A huge sprawling set with actors made for a crazy game. Some fun chase sequences and the mandatory fumbling through the dark was second to none. ★★★★★ 

EscapeClue: Lethal Decision 2 😱

This was a tough one to comment on as we had a teammate tap out about 40% in because of the crazy loud music. The others on my team were also going to tap out and I had to convince them to stay. The second team in our group had someone fall and fracture a bone so yes, safety standards are very different. The game did have some fun parts, if you can bear the loud sound and jump scares. ★★★★½ 

Trapped Chalandri: ExperimentumX 

I thought this game was underrated and perhaps it was due to it being a more physical room which I enjoyed a lot because of the uniqueness. I tend to seek out uniqueness and prefer large physical sets and props. ★★★★★ 

Escape World: Houdini 

We added this new game at the last minute and it had really great cinematics that I hadn't seen anywhere else. I just wished there were more! Note there are some minor jump scares.  ★★★★★ 

Escapolis: Cosmos 5 

This was a nifty starship themed puzzley room and I love good looking starships. I think this was one of the more puzzle focused rooms that I have near the top of my list which was rare because I am not a puzzle lover. ★★★★½ 

No Exit: Wanted: Dead Or Alive

The actor made the game and he was witty and entertaining. If you enjoy signifiant bantering with actors this game is for you. A large footprint along with a ton of silliness made for a fun time. ★★★★½ 

Escapolis: Butcher 😱

An interesting take on a horror room so if you are ok with doing a bunch of rooms in this genre I think you would enjoy it. If you had to choose only a few, El Exorcista and Chapel and Catacombs were a cut above. ★★★★

Paradox Project: The Mansion, The Library, The Music Academy 

This trilogy of games took 9 hours to complete! The puzzles were very chewy so it was normal to spend over 30 minutes on one riddle. The general consensus was that The Library was the best of the three and I would agree with that. Note this game was not flashy compared to others in Athens but will surely satisfy puzzle folks. The Mansion ★★★½, The Library ★★★★½ , The Music Academy ★★★★

No Exit: Death Row 

Death Row was probably the top prison game I had ever played. The theme was cliché but well executed with a lot of physical elements. ★★★★

Verona: Don't Take A Breathe 😱 

This was based on the movie "Don't Breathe" and had a lot of tense moments.  Watch a synopsis of the film to see if it's your type of game. It was also in a town where many locals told us not to go to because it was super dangerous so that added to the tension. ★★★★★

Lockhill: The Sanitarium 😱 

The Sanitarium can be played in three modes: Midnight = Difficult puzzles with monsters, Night = Easy puzzles with monsters, Day = Difficult puzzles with no monsters. We played Midnight mode and it was really scary because of the thick fog that made visibility less than an arm's length. I learned this was what they call "Type 2" fun. ★★★★½ 

We also played the games below that you may consider if you have time (with the exception of Creepy Store and Gustave Eiffel). 

• Dark Matter, Creepy Store, Gustave Eiffel (Escapolis - Galatsi)
• Lilipout, Scooby...Who? (Art Of Escape)

We hope this post helps out anyone who is hoping to venture off to Athens to play world class escape rooms!

Action 500: Kidnapping (Montreal, QC)

This post was written by Melanie and Jason, the latest contributors to EscapeRumors.com! This duo will rock your world with their reviews and help you find which rooms suit you best!

Melanie is an architect and became an escape room enthusiast this year! Having an eye for creativity,  details, and construction, she offers a very interesting perspective on the quality that each room offers.

Jason is a chartered accountant and his skills with numbers and puzzles allows him to explore and analyze rooms with a different point of view.

It is important to mention that all the escape rooms in the Action 500 Montréal location are constructed from storage containers. The games are either half the size of a container or the full size. Either way, the physical space of the rooms are SMALL. They also have air conditioning units hooked up in the rooms because it can get pretty hot inside!

When we played the games, there were no camera in the rooms so hints were given by the GM who basically popped in to see how we were doing every 15 minutes. It was not thaaaat bad, but it took a bit away from the immersive quality of the experience - just imagine a guy with their Action 500 uniform popping in every few minutes asking if you need hints.

Kidnapping was one of the newer themes (horror) that opened in the Montréal location. Here is a description and video from their website:

"It’s 1989 and finally time for your big camping party with your friends to a cabin in the woods. As soon as you arrive, you find out a legendary mass murderer has  escaped from prison and turned your vacation spot into his forest of death.

With a killer outside your cabin and stranded without cellphone service, you and your friends must solve clues and riddles and get outsmart a serial killer.

Can you survive the night and reach the police before the killer reaches you?"

Set Design, Technology & Puzzles 

The decoration in the room related well to the theme, and we definitely got a creepy vibe. The puzzles were actually pretty good and flowed well. I would say it was a low to medium difficulty and people with less experience will probably be able to get through it. It was mostly lock-based, but there were some other simple mechanisms as well. The big issue was that when we finished the game, the thing that was supposed to appear didn't, so we were not 100% sure if we actually escaped! We later found out that there was an electrical issue that they have to fix. A little bit disappointing and hopefully it will be fixed soon!

Memorable Moments 

There was a scare component in the room that was incredibly memorable!

Room For Improvement

The ending of the game would have been more obvious if there was no electrical issue. We all wait for that big climax and unfortunately we didn't get it this time around because the video screen was not fully functional.

Overall Thoughts

The room was pretty good, we liked it. Story was creepy and puzzles were decent. We played the game with 6 people, which was way too many. For the physical size of the room and the puzzles involved, 2-4 people is better. I would say that it is a very good room for beginners, but still a fun flowing game for mid-level experienced players.

• Set design: Fine, but small
• Difficulty:  Easy-Medium, good for beginners
• Price: $24 CAD
• Number of players: 6 max, (recommend 2-4), public
• Duration: 60 minutes
• Overall Rating: ★★★½

See their website here: https://www.x-cape.ca/en/ (renamed to Action 500)

Escape Room Roma: The Ring (Rome, Italy)

This Ring girl shrieked like the real deal

Escape Room Roma has something called a "Real Movie Experience" and these games, on their site, are separated from their regular escape room games. There is no clock as the goal is for you to experience the complete session and teams typically take between 50-85mins to get through it all. We requested if we could play the room in English and they obliged which we are extremely grateful for. We were also the first non-Italian players to play the game so once again not a simple task for their staff and actors. The translation was pretty much spot on. There were no issues except for one minor detail with a book that was not translatable but we were able to work it out.

I played with two other people who jumped at everything and we had one person who decided not to play a few minutes before the start time because of the theme. Special thanks to Sarah for being a good sport and playing even though you jumped at everything. The scariest parts for me were my teammates literally jumping across the entire room when something spooked us. From their site:

"As you are returning from a party with your friends, in the middle of the night, you become distracted and lose control of your car. The car swerves, breaks a fence and you find yourself facing what appears to be an old abandoned country house. Under an incessant storm, decide to seek shelter ...Will it be a good idea?

Game Play, Set Design, Puzzles

The start is great as you are thrust into a very believable world of the Ring. The game is largely played in the dark and featured the creepy AF little girl from the Ring. There are a lot of jump scares and loud sounds that will scare anyone and I applaud the actress for being able to shriek like an actual demon girl. There was one room where a light would sometimes turn on and off but 80% of the game is in the dark where you have to use artificial candles to light the way.

If you enjoy horror, you will like this room. If you don't, you will be stressed out to the point of exhaustion. The actress played a huge role. She was great. The puzzles were mostly average but of course you're not going to play this game for the puzzles.

Memorable Moments 

You wanted a movie-like experience? You got a movie-like experience! The fantastic start and strong finish will forever be in our memories.

Room For Improvement

There was more reading than I would have liked for a room that takes place mostly in the dark. I prefer not having to read more than two sentences and could be just me. It's especially difficult to read multiple pages of text when your trying to brace yourself for when your teammates dig their nails into your arm every few minutes.

Flashlights might have made things a lot more convenient but that might also lower the immersion because it wouldn't have been so dark so not sure how well this would work out.

Overall Thoughts

We are not horror fans, we don't watch the movies and didn't even see the ring. Yet, because of my affinity for escape rooms, we've played Zoe and Murder Co in Los Angeles which are some of the most intense and scary games in the US so some great references to benchmark against. Zoe was perhaps a tad scarier whereas Murder Co. was more twisted than scary. For horror fans you will truly be delighted at this Real Movie Experience.

• Set design: Excellent
• Difficulty: Medium
• Price: 90€ ($103)/ for 4 people +18€-20€ ($21-$23) per additional person 
• Number of players: 4-10, private (we recommend more than 4 to make it less scary :D)
• Duration: 55-80 minutes
• Overall Rating: ★★★★½ (★★★★★ for horror fans)

See their website here: https://www.escaperoomroma.it

Escapade Games: Zoe (Fullerton, CA)

I Ain't Afraid of No Ghost

Being in the Los Angeles area the week before Halloween, Zoe sounded simply too good to pass up, so we went to see if it lived up to all the hype. Escapade Games' Zoe is an epic, satisfying mashup of themes pulled from throughout the pantheon of horror cinema. From their site:

"There is one scene in your mind that is busily following you. It has initially appeared in your dreams, the scene of an abandoned house, but it has started chasing you during the daytime. This house seems to be calling for you, it attracts you with an unknown force...What’s wrong with it? Is there anyone living there?Does he or she need help? You cannot survive it any longer, it’s driving you crazy...You start surfing and accidently [sic] you find the needed location…You reach the place. You open the door and...become trapped. You have only one hour to escape until your personality starts to change."