Alchemist

From the very entrance it was noisy because of a children's party; there was nowhere to sit, so we stood in the hallway. Inside it was very stuffy and dark in places; we simply didn’t hear a couple of lines of the story, some of the props looked worn, and one of the tasks was started not automatically but by an operator. They gave hints even when we didn’t ask, which broke the pace, and at the end... Expand

We were disappointed: one of the doors didn’t work, the operator came in and gave hints without being asked, and it was hot. The concept is good, but the technical issues let it down and broke the immersion.

The atmosphere presses with a pleasant sense of anxiety; at times it felt like someone was about to jump out. The “voice of time” voice-over was hard to take in, and one room had way too much unnecessary clutter. In the motor-skills puzzle, the first part didn’t work even though the indicator was lit, and the ending felt dry when the operator simply walked in and stopped the game. That said, the l... Expand

We did it as a family with kids aged 10 and 12—it was a hit. They toned down the motor-skill difficulty, but the kids handled the logic themselves; almost no keys—just mechanisms, which is awesome. We’ll be back for the hard mode!

There were four of us; the setting is beautifully designed and the sound is on point, and the puzzles make you think and send you back to previous rooms. The space is small though—at one point we were squeezed together. Excellent for newcomers and logic lovers; horror fans might find it boring.

The escape room didn’t work for us: several solutions happened by accident, one door opened when it shouldn’t have, and we skipped part of the route. The operator was delayed and kept insisting on an easier difficulty level, and it was very stuffy inside. The set design is good on its own, but some of the ideas didn’t work as intended. For the price, I wouldn’t recommend it.

The ambience is gorgeous: wood, metal, that signature alchemical half-light, and music that drives you forward. The puzzles are fair, with no tedious searching; I especially liked the dexterity segment. A bit stuffy, but in the heat of the moment it didn’t get in the way. A great evening!

A well-made escape room with logical progression and multiple rooms, including some dexterity challenges. Searching is kept to a minimum; it’s built around understanding. The only noticeable downside is that it’s stuffy inside.

There were three of us, and it felt like the quest could easily be done solo. The puzzles are simple, the sequence is shaky in places, and the “mechanisms” respond with a delay, as if someone is triggering them manually. The most unpleasant part was the constant unsolicited hints over the loudspeaker, which left us no time to think. We finished twenty minutes early and without any sense of immersi... Expand

The idea and atmosphere are great, but for our experienced duo it wasn’t difficult—we finished in under an hour. A couple of mechanisms looked a bit worn. As a first or second quest it’s spot on; for veterans, I’d recommend going straight for the max difficulty.

We decided to take on a more dexterity-based task and ended up finishing exactly within the allotted 75 minutes. The story is engaging, the medieval atmosphere is well done, but some of the puzzles would be tough without hints. It turned out that on the medium difficulty setting, some elements were simply inactive even though they were lit, which was confusing. Overall, we really liked the quest—h... Expand

We went as a group of three and chose the high difficulty. I like that the quest is non-linear and you have to backtrack, but one room was really cramped and it was hard to read because of the lighting. Otherwise, it's very solid and atmospheric.

We finished in about 50 minutes with teenagers. As a chemist, I noted that real knowledge is hardly needed, and in some places the author is clearly far from the subject, though the ideas are nice. The setting felt a bit tired in places and it was stuffy, but overall not bad.

We chose the medium level; the logic is sequential—you can’t proceed until you solve each step. We liked the locations and the overall idea, but it was hard to breathe in the small room. Recommended if you enjoy not-too-difficult yet well-structured puzzles.

In the middle of the game, it turned out that an important component was broken, and the normal progression fell apart. We spent almost fifty minutes on this and left in a bad mood. It’s a pity—the concept is good.