Amerikaano Xpress Saaga
Did you know that there is an escape game in Finland with over 3 hours of gameplay?
Rollaga’s Amerikaano Xpress Saaga is an immersive 190-minute experience in Riihimäki, about a 30-minute drive north of Helsinki. The experience consists of two consecutive adventures: “Kylä” (meaning “village” in Finnish, 90 minutes) and “Susi” (Finnish for “wolf,” 100 minutes).
The entire saga, which came close to reaching the finals in the last Terpeca season with five nominations-likely a result of its brief opening period (Susi & Saaga has only been open since September 2024) and the relatively small pool of international enthusiasts and local eligible nominators in Finland-unfolds across a spacious 240 square meters. Particularly impressive is the seamless transition between locations and the skillful intertwining of both storylines, which ensures the narrative flows without any perceptible breaks.
What’s the Amerikaano Xpress Saaga about?
You stand in Amerikaano railway station, the bustling heart of Rollagga’s largest city, ready to embark on your dream vacation. Sandy beaches and refreshing cocktails await, and you’ve managed to snag the last tickets for the train. But as your journey unfolds, it takes a sudden and unexpected turn. Instead of paradise, you find yourself in a small, eerily deserted village. Compelled to uncover the story behind its emptiness, you soon realize you’re entangled in a web of mysterious disappearances and a haunting family tragedy. Now, you must decide: is your fate sealed, or can you escape the darkness that surrounds you?
The operators of Rollagga, Juho and Timo, are passionate escape room players themselves and are among Finland’s most experienced enthusiasts, having played over 800 rooms. On their numerous trips around the globe, they are always on the lookout for the best escape rooms in the world – a claim that is impressively demonstrated by the Terpeca Top 100 posters in their lobby: Year after year, they mark on them the rooms they have already completed, so that a considerable number of the top international rooms have been ticked off. Always with them are their life-size mascots Ove Nalle (Nalle = teddy bear) and I.V. Nalle, who can often be seen in place of them in team photos. During our game of ‘Saaga’, we also discovered a few Easter eggs – endearing allusions to well-known escape games.
What makes the game special?
Saaga can be played in two variations. With or without an actor. The option with an actor is clearly recommended. I think the scare factor was adapted (reduced) a little for us, as Nadja, who doesn’t like horror rooms at all, probably wouldn’t have played otherwise. We took good care of her. So she was able to enjoy the game and was very happy afterwards that she hadn’t missed the highlight of our trip to Finland.
An exciting story, a very appealing setting, well-balanced and well-timed acting interludes, as well as a large number of varied, challenging puzzles (which is not a matter of course for a horror room) form a coherent overall concept. Even though it was our 6th room of the day, the 190 minutes flew by and we enjoyed every single one.
I think the Amerikaano Xpress Saaga definitely has Terpeca potential, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed for these two likeable enthusiasts that their extraordinary XXL escape game makes it to the finals this year.
