Botanist Manor
The newest room from Escape Rush where I previously played Tokyo Lab. This room got announced to open this week and rather last minute we put together a team and travelled to Brussels. My inner voice must have channelled me to go here, I think…
The welcome area was really appealing (like last time) and our game host was really nice! I really enjoyed it this way without being pushed into the story too early. Nice introduction and briefing!
The story of the room is really something different in so many ways. It’s original, layered, woven into the puzzles and yet still understandable. Every time you think you know where the story goes, you probably don’t and how great is that?
The puzzles are so much fun! I absolutely enjoyed them, and,in my opinion, they fitted into the theme as well (maybe not all of them completely but that’s debatable in my opinion). Some puzzles and tasks made me feel like a child again just playing and doing things which feel fun. Through the puzzles they try to tell you the story really emphasises some key elements which were important. I really liked that!
Then the experience… well that’s something else. Escape Rush really made a huge décor. It really looks awesome! I could moan about some specific things not totally being finished and I hope they do put some more decoration in those places, but still, it feels like a manor, and it truly was a manor. The places it was taking you fitted into the story nicely. I think this room was inspired by some great rooms but gave them all an original and unique twist and elevated some elements in a great way. A mindfuck which still got me puzzled, some really cool décor, an amazingly good-looking element and everything else really made the experience standout for me. Sometimes a room just feels good, and that’s what happened for me today. I really hope it will for everyone.
Having played it in the first weekend of opening I could foresee some technical issues or lack in gameflow. This was definitely NOT the case. This room is finished. It’s puzzles are good, feel natural, fun and most importantly possible. No technical issues arose for us. I really think that’s an important thing to mention because it shows how much work they put into the room and the fact that it paid off.
This is a must-play for everyone with or without “green-fingers” as we say in Dutch. Book it, enjoy it and enjoy it even more afterwards.
