I SAW THEM

The team behind Nightmare Escape has been running horror popup experiences in Vorarlberg, Austria for three years now. What started as a bit of an insider tip has pretty much evolved into a fully-fledged premium provider. Last year we got to try Villa Mortis, and this year Nightmare Escape seriously ups the ante with “I Saw Them.”

At its core, Nightmare Escape is all about immersive horror. They take over abandoned buildings and transform them with gripping storytelling, clever puzzles, professional acting, and a hefty dose of tech wizardry. We’re talking kilometers of cabling, custom relay systems, and a fully bespoke show control setup. For this third and I believe biggest adventure, the team boasts over 50 unique mechanisms.

While Villa Mortis already felt like a fully realized escape room rather than “just” a popup, “I Saw Them” has clearly arrived in the premium league when it comes to acting, pacing, dramaturgy, and set design.

Sure, the temporary nature of these experiences means you’ll spot the occasional workaround, and they naturally incorporate existing elements instead of building massive, hyper-detailed set pieces from scratch. But when you look at the overall scope, duration, effects, and attention to detail, quite a few competitors start to pale in comparison. If you don’t mind that not every inch is handcrafted from zero and you have a soft spot for exploring lost places, you’re going to have a fantastic time here.

Not knowing exactly where the experience begins is part of the concept (you’ll receive navigation instructions shortly beforehand), so I won’t spoil too much about the location – but the team has absolutely nailed identifying and using the building’s unique features. As you slowly uncover the mystery of the house, the story unfolds piece by piece and becomes increasingly clear.

The experience masterfully alternates between interactive acting sequences, puzzle segments, and well-timed horror effects. The flow feels very well balanced: always a little on edge, but never too overwhelming to freeze exploring, no frustrating puzzle bottlenecks, yet still delivering just the right level of scares. (Small heads-up: it might get very slightly physical once.) The puzzles are nicely varied – ranging from classic logic challenges to dexterity tasks and cooperative elements – so even with the strong immersion focus, everyone should find something they enjoy.

These puzzle sections are interwoven with story beats that drive the narrative forward, alongside exploration phases spanning multiple floors. In the final third, the experience goes all out – delivering a cinematic sequence, a seriously impressive set, and a finale that ends with a literal bang.

Honestly, “I Saw Them” could hold its own as a top-tier room in Athens – and that’s saying something. Some elements even reminded me of standout horror experiences from Greece, Belgium, and the Netherlands. And let’s be real: taking inspiration from the best is never a bad sign.

I loved pretty much everything about it: the onboarding, the initial exploration phase where you start piecing things together, the escalation in the middle, and the final stretch where it genuinely feels like a fight for survival. Despite the dark, decayed “lost place” setting, there’s a consistent premium feel throughout. The environmental design is smart and varied – ranging from surprisingly beautiful to downright disgusting, from impressively large to claustrophobically tight. The acting is well-placed and even includes some light roleplay elements, which I personally always enjoy. You’ll also get to interact with a few props, and the entire experience is perfectly supported by a great audio design. In short: This guys just know what they’re doing – and they’re doing it great.

There’s also a nicely integrated hint system woven into the story. A tiny nitpick might be that some hints feel a bit odd in terms of how you receive them – but honestly, what escape room hint system ever makes perfect narrative sense? If anything, it just highlights how well everything else – story, space, and puzzles – is already interconnected. And hey, there’s always room to improve. If I had to point out one criticism, it would probably be that the room leans a bit heavily on familiar ideas and doesn’t quite establish a truly distinctive identity of its own, especially compared to some of the newer, high-end horror experiences. As a result, it comes across as a little more gritty and grindhouse in tone rather than sleek and cinematic. That said, the way these inspirations are brought together is impressively cohesive – everything fits seamlessly, and the overall execution is remarkably polished.

We played as a group of four, which felt ideal – three to four players is probably the sweet spot. The price sits at the higher end at just under €90 per person, but considering the scale and duration, it feels justified.

In the end, the only real downside is that, as far as I know, this experience is not available in English and – due to the temporary location – it won’t be around forever. (That said, this is about to change: Nightmare Escape has built up a lot of expertise over the years and is planning to move into a permanent venue next. They’ve promised that the large scope of their experiences won’t suffer – instead, story, acting, and immersion will remain at least on the same high level.)

So it’s definitely worth keeping an eye on this team going forward. Until then, “I Saw Them” is an easy recommendation for anyone who loves immersive horror. So if you happen to be in Bregenz, Austria: Slots are selling fast, and the experience won’t be available forever – so don’t wait too long.