La Taberna
A friend wrote to me saying there was a new room near Barcelona that they had test played and he thinks booking numbers are very likely to go through the roof in the near future. That’s why we should come as soon as possible to play it. Another experienced enthusiast also spoke of TERPECA Top 10 material in connection with this adventure. Even though I’m always a bit skeptical about escape games being hyped so early on, and I try to keep my expectations low, the three of us set out to play this and four other interesting rooms in Barcelona and the surrounding area. Anyone who knows me will probably ask themselves, “What’s going on? Only five rooms in one weekend in Barcelona?” But this was actually a connoisseur tour.
„The City“ in Terrassa (approx. 30 km northwest of Barcelona) is a kind of joint venture between Elements Escape Room and Vortex Escape Room (Apophis). With “Academia de cocina” (Megachef) and “Estudio de televisión” (La Nevera Show), there are two old friends from Experiencity (La Orden, Colors, Terror Stories…), which can also be played in other cities. However, we are here for a different reason.
La Taberna (The Tavern), is a one hundred and twenty minute immersive pirate adventure that, as the name suggests, begins in a tavern. The first location is very interactive and humorous. There we meet a character (very good acting from everyone involved in this game) from whom we want to find out certain information or need items. Of course we don’t get this for free. Everything has its price! I don’t want to reveal much more at this point. In any case, we laughed a lot (I learned that Giulia can tap dance) and immediately immersed ourselves in an exciting adventure with a great plot, during which we were often surprised and left with our mouths open.
The scenery is breathtaking and is one of the best I have seen in escape games so far. The puzzles and tasks are fun, thematic and very well integrated into the game. The soundtrack is wonderful and consistent with the different storylines. There are very successful effects and game transitions and last but not least a magnificent finale in which all the strings are pulled once again.
Even though La Taberna is huge (I think around 300 square meters) and according to the game description it is designed for 2-7 people, I would recommend not playing with more than four people. On the one hand, there are some narrower passages, and on the other hand, the puzzles later have a more linear structure.
Finally, the question that needs to be clarified is whether La Taberna is really as good as initially described. We agreed after the game that the experience alone was worth the trip, and I’m really excited to see how far La Taberna’s journey can go at the upcoming TERPECA.
