Tomb Raider 2
Tomb Raider 2 by You Yu Entertainment was our first stop in Beijing and, at 180 minutes, the longest and most expensive adventure of our escape room trip.
The name is misleading: there’s no Lara Croft in sight. You’re a tomb explorer in a gigantic temple that supposedly spans 3,000 square meters. The room is a classic in China and best known for its physically demanding tasks. Being able to swim is an advantage, but not a requirement. There are actors as well, but they play a fairly minor role in this temple adventure.
At the start of the expedition, the operator provides an adventurer outfit: a long-sleeved white linen shirt, comfortable, colorful, loose pants and non-slip shoes. You should still bring a change of socks and underwear, because they will definitely get wet. There were only five of us, although the room is officially listed for 6 to 9 players.
This was our first time playing with Linée, who translated for us and did a great job, especially considering she didn’t know Tomb Raider 2 herself. Over the course of the trip, she translated for us in several more games. It turned out that when Linée likes a room, she is happy to play it again and again. Her record, if I remember correctly, is 19 private visits to a single room.
What stuck with me most are the physical tasks. One task takes you high up, so you should be reasonably comfortable with heights, and teamwork and speed are key. If the team is too slow at solving the puzzles, the person climbing can’t make it all the way up and, depending on how far they got, can fall quite a distance, though thankfully onto something soft. Then you start over. Another task requires balance as well as coordination: at least one person on the team should be sure-footed and able to move skillfully on wobbly ground, otherwise they might get wet feet. The last task is by far the most spectacular and unforgettable, and we haven’t experienced anything like it anywhere else so far. You will get wet here, whether you like it or not. Stamina and a long breath help too. Anyone who masters this task has more than earned the warm shower afterwards.
One big difference between Beijing and Shanghai: escape games in Beijing have significantly more puzzles. In Shanghai, we played many rooms that had no puzzles at all. Tomb Raider 2 has quite a few of them too, though one or two puzzles felt a bit long-winded to me and slowed the pace of the game. With one larger mechanical element, we also had the impression that something wasn’t working: we kept waiting for something to move, but nothing happened.
Tomb Raider 2 wasn’t the strongest of the five temple rooms we played on our China trip, but it had some of the most memorable moments. If you enjoy physical challenges and don’t mind being fully submerged, you will get your money’s worth here. Heading to Beijing? Then put this one on your list.
