Sofia, Apr 2024
I’ve played several escape games built within museums, and none were like this. For one, BioXcape is not actually in the body of the museum; you enter via a side entrance, and descend into a genuine military bunker. And, thanks to the freedom of having this dedicated space, it has lighting effects and electronics that might not be possible in a space shared with public exhibits.
Bioxcape is designed as an educational game, to teach the threat of ecological destruction. Where entertainment has a worthy ulterior purpose, it’s easy for fun to become a lower priority, creating something a bit dry and serious. There are elements of that here, such as a set of audio messages that are informative but not part of the game, and other items that aren’t part of any puzzles but are included in the hope that players will learn something about the topic. But the steps of the game itself have an entirely different ethos, that of making your visit as dramatic and entertaining as possible.
This means use of lighting and tech to build something more experiential than the puzzles alone, with timed events to keep you on your toes (though all such events are resolved the same way). And the result is involving and impressive, making great use of the unique space.
For me it fell short of its potential because I found various small elements of the puzzles just a little confusing. Sometimes that was because it was unclear exactly what was there as part of the game and what for educational purposes; sometimes it used recycled pieces of authentic equipment, which were great props but include more distraction information than would something custom made; and at least one step would have been more intuitive had we been playing in Bulgarian. We received several small clarifications and nudges from our host that seemed like they shouldn’t have been needed with tighter signposting.
My suspicion is that the design of the game was a little constrained by its intended purpose. Players rushing around to solve puzzles under time pressure aren’t in any case going to absorb any great quantity of information in written or audio form; it would be more effective to have the room only contain elements needed for the game, and then have players exit into an exhibit which they can browse at their leisure.
But although I thought it was in places a bit confused and confusing, it’s still a game with some clever moments and cool technology, in a distinctive and atmospheric underground location, worth catching if you have a chance to try it. 
