Escape Obligado: La Caza de los Espíritus

The second room at Escape Obligado, La Caza had only been open a couple of weeks when we played it, and we heard about it via the Argentina enthusiasts FB group. It was not available in English, but we booked into it anyhow, hoping that my meagre Spanish ability would be enough to get us through. And for the most part it did, with a bit of effort, partly because our host managed to provide some hints in English and partly because few puzzles involved written language. (There was one that did, where we couldn’t figure out the meaning, but we were able to get the correct solution anyhow.)

It’s a haunted house setting, with the name punning on casa/caza (The House of the Spirits / The Hunting of the Spirits). You can expect a creepy atmosphere, but barely any jump scares and nothing more intense.

I found it a pretty and creative game that could do with some more fine-tuning in places. That’s very likely because we got to it so soon after it opened, and it sounded like the designer is actively polishing it. A couple of puzzles could do with some more signposting, including what’s potentially the most clever and interesting one; in its current form we were utterly stumped on it until we were rescued by some hints. Once we were pointed in the right direction though, it was logical and clever.

The ending was an unexpected shift in tone but also a fun, cool way to end the story. For us La Caza was a bumpy experience in places, partly though not entirely because of the language barrier. But it was also an experience I enjoyed – it felt created with care and creativity, and executed with nice touches of atmosphere-building. Some of the rougher edges seem likely to get smoothed out over time, so this should be a good option for getting an escape room fix; particularly since the sister game at the venue gives an additional reason to visit.