The Paradox Project: The Bookstore

The Paradox Project: To Βιβλιοπωλείο

By | May 15, 2019
0 Comment

by The Paradox Project (website)

Charokopou 93, Athina 176 76

Athens

4-7 players

Languages: EN, EL

Winner of a 2023 TERPECA awardWinner of a 2022 TERPECA awardWinner of a 2021 TERPECA awardWinner of a 2020 TERPECA awardWinner of a 2019 TERPECA award200 mins
After the events at The Mansion… As you left, you forgot something… The consequences, merciless, are after you… Lurking behind your backs, hidden in the shadows you created during you adventure…  The masks are off… The rules have changed… The crucial time has come… Now that you discovered the bitter truth… can you live with it?…
show full description
Something wrong or out of date?
Thank you for helping keep Escape the Review up to date!
Let us know what needs changing:




If you own or manage this company, you can also claim the listing and update it yourself

Overall rating

Rated between 4.5 and 5 out of 5

based on ratings from 18 users
combined with 6 pro reviews

Your review

Player reviews

caroline354 expert rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
value for moneyquite difficult
Laura Knight expert rated this:Rated between 4 and 4 out of 5
Played: 29 Dec 2023 Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
Dani Rose Forder expert rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 29 Jan 2024 Team size: 3 Time taken: 3 mins 10seconds left Outcome: Successful escape!
beautifulhi-techoriginalquite difficult😨creepy
This was great! We played mansion first then had an hours break and went straight into bookstore. We were challenged throughout, over a 3 hour game and we had just 3 minutes to spare! Talk about getting your moneys worth. The set design, and range of spaces was very impressive. The story line was pretty random. 
There was a part in the game that may be triggering to some (domestic abuse) which i don't think is mentioned on the website. 
matt_keds expert rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
Played: 29 Oct 2023 Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
originalimmersivestory-driven
Jess_keds expert rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Team size: 2 Outcome: Successful escape!
hi-techstory-drivenmagical😨creepy

This was our favourite out of all the paradox rooms. As a 3 hour room, we were impressed by the progressing story and mass of puzzles. The mechanisms and tech used is beautiful, with spaces appearing out of what seemed like nowhere. We thoroughly enjoyed the puzzles and the set-design was beautiful. We completed this with good time to spare and managed to play the game without a break. 

gaia00 expert rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 22 Sep 2022 Team size: 4
cleverimmersivestory-drivenquite difficult
Jens (Bruteforce) expert rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
Played: 16. November 2022
story-drivenepicbest riddles
abunai expert rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
PurpleB expert rated this:Rated between 4.5 and 4.5 out of 5
Played: 30 Nov 2022 Team size: 2
immersiveintenseepic

We asked for a challenge by taking on this epic room as just a two.  What an adventure!  We did find it a little much with such a small group but they do recommend that you have a minimum of 4 players so that's really our fault.  I'm glad they let us do it as a two because I would have hated to miss out on it on our trip to Athens.

Anonymous expert rated this:Rated between 5 and 5 out of 5
immersivestory-drivenintensequite difficult

This game is in my top-3 of all time. The sequel to a game that started their 3-hour USP, and this game really delivers.

I don't want to say much more, other than the hype around this game is justified. If you are going to Athens and can't play all 3 of theirs, just this one should be on your list - but if you can do all, then do them in order. 

Showing most recent only - see all ratings & reviews

Reviews by escape room review sites

I've been eager to play Paradox Project's original three-hour game ever since I heard about it. I'm now heartily glad I didn't play it sooner - because if I had, I'd have missed out on the chance to also play its 200 minute sequel. The first is an excellent experience that you shouldn't miss; the second is an outstanding achievement that surpasses it in every way and then some, and entirely justifies booking yourself a trip to Greece right away.

I had to persuade the owner to let us attempt it,...

One of the best games I’ve experienced. Over three hours of gorgeous set, interesting puzzles and an overarching narrative that flows through from their opening game. Go to Athens and play this game.
10 / 10.0
Viele der griechischen Sprache nicht mächtigen Enthusiasten haben sehnsüchtig darauf gewartet. Endlich ist es soweit! Und wir hatten das Vergnügen Paradox II (The Bookstore) in Englisch einzuweihen. Mir fällt ehrlich gesagt dazu nur ein Wort ein …
If you want a short review, then I’ll simply say The Bookstore is a beautiful game. The puzzles are perfect, the narrative is interesting, twisty, and ever present, and it’s all housed in a beautifully designed, quirky space.
see full review
From the actual storefront, through the finale 3.5 hours later, The Bookstore was massive and mighty. In-game: The exterior of the bookshop, from the street. It appears as a real bookshop. Each individual scene within The Bookstore could have been an entire 60-minute escape game at the vast majority of escape room companies that we’ve visited around the world. I’m not kidding; I could easily imagine this game being sold as 5 or 6 different games. Moreover, each scene change shifted the play style, which prevented the length from becoming monotonous.
9,00 / 10
see full review

See also