Category Archives: International

Escaparium: The Final Stop

Montreal, May 2025

I think I’ve now played at least half a dozen games set on a subway train, most of which used an actual refurbished subway train as the set, and I’m concluding that it’s far from my favourite setting. The familiarity of the surroundings is nev… (more)

Escaparium: The Lost Island of the Voodoo Queen

Montreal, May 2025

I pretty reliably enjoy pirate-themed escape rooms; it’s a common theme and I’ve seen a wide variety of takes on the setting, from cheap and cheerful to wildly impressive. But playing Voodoo Queen makes me think of the M&S advertising tagline: this i… (more)

Escaparium: Magnifico’s Circus

Montreal, May 2025

One of the big difficulties of reviewing escape rooms over a period of years is the degree to which they’ve changed. I remember games that struck me as outstanding ten years ago, but pretty ordinary a few years later, put in the shade by noticeably m… (more)

Immersia: The St-Onge Case

Montreal, May 2025

This game is a sequel to Immersia’s Weekend at the Shack game, at their other branch; we hadn’t played that one but we cheerfully plunged into the sequel anyhow. At time of writing it’s also the company’s newest room, and was considerably larger in s… (more)

Immersia: Project RESET

Montreal, May 2025

Sometimes escape rooms give you a snippet of story or even a quick video to set the scene, as part of the confirmation email before you even reach the venue. Project RESET does this – and the video is over ten minutes long. When our host asked whethe… (more)

Immersia: Salutem Medicina Institute

Montreal, May 2025

One of two games that we played at Immersia that I’d describe as a concept room, Salutem Medicina might give the impression of being a scary asylum game with a psychotic doctor, or something or that sort. While there might be some overlap in the medi… (more)

Immersia: The Grand Immersia Hotel

Montreal, May 2025

Grand Immersia Hotel is a room that would have stood out to me far more if I’d played it on its own, rather than in the middle of a week’s binge of top Quebec games. Even within the same venue, games like Project RESET and Salutem Medicina Institute … (more)

Cabinet Mysteriis: Screaming Metal

Quebec City, May 2025

The other room we played at Cabernet Mysteriis was a polar opposite in theme, from a fantastical child’s dream to a gritty post-apocalyptic wasteland reminiscent of Mad Max. But it was equally stylish and stylised, decorated with punk flare and a fut… (more)

Cabinet Mysteriis: Dreamwalkers

Quebec City, May 2025

How’s this for a family-friendly theme: you are Dreamwalkers, tasked with entering the dreams of children and making sure their dreams are happy and peaceful. Well, although it sounds sweet and fluffy, this room involves some surprisingly gruesome an… (more)

Eliviascape: Judgement Day

Quebec City, May 2025

I might have been humming the Terminator 2 theme music in the run-up to this room, but even the smallest bit of research into its them would have told me that there’s no connection or indeed similarity there; the name instead refers to justice in the… (more)