Lisbon, Feb 2023
Located in Algés out beyond the tourist hotspot of Belem, itself some way from Lisbon centre, Escape2Win is unlikely to be a venue you stumble across accidentally. However, they were one of the earliest pioneers of the remote avatar game format at the start of the pandemic, which gave me an extra reason to seek them out. I chose their Dream theme more or less at random, though on arrival it turned out to be one of their easier ones, with Haunted Dinner being their usual recommendation for enthusiasts.
At many venues the pre-game intro and end of game conclusion follows a very standard formula, which becomes over-familiar once you’ve played dozens of games or more. So it was refreshing to find Escape2Win playing with that formula and keeping us on our toes, in a way that used the theme and brought it to a neat finish at the end.
Experienced players may have come across most of the tricks and tech used in this room elsewhere, but that shouldn’t detract from its enjoyment. This design is lively and sweet, and although the plot is broadly just “explore your dream”, that gives licence to include all kinds of different scenes and tasks that are all about having fun.
After too many games with over-keen hinting or other hosting issues, it was a pleasure to find that our host ran the game with a deft touch, providing the right amount of help at the right time and nothing more, and doing so via a very cute help system.
This was the second room I played in a short span of time that was set in a dream. Both were enjoyable rooms, and while the other had the edge in sophistication of set design, the hosting for Escape2Win’s room was a lot smoother and it was the one I had the better time playing. Cute and playful, I liked it a lot and would happily have played more at the venue. 
