Timisoara, Aug 2023
While there were quite a few escape room companies operating in Timisoara at one time, most seem to have not made it through the pandemic; with the exception of a horror house experience, ExitGames is the only one I could find that’s still operating. They have a healthy selection of rooms, and we picked the military theme mainly because it seemed to be one of their newer designs.
Despite some decent decorations my first impression wasn’t great, for two reasons. One was that the host was, not rude, but certainly not engaged; he did little other than point us at an intro video then let us in the room, all with the minimum of conversation. Once inside, it also took us a while to get going. It’s the type of game that presents you with a cluttered environment, with a great many items that are there to add atmosphere only, with little to indicate what could be ignored, while also requiring players to search thoroughly to find starting points. Naturally, we failed to turn something over.
Having set my expectations low, it then kept exceeding them. What stood out was the creative and original use of technology – not in the sense of an ultra-sophisticated high budget design, but in the variety of funky gadgets used. There were at least two that I don’t remember encountering anywhere before. It was also solidly designed as far as puzzle logic was concerned.
There’s a story, which in a sense advances as you make progress, though they could do more with it; as it is it’s really just an indication of how far through the game you are. The puzzles are mostly based around finding and entering numeric codes. Even so, it came across as interesting, worth a try even for those who’ve played dozens of games. Don’t expect a rigorous mental workout; the appeal here is of fun gadgets and interactions. 
