One of the good things that has come out of the current pandemic and lockdown has been the proliferation of online escape game experiences. We’ve done a fair few already, but are always keen to experience something new and different, especially when it’s one that we are unlikely to ever get to in person. On a recommendation from another escape game provider, we booked in to play Exit Now’s online version of their Horror Hotel escape game based in Athens, Greece.
Horror Hotel is a 90-minute experience played through Zoom and is €90 for up to 12 connections, so good value if there is a large enough group of you. One of the main differences with this experience is that you start with an inventory of tools that your in-game avatar has. Each can only be used once so make sure that you use them wisely. Especially as Agent X isn’t the only person in the hotel and you’ll need to help him defeat the other monsters that inhabit the place whilst not running out of your four lives.
Theme
We had to help Agent X, a law enforcement officer in Athens with the mysterious goings-on at an abandoned hotel in Athens. The game starts outside the venue on the streets and the first puzzle to solve is how to actually get into the hotel. Over the course of the next 90 minutes, we went through a massive variety of different sets in what is easily the biggest escape game space we’ve ever seen. The whole hotel feels huge and not only from the inside. The rooms that we were in had good sets and helped with the immersion for the many different stages of the game.
Puzzles
There were a few interesting puzzles throughout the game, but we felt that these had been simplified for the remote experience. Your inventory of special objects plays an important part in solving some puzzles and more importantly helping to defeat the various denizens that roam different sections of the hotel. You need to eliminate these foes in order to progress. Overall we didn’t find the puzzles especially taxing, but they were fun and felt natural to the theme.
Host
Agent X was our eyes, ears, hands, etc. inside and outside the Horror Hotel and was a great host keeping in character throughout and helping to guide us in a very natural way in terms of where we needed to go next if we weren’t progressing in quite the right way. This was a much more physical type of game especially when we encountered some of the different monsters in the rooms. If Agent X wasn’t hiding or suitably equipped he ended up being attacked by the creatures, leading to a nice, short theatrical scene and a fun ‘out of body’ experience if a life was lost. We really felt for Agent X as although we managed to get him out to safety successfully, he may have been a lot more battered, bruised and exhausted than when we first met him.
Summary
We really enjoyed our time with the Exit Now guys in their remote Horror Hotel online experience and as with many other online games we’ve completed, wished we could have done it in person, although the in-person experience will be slightly different. The puzzles weren’t the trickiest you’ll encounter in an escape game, but the additional touches of the special inventory, the real-life ‘monsters’ and the gameplay make it feel more like a live-action interactive video game. This isn’t a criticism, but it does feel slightly different to a more traditional escape game.
Either way, we had a great time and would love to try their games in person, especially their new Blackout experience and feel that Horror Hotel Online is well worth giving a go for something nicely different.
Details for Exit Now Horror Hotel Online can be found on their website.
