Mystery House Valkenburg — Attraction in Valkenburg aan de Geul

did the Mastermind escape room. it's got a 6% escape rate so didn't really expect to escape and the room itself was not really what I think of as fun, but I see the puzzels would appeal to certain people. Save from a couple of padlocks that don't really add anything to the game, there are only 4 puzzles that require you to be in the room. For the most part the puzzles are text based.

the story and scenery is very nice though, so that's really good but game design wise this puzzle was very bland.

I didn't escape, but don't think i would have enjoyed it regardless and that's the problem, one of the best assets an escape game has compared to other entertainment is that the person is physically present in the room. there's more that can be done with this than manipulating locks and keys.

so if you like text based puzzles this room is definitely an interesting challenge.

one tip for the builders maybe: make some pen and paper available for notes. I played on a Saturday morning after a long workweek and honestly didn't have the mental capacity to keep all the puzzles in my mind. offloading some of this onto a notepad would improve the comfort...

If you are in Valkenburg for longer than an afternoon, be sure to book a room here. IT IS AWESOME.

Not only is the roomguide pleasant, the puzzle difficulty and the story accompanying the room is well thought out. There never was a moment I wasn't solving 'something', even if it didn't lead to solve the directly needed puzzle. The particular room I was in allowed concurrent solving by giving multiple 'locks' to the next step, making sure nobody in the group ends up with nothing to do.

Go here. The whole...

We did this on a whim on the final day of our vacation weekend. The young lady who explained the escape room experience was easy to talk to, happy and made the rules understandable and fun. Once we were in the room and the initial disorientation, we started with the escape. The puzzle difficulty was just right and with teamwork, we managed to just escape in time. I definitely want to return for the other rooms. Ooh the theme room we did was...