Athens, Apr 2023
Athens horror games tend to follow a different system to other escape rooms. You’re normally expected to arrive exactly on time not ten or fifteen minutes before, and typically there is only the one game at the venue. The host is in character if you see them at all. There’s usually a chance to use the bathroom and stow your belongings (especially phones and electronic watches), but that’s also handled while breaking immersion as little as possible.
All that is true of Woman In Black. Coven’s game is based on the book/play/movie of the same name, and eases you into the story as soon as the entrance door opens. You are lawyers sent to locate the will of the deceased owner of a mansion, which is haunted by a malevolent spirit, and the starting sequence does a superb job of setting the scene and transitioning into the main part of the game.
Woman In Black was the first of six huge escape rooms we played across three days. Its set had a sense of scale and atmosphere that was breathtaking by any normal escape room standards – even if it was promptly surpassed by some of the games we played afterwards.
The menacing Gothic atmosphere is highly effective, but relies quite a bit on dim lighting. The game also has several papers with text to provide story or clues, and peering at these and struggling to make out what they said was a nuisance in the otherwise smooth gameplay.
Horror rooms are often light on puzzles. While some of the puzzles here are on the simpler side, there’s a solid solving element to it. Two puzzles in particular are sophisticated, tricky and satisfying.
Still, story and scares are the bigger part of the game. Our actor played her role with a mostly silent menace as well as an impressive physical agility that kept us off balance. There’s a strong and unpredictable story progression, and the whole experience thoroughly immerses you in its world, until you (hopefully) manage to flee back out again.
If you’re bingeing Athens horror rooms then this should be on your list. If you’re being more selective and only playing a few, pick this one if you want a classy fear game with a strong storyline and some substantial puzzles. 
