Quest Rooms Malmö: Mafia Escape

A Weird ‘90s Russian Quest

Wow, escape rooms abroad can be expensive. I begrudged paying £25.00 per person for this one.

Story

Steal money from the Russian mafia and escape before they break the door down and…well, kill you, I guess.

Puzzles

They were mostly hard. A couple had fairly tenuous links and, when asking for a hint, it was difficult to hear what is being said (no screens, just a dodgy intercom in the lift). Regrettably, a certain piece of equipment wasn't working as it should- this also lost us some time. There are a couple of artful technical features I particularly liked. Anything written down was in English and our Games Master spoke it well.

Mise-en-scène

You start off in a time machine- very cool- and are transported back to the 1990s, supposedly to the apartment of a famous Russian mafia member, which perhaps only becomes more apparent as you progress. It seems to use a so-called ‘90s atmosphere as a big selling point, referring to its nods to things like Tetris (released in 1984) and LEGO (which I’m sure is like 70 years old now) in the room. Irrelevant and awkward.

Final Comments

We were one puzzle away from freedom. It was alright, but there’s room for improvement. The word "faggot" was used in the game: I found this unnecessary, but the owner said that it's because the Russians are angry at you. Hmm. Since this visit was a couple of years ago, hopefully this has been changed.