Fox in a Box Graz: Bunker

Difficult room but we did enjoy it, tested us all

Story: You are in a military bunker and have to prevent a nuclear bomb from destroying the world.

Good things: Well decorated room, I liked the concept of the suitcase you had to carry around, lots of military equipment that was cool.

Less good things: Sadly, the overall experience was not good. We had a really bad start because the technology used to start the room did not work. We were supposed to watch a video which would trigger the room, but it failed. We were told to just start searching the room without the video, but it meant that all the background music and everything else on the screen that was supposed to make the experience more immersive did not work. Some puzzles were also not triggered right away, probably because of this. They never managed to make the video work, and it completely ruined the escape room because it made everything less responsive, so we were not sure if we had solved the puzzles or not. When we escaped, it felt very anticlimactic because there was no feedback anywhere in the room. There was one puzzle that I did not like, where you had to listen to a lot of numbers. The voice was too unclear and made it unreasonably difficult to decode the numbers.

Host/hints: The hosts did what they could to help but were unable to fix the technical issues. Hints and communication happened through a button on the wall.

Immersiveness: Completely ruined because of broken technology.

Puzzles: I actually liked many of the puzzles, especially the concept of the suitcase. It is non linear, which makes it more difficult. As mentioned, I did not like the puzzle where you had to listen to many numbers because the voice was so difficult to decode.

Difficulty: Very difficult because it is non linear.

Photos: We were allowed to take a picture inside the room at the end.

Overall rating: 2/5

Absolutely amazing hosting from all of the staff, if you've been you know what I mean! 

However the game it's self was a little start and stop and felt a little disjointed. There's a element that felt clever and very central to the theme, but we did have a few issues with this item. 

The hosting is traditionally very good with an actor at the beginning. There are few clever and creative puzzles, however, it is based on too many locks (e.g. compared to prison break which was more immersive with more versatile puzzles). There are a few puzzles which are annoying and a lot of references where you have to go back to all the previous clues. The storyline does not hold too well as most of the puzzles towards the end become quite unrelated to the theme. However, the setting, hosting and some of the high-quality puzzles still hold the quality of the room.

Fox in an Box Munich

Bunker 17

Ein Agent läuft Amok und aktiviert eine Nuklearbombe – ihre Aufgabe, sollten Sie sie annehmen, ist es seine Wege zu verfolgen und die Bombe zu entschärfen bevor es zu einer nuklearen Katastrophe kommt. So hätte das Briefing des ER lauten können. Bevor es in den Raum ging bekommt man dieses aber in Form eines Einweisungsvideos.

Natürlich haben wir uns im Dreier-Team der Aufgabe gestellt. Die Rätsel waren vielseitig und sehr abwechslungsreich. Interaktionen waren mehrfach gefordert, so dass keiner arbeitslos herumstand. Platz war dafür genügend vorhanden. Die Kombination aus Schlössern und technischen Rätseln war ausgewogen.

Über einen Knopf konnte bei Bedarf alle 10min Hilfe angefordert werden, ein Hinweis wurde dann über einen Bildschirm eingeblendet. Zusätzlich hatten wir aber auch 2 aufmerksame Spielleiter, so wurden wir auf ein Lämpchen hingewiesen, welches wir aktiviert, aber nicht bemerkt hatten, welches uns aber den weiteren Weg gezeigt hat.

Ein rundum empfehlenswertes ER Erlebnis, allerdings nicht für Anfänger geeignet. Empfohlene Teamstärke 3-4 Personen.