Sherlocked: The Alchemist

Die Räumlichkeiten von Sherlocked befinden sich in einem schönen historischen Gebäude mitten in Amsterdam. Zu Beginn wurden wir schon an der Tür von unserer Spielleiterin eine Rolle spielend empfangen. Nach einer Einführung in die Geschichte und unsere Aufgabe, sowie ersten kleineren Rätseln betraten wir dann den Hauptraum mit einem wahren "Wow"-Effekt. Ab da war klar, dass dieses Spiel etwas Besonderes werden würde. Die Kulisse ist herausragend mit vielen aufwändig angefertigten Elementen, mechanischen Funktionen und Spezialeffekten. Die Rätsel fanden wir mittelschwer bis teilweise durchaus knifflig, zumal wir bisher nicht oft auf Englisch gespielt haben. Durchschnittliche Englischkenntnisse sollten unserer Einschätzung nach aber genügen, um hier durchzukommen. Es war jederzeit klar, was als nächstes zu tun ist und die Hinweisführung war ebenfalls gut durchdacht. Die Hint-Systeme (es gab davon tatsächlich zwei Arten) waren plausibel in das Setting integriert, so dass die Immersion nicht gebrochen wurde. Das spektakuläre Finale hat uns dann mit offenen Mündern zurückgelassen. Sehr nett fanden wir auch, dass wir Andenken mitbekamen - einen Sherlocked-Anhänger für jeden Spieler und einen besonderen Gegenstand, der auf ziemlich coole Art während des Spiels angefertigt wurde.

Das Spiel ist aus unserer Sicht ein absolutes Muss für alle Rätselspielliebhaber. Da der Raum nicht gruselig ist, ist er durchaus auch für Familien geeignet, die das Besondere suchen und herausfordernde Rätsel mögen.

Located in a beautiful historical building in the center of Amsterdam, you are welcomed by your gamemaster already in character who introduces you to the story and your mission. After a little prologue play you enter the main room with a true magical "wow" effect. That's when you know that you are really up to something special. The setting is very well done with lots of custom made mechanics and special effects. The creative and varied puzzles were definitely not easy for us, but fair and with all clues available. Playing an escape room in English was also quite new for us, but it went better than expected. You always know what to do next and the hint system(s) (in fact there are two of them) are well integrated into the story, supporting the immersion. The finale let us stand and watch with our mouths open. I mean - how cool was that? A very nice touch also was that you get a keepsake at the end (a Sherlocked pin for each player plus a special item that was created during the game). Must-play game for every puzzle game lover out there and even for families looking for the extraordinary, since the room is not scary.

On a normal day, I can see this being 5 star for most people. It is stunning and beautiful. One of the best made sets and puzzles I have ever seen. So ingenious. 

The GM wasn’t overly helpful or enthusiastic. Didn’t set the mood and wasn’t helpful throughout. We love to take our time playing rooms but had no sense of how on track we were. We had some tech that wasn’t well signposted or work first time and that was fustrating and never signposted us when we changed course incorrectly. 

One of the puzzles towards the end didn’t work as intended plus we didn’t gel great with one of the others either.

So would say worth doing but didn’t have the flow we wanted. 

Just fantastic. The set is amazing. A must for any escape room enthusiast.

Amazing game, with a beautiful backdrop, special effects and very versatile, modern puzzles. Super nice hosting and debriefing!

We were absolutely blown away by The Alchemist. 

The experience starts with a contextual introduction, and a great example of how well thought out every element of the game is; a smart twist on locking your possessions away. Magical moments follow magical moments and every puzzle feels logical, unique and realistically integrated into the story. The Alchemist doesn’t shove its story down your throat, but gently pushes you towards understanding what has happened in the space, to a point where understanding the context of a puzzle and the story is necessary and a wonderful moment when you finally figure it out. Plenty of non linear sections will benefit larger teams, but with moments that bring everyone together in combined objectives.

It’s really a masterpiece and an absolute must play. We’ve played all the big hitters on things like the TERPECA lists, and this is absolutely my favourite escape game experience. It takes the immersive route that many games are leading towards and brings that to a purer puzzle-centric experience.

Horror escape games tend to have higher rankings than non horror, like this game, because it’s a lot easier to make someone feel scared and immersed with a feeling of fear. This game manages to make you feel something with a feeling of wonder. A ridiculous production quality at every level, a tonne of wow moments, and a finale that left our experienced team with our jaws wide open.