Istanbul, Dec 2022
Turkey’s escape scene is heavily dominated by horror houses, with few traditional escape rooms still available, and I’ve seen almost no reviews of the handful that exist in Istanbul; so I picked Key Room more or less at random. They have just the one game, and are located up a somewhat dingy staircase, but our host was welcoming and professional.
Our task was to defeat the vampire, which naturally also involved solving a number of puzzles and opening various locks along the way. First impressions were that the decor was pretty basic, and the game style old fashioned. I guessed it would also be quite a search-heavy game, but in that I was mistaken – there was actually almost no searching required.
It was linear, with puzzles that didn’t always relate to the theme; however, the puzzles all made sense, with no moments of dubious logic. That also meant we rattled through it at some speed, finishing a little over the halfway point, despite wasting ten minutes on something simple where we were just being too cautious with the furniture. If I were to pick a favourite step, it would be the one that couldn’t be completed solo.
There’s not a whole lot here for enthusiasts, but there was also nothing wrong with it and we enjoyed playing it. It would be a decent way for a first time player to discover escape rooms, in that it’s strongest in its puzzle design, and will be most rewarding for those who haven’t played enough rooms to have seen similar puzzles elsewhere. 
