ESCAPE ROOM REVIEW – THE QUICK AND DIRTY

Play if… you’ve ever pretended to be Robin Hood (or an archer)

Avoid if… you hate despots.

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THE BASICS

Escape Art Zagreb:

Address: Draškovićeva 2nd floor ul. 53, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia (click address for Google Map)

Contact and Website: 011 (if dialing from outside Croatia), then 385 91 923 1248
www.escapeart.hr

Room – Robin Hood:

Description (from the company website): Be the hero. Save the Kingdom!

The Sherwood forest

Nature’s little gem, located in Nottinghamshire. If you ever find yourself there, you may stumble upon a man in green, armed with a longbow. If you are honest and humble, have no fear, you won’t be hurt. Au contraire, you’ll be invited to share a meal. But, if you are greedy and sneaky, be careful when riding through the woods, because you might end up riding your horse backwards back to town. Buck naked, and penniless.

Who does that, you might ask? A rebel in lincoln green tights, Robin Hood. And his unavoidable band of Merry Men. Well, techincally, Robin might be a thief, but he is no common criminal. “No honor among thieves” does not apply to this rebel. He takes from the rich and gives to the poor. Although an outlaw, he is a strong supporter of the rightful king. Especially king Richard the Lionhearted.

But, to make things even more interesting, every kingdom has to have some bad guys. In this case, the culprits are greedy, corrupted Sheriff and prince John, conniving usurper brother of the king. Those two often keep Robin occupied, with their tireless plots and attempts of stealing the crown and taking the throne.

Robin Hood

A witty heroic outlaw. Highly skilled archer and swordsman. Takes from the rich and gives to the poor. Usually seen hanging out with his gang, the Merry Men, near hollow oak trees. Very much in love in lady Marion. All together, a good guy.

King Richard the Lionhearted

A valiant, competent military fighter. Wise and noble ruler. Courageous and generous. The ideal king – kind and considerate of his subjects. Compassionate man who takes good care of his whole kingdom. Also a good guy.

The Sheriff of Nottingham

Robin’s archnemesis. Greedy bastard, who abuses his authority. Rotten apple of the kingdom. Pompous, arrogant and manipulative. Also in love with Marion, the love od Robin Hood’s life. Definitely not a good guy.

The Merry Men

Robin’s band of outlaws. Trained fighters. Loyal and jolly.

Little John: Robin’s right hand. The tallest man in the group.

Friar Tuck: A Holy man who eats a lot, drinks a lot and swears a lot.

Will Scarlett: A musical, fashion obsessed dandy. Trusted friend and a merciless fighter.

Maid Marion: Beautiful, skilled swordswoman, trustworthy spy. Robin Hood’s true love.

Much, The Miller’s Son: Young, innocent and not too bright. Loyal to the bone.

Difficulty: 3 of 3 stars

Time Limit: 60 minutes

Cost: Cost: Cash only in Croatian kuna is accepted
150 kuna per person for 2 people, about $23.14 each
100 kuna per person for 3-4 people, about $15.43 each
90 kuna per person for 4 people, about $13.89 each
75 kuna per person for 5 people, about $11.57 each

Languages: Offered both in Croatian and English

Identifier: R1

Party Size: 2–6 people

Staging Area: A very comfortable seating area, and you are offered a beverage before you go in the room.

Metro Access/Parking: This location is on the second floor of a building down in the city center. Uber works well in Zagreb.

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OUR EXPERIENCE

This is the video we took just after we completed the room:

Note: The ERG were given the opportunity to try out this room for free, with the understanding that we would continue to provide an honest review and follow the same process we’ve used on all of our other ratings.

Logistics:

Description of the room: The Sheriff of Nottingham’s office, complete with medieval weapons, barrels, a desk, and some heavy doors. Check out the photos (found on Escape Art Zagreb’s website) below:

Understanding of the Mission: Prince John and his sycophant, The Sheriff of Nottingham, have stolen King Richard’s crown while he’s off fighting in the crusades. As a King Richard loyalist, you have to rescue the crown before it gives Prince John any ideas of seizing full control of the kingdom as well (and not simply acting as regent).

Did We Escape: yes… and no (see below)

Time Remaining: not applicable – we essentially did a walkthrough of this room where we played the room, but got hinted right away or told the solution (if it was a math puzzle or required a lot of calculation) since we had another room booked at a different location, but really, really wanted to check this out before we left. We’re glad we did.

Our Suggested Party Size: 6 would work fine

Did the room challenge the entire team? Yes

Members of our team (other than the ERG): Heather

Worth the time and money? Yes

Where to Eat/Drink Before/After: There are lots of places within walking distance, so we recommend you use Google or TripAdvisor (or ask for a recommendation!)

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OUR SCORING:

MIKE SAYS:
Overall Expectation (Summary)
While vacationing in Croatia with Heather, Zagreb was our last stop and we decided to do a few escape rooms. We already booked Dracula’s Chambers and another room at a different location soon afterwards. However, we had a long and pleasant conversation with Jasmina, one of the owners, who offered to also let us try out their top room (and rated as most favorite), Robin Hood, after we finished Dracula. I was so torn because we had another appointment less than an hour after we’d finish Dracula, and weren’t able to come back at a different time since we were leaving to return home early the next morning. With a slightly heavy heart, we had to decline. After we escaped Dracula’s Chambers, however, Jasmina asked if we wouldn’t mind just checking out the room. Looking at the clock, we had to leave in just about 30 minutes if we were going to make our next appointment, so we asked if we could play the room, and just have her tell us the solutions if we got stuck… so essentially doing a walkthrough. Jasmina was happy that we’d be able to see the product of all their hard work, and agreed. So, that’s what we did. Heather and I did explore the room and start solving puzzles. When we got stuck for more than a minute, or if the clue required any heavy thought or a lot of work (such as calculations with math), Jasmina clued us in as to where to go/what to do next. We did a fair job in solving about 70% of the room on our own, and likely could have escaped the room within the 60 minutes you are generally allocated. Robin Hood was very, very well done and I’m glad that we got to play most of it.
Story (Rating)
Prince John, the temporary ruler of England, has his eyes on more than being just a caretaker of the throne. No longer wishing to serve just as regent for his brother, King Richard the Lionhearted (who was away fighting the crusades), he’s stolen the crown and wants to make his position permanent. And, to make matters worse, he’s brought in the Sheriff of Nottingham to help dispatch any resistance. Sneaky little bastards. This was a fun theme and an original take on any Robin Hood theme I’ve heard about (many times, it’s “rescue Maid Marion”). The level of detail on the website is pretty awesome to give you one backstory before presenting you with the theme to the room (but you aren’t required to have read the description on the website before playing… it’s just a nice bonus, and very snarkily written). While this is based on a historical/legendary figure, the story itself was pretty original, and you get just enough information to place you right in the Sheriff’s office to start your mission. Rating: 10/10
Mission (Rating)
This one is pretty simple. Search the Sheriff’s office to find King Richard’s crown before he and Prince John get back from eating lunch at the local tavern. The mission is clear, and there is a bit of challenge to this because the office is pretty big, and it’s an original take on the Robin Hood legend. However, only having one mission point is a bit limiting for this room. I would have included “escape the Sheriff’s office” as part of the mission because if he returns and finds you with the crown, then you’re gonna get thrown in the stocks anyway. Rating: 8/10
Puzzle Diversity (Rating)
There was a lot of fun stuff to do in this room and nothing really repeated over and over. Some of these may seem like spoilers, but there are photos on Escape Art’s website that show you a bit of the room. You had to do some things that used props in the room such as utilizing a scale, and you get to use a BOW AND ARROW to complete a puzzle!! That was probably one of my three favorite parts of the room. There were some riddles to answer, and some things to find to get you to your next point. And, there were some really good old time mechanical-type puzzles to solve or locks to open. And there were a lot of padlocks (keyed locks, which fit the theme) to mess with. Rating: 8.5/10
Puzzle Complexity (Rating)
This room wasn’t overly difficult in the challenge of the puzzles you were required to solve, but there was a great mix of easy to medium-difficulty. You had to pull a lot of different elements together to solve some, and others just required some hard thinking. Some of the “old time mechanical” puzzles did require some thought on how to figure out their workings, and the one puzzle that is hinted at in the photos and mentioned above (bow and arrow) can be really difficult depending on your level of ability (and luck). As soon as I saw that this is what we had to do, I became like a kid on Christmas… and getting there was even as much fun (see section below). Rating: 7/10
Flow/Cohesiveness/Uniqueness (Rating)
The room’s design is pretty awesome. You do feel like you are in an old wooden building back in the Middle Ages complete with period pieces of artwork/decoration that you would expect to find on the walls, and the locks and puzzles fit the theme and mission well. There were some great unique things here, from the bow and arrow puzzle to some additional mechanical things I won’t mention. Jasmina actually asked if she could video us as we solved one of the puzzles just so she could get our reaction… and we allowed it. She was so excited when our faces lit up once we solved the puzzle. It was so freaking cool. The flow of the room was well done too. The room is large enough to have a big group exploring in all different areas, and the room goes linear at some point, and then expands again to allow for some breaking off of the team. The final puzzle was very, very cool in how it was designed, but I accidentally worked on it an alternate way which wouldn’t have solved the puzzle. I would recommend a few more instructions here so that nothing gets broken and the solution is better revealed. Rating: 9/10
Fun/Amusement (Summary)
Had a blast in this room. My only regret is not being able to play it all the way through like we would a normal booking, but we’re very glad that we got to see (and play) it.
Game Master (Summary)
Jasmina was great, and obviously loves what she does. She was so excited to share this room with us that it was infectious.
How Helpful Were Any Clues Given, if any (Summary)
We asked for a bunch just because it was a walkthrough and we were short on time. Everything we were given, however, was well done and moved us along through the experience.
ERG (pronounced URG, as in “we should have known better”) Score
Nope… didn’t feel stupid and had a great time. Rating: —  0/5

ESCAPE ROOM GUYS’ OVERALL SCORING 8.5/10

Final Thought: The problem with doing rooms so far away from your home base is that you have to prioritize what ones you do, and hope that you get back sometime to get to do all the others. While Robin Hood wasn’t on our agenda, and we had to do it as a “rush through” (not even a simple walkthrough), it was so well done to the point where we regretted (and still regret) not being able to find time to do it properly. Great job, Escape Art Zagreb!