Room Escape Artist

Tune up.

Location: Utrecht, The Netherlands

Date Played: May 7, 2018

Team size: 3-8; we recommend 3-4

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: ranging from €109 per group to €119 per group depending on team size and weekday or evening/weekend

Ticketing: Private

REA Reaction

The Diamond Heist’s design aesthetic and construction quality were world class. I’m struggling to think of another escape game that hid technology quite as well as The Diamond Heist. Additionally, Get Out of Here’s comic-booky, noir-esque voiceover narration delivered humor and story with incredible efficiency. The catch: cluing and gameflow were shaky at best and left a lot of room for guesswork and approximation.

The Diamond Heist is almost top tier, and with some game design iteration, I have no doubt that Get Out of Here could achieve true greatness.

If you’re in Utrecht, check this one out.

Who is this for?

• Adventure seekers
• Story seekers
• Scenery snobs
• Any experience level

Why play?

• A unique setting
• Expertly hidden tech
• Beautiful set design
• Neat gadgets
• Surprising reveals

Story

Big Harry and Little Charlie — brothers, business partners, and master thieves — had worked together for years without drama. Charlie, however, had grown to resent that his brother called all of the shots. Their last heist had scored the legendary Ephemeral Diamond and Harry wouldn’t even let Charlie see it… so Charlie had hired us to burglarize it from his big brother.

Setting

Get Out of Here’s The Diamond Heist was set in an automotive garage. The large, detailed space was beautifully designed. It looked and felt real with all of the escape roomy puzzles, interactions, and technology hidden shockingly well.

In preparation for the mission, we were given jumpsuits.

Gameplay

Get Out of Here’s The Diamond Heist was a standard escape room with a high level of difficulty.

Core gameplay revolved around making connections, a little physical activity, and puzzling.

Get Out of Here has two copies of this game, so it is possible to race through these games competitively.

Analysis

+ Get Out of Here’s custom construction was high quality. They built interesting set pieces into their large gamespace.

+ Much of The Diamond Heist was tech-driven. The tech build was high quality and seamlessly hidden. This contributed to our amazement at one particular reveal.

+ The Diamond Heist delivered a few badass reveals. These were incredible moments.

– The Diamond Heist lacked clue structure. Much of the gameplay was presented as interactions rather than puzzles. It became increasingly frustrating to interact with the space and to trigger the dramatic moments.

– At times, we felt like digging for clue structure was akin to pixel hunting. The puzzles and their components felt too small for the large gamespace.

+ We enjoyed one thematically appropriate puzzle that combined information from disparate sources into a substantial and satisfying team puzzle.

– One puzzle required highly precise color perception.

+ The comic book-esque voiceover felt like our inner monologue. The adventure narration delivered narrative progression. This was different and fun.

Tips for Visiting

• Drive 45 minutes from central Amsterdam.
• At least a few players need some basic agility.
• Wear comfortable shoes.
• Don’t wear skirts or dresses as they will make it difficult to put on your jumpsuit.

Book your hour with Get Out of Here’s The Diamond Heist, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Get out of Here comped our tickets for this game.