Grounded
Location: Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Date Played: May 9, 2019
Team size: 3-7; we recommend 4
Duration: 60 minutes
Price: from € 40 / player per team of 3 to € 22 / player per team of 7
Ticketing: Private
Emergency Exit Rating: [A] Push To Exit
Physical Restraints: [A+]
REA Reaction
Catch Me if you Can was a game highly recommended by many Dutch escape room fans.
Upon arrival, the staff at Next Level Escape was eager to inform us that Catch Me if you Can was the “number 1 escape room in the Netherlands.”
Given the Netherlands has been my personal favorite country to play escape rooms in, and we were coming off of a day of incredible games, Catch Me if you Can set itself a high bar to clear. It didn’t even come close.
That’s not to say this was a bad game. Catch Me if you Can had fantastic set design, taking us to inventive locations. Next Level Escape baked in some great details and even better scene transitions. It was clear that a lot of love went into this game. I can kind of see why people love it so much.
For me, however, Catch Me if you Can felt like it was leaning on realism to a fault. The best way that I can sum up this game is, “Be given an intense mission, go to cool places, and do the most boring things that you can imagine doing in those locations.”
I’m rarely one to kick a company for including a process puzzle that moves the plot along, but there were just too many of them and they lasted too long. As I solved, I found myself imagining puzzle concepts that would have been way more engaging. This felt like going on a date with a very pretty, very boring individual.
Plenty of people love this game and there were lots of things that I did enjoy. If you’re a traveling player visiting The Netherlands and you’re spending a few days playing the top games in the region, I’d lower your expectations on this one. I’m glad that I saw it, but I wish it were as engaging as it was pretty.
Who is this for?
- Puzzle lovers
- Scenery snobs
- Players with at least some experience
- Players who don’t need to be a part of every puzzle
Why play?
- Great scene transitions
- The final set
Story
Catch Me If You Can was the sequel to The Suspicious Farmhouse (a game that we did not play). We were an FBI team pursuing a violent criminal last seen at the Hold’em Inn Pub. That’s where we began our investigation, with the hope that we could stop this man before he added to his body count.
Setting
The sets in Catch Me If You Can were strong. The pub that opened the experience looked a lot like an Irish pub near where I used to live… albeit with quite a few more sound effects than the real deal.
The later sets, which I won’t describe because… spoilers… were unusual escape room locales executed well… especially the final set, which was extremely realistic.
Gameplay
Next Level Escape’s Catch Me If You Can was a standard escape room with a higher level of difficulty.
Core gameplay revolved around searching, making connections, puzzling, and completing substantial tasks.
Analysis
➕ The sets were convincing. The final set was impressively realistic. Each setting in Catch Me If You Can was fun to enter and explore.
➖ Some of the sets were pretty worn… and in one instance, beat up.
➖ Too many of the puzzles in Catch Me If You Can required us to execute mundane tasks. Some of these were so bizarrely realistic as to be boring. Others were just tedious. In their interesting sets, Next Level Escape made odd choices as to how to build in the gameplay.
➕ Next Level Escape included one personalized detail that we appreciated. It was a small thing that made for a neat moment.
➖ Some of the early puzzles required outside knowledge. While much of this was provided as in-game cluing, those clues were onerous. After we had correctly solved a puzzle, we had to take a hint because we lacked the knowledge to correctly apply the puzzle solution to the information at hand.
➖ Catch Me If You Can included a lot of process puzzles. In one instance the emphasis on precision was baffling. The aha had passed long before we’d completed the puzzle. This whole sequence weighed down the game.
➕ Next Level Escape created some phenomenal transitions. They added small details that really sold these moments.
➖ One transition appeared to include a lengthy interlude… until we realized that the clock hadn’t stopped and we were supposed to be playing, despite the situational context. Because of the realism in the environment, we’d instinctively started following the real-world rules of that space when we should have started solving the escape room. This was unfortunate, confusing, and began the final act on the wrong foot.
Tips For Visiting
- There is a parking garage in the center of town.
Book your hour with Next Level Escape’s Catch Me If You Can, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.
Disclosure: Next Level Escape provided media discounted tickets for this game.
