Room Escape Artist

The Mystery of Santos Dumont is an avatar-led adaptation of a real-life escape game played over livestream, created by BH Escape in Santo Antônio, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Format

Style of Play:

• Adaptation of an in-person game (can be played IRL)
• Avatar controlled by the players
• Web-based inventory system

Required Equipment: computer with internet connection

Recommended Team Size: 2-4

Play Time: 60 minutes

Price: ~$50 per team

Booking: book online for a specific time slot

Description

This is a standard avatar-led experience plus a companion website for verifying codes (that the avatar still needs to unlock physically), viewing information, and tracking unopened locks.

Hivemind Review Scale

Andrew Reynolds’ Reaction

The Mystery of Santos Dumont is a standard avatar-led experience with an unexpected degree of integrated tech. Your objective is to rescue Alberto Santos-Dumont (a real Brazilian inventor) who has been lost in time after some misadventures with time travel. Pedro, your avatar, travels to Santos Dumont’s workshop to track him down.

The puzzles were all fairly standard escape room-style puzzles, but what was surprising to me was the degree of both polish and tech hidden throughout the room. The companion website worked perfectly, allowing us to verify codes, view information, and track which locks still needed to be opened.

If by chance you find yourself in southern Brazil, this one might be worth playing in person. But if a trip to South America isn’t on the horizon for you, I’d recommend booking a virtual excursion with BH Escape.

Theresa Piazza’s Reaction

The Mystery of Santos Dumont is an avatar-style virtual escape room that had a couple elements which made me wish I would have played the experience in real life. The online inventory system made it simple to review information independently, and our avatar host was happy to respond to our questions about the world and play along with our jokes. The puzzles were straightforward and did not give us any trouble, allowing us to successfully complete our mission and return to the present day.

Joel Smileypeacefun Reaction

Alberto Santos Dumont was the father of aviation. We looked around in his 1932 chalet and had to recover his invention just in time to not be stuck in that period forever.

At its best, this game offered tons of different puzzles. There were surprise openings and unique props to interact with. We could enter codes on a well-implemented web interface. The gamemaster was engaging and supportive without giving away solutions.

At its worst, we missed a few cool reveals because the input mechanisms and the effects that happened sometimes were far apart and the camera couldn’t turn quickly enough. Towards the end of the game, there was a big prop that couldn’t be translated to the online version and therefore had been left out. A lot of clues were presented on pieces of paper; I’d wish there had been more diversity in how these clues were presented.

From the first look, I didn’t know what to expect, but the game turned out to be a lot of fun.