Room Escape Artist

I have a confession…

Location: Mechelen, Belgium

Date Played: July 17, 2023

Team Size: 2-6; we recommend 2-4

Duration: 70 minutes

Price: 130 € for 2 players to 170 € for 6 players

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: Players must climb and crawl to experience the full game

Emergency Exit Rating: [A] Push To Exit

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

The Secret of Saint-Rumoldus presented a fantastical riff on the local legend of a martyred man and some mysterious happenings in the centuries following his death.

I adore when escape rooms feel meaningfully rooted in a place and in the people who live there. Much like visiting history museums and tourist sites while traveling to far-off places, so too can escape rooms serve up local stories and flavor to itinerant enthusiasts.

The Secret of Saint-Rumoldus is the first of De Gouden Kooi’s “escape experiences” which, in contrast to their standard format “escape games,” provide “thorough story and an adventure where the experience and immersion is paramount.” This distinction came through strongly: The Secret of Saint-Rumoldus took us to the beautifully rustic church built by Rumoldus himself. The environment was detailed and vast, with a full adventure and a dynamic narrative.

Creating such an ambitious experience is a big step up from designing a normal escape room. It requires more space, more budget, and more buy-in from players. I’d love to see more companies follow in De Gouden Kooi’s footsteps with this multi-tiered model, clearly delineating between standard and premium experiences, explaining the difference between the two, and pricing their experiences accordingly.

The Secret of Saint-Rumoldus is well worth playing in its own right, and the newer Han’s Revenge even further established De Gouden Kooi as top-in-the-world escape room creators. Do not miss either of these innovative escape experiences if you are anywhere near Belgium.

Who is this for?

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

Why play?

• A gorgeous church with many secrets to uncover
• Creative puzzles
• A major twist

Story

As legend goes, back in the 8th century, Rumoldus built a small church near Mechelen — that is, right near where De Gouden Kooi is located now. Targeted for his perceived wealth, Rumoldus was mugged, murdered, and dumped in the river. His body was later recovered and brought back to the church, after which strange “miracles” began to occur.

Flash forward to the present. We’d received a call from the church’s pastor, who’d recently been driven out of the church by some terrifying happenings. It was up to us to find out what was really going on…

Setting

The Secret of Saint-Rumoldus began in a church courtyard and shortly made its way into the multi-level church itself. Every detail was gorgeously rendered, from the stained glass windows to various religious statues and carvings. It felt both rustic and polished.

Gameplay

De Gouden Kooi’s The Secret of Saint-Rumoldus was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.

Core gameplay revolved around solving puzzles, searching, and making connections.

Analysis

➕ I appreciated how The Secret of Saint-Rumoldus was rooted in regional history, extending a local legend surrounding a specific religious figure.

➕ The Secret of Saint-Rumoldus was a highly coherent narrative-centric experience. It was consistently clear what we were doing and why we were doing it throughout every segment of the game.

➕ The intro film was exceptionally well produced. Our “briefing room” further enhanced the viewing experience, and a narrative transition from the film into the physical game was creative and seamless.

➕ The set was grandiose, gorgeous, and intricately detailed. Large, realistic set pieces drew us in. Like in Han’s Revenge, De Gouden Kooi cleverly designed the layout of The Secret of Saint-Rumoldus around adventure, ensuring that we’d be crawling, climbing, and re-navigating an ever expanding playground as the game progressed.

➖ In comparison to the high level of polish established throughout the majority of the set, the opening and closing acts felt somewhat sparse and less fully realized.

➕ While the game appeared serious on the surface, I enjoyed an undercurrent of tongue-in-cheek humor and levity.

➕ The puzzle flow was fantastic. There was consistently plenty to work on, and many puzzles required creative communication.

➕/➖ The finale impressed us with an exciting thematic payoff which quickly felt overly static. While I appreciated the intended storytelling, perhaps De Gouden Kooi could have left more to the imagination and yielded an even greater effect.

Tips For Visiting

• De Gouden Kooi has two locations: one for their standard “escape games” and another for their premium “escape experiences.” The Secret of Saint-Rumoldus can be found at the latter, located at Haverwerf 7 in Mechelen.
• Metered street parking was available nearby, though not immediately at the venue. With a confusing network of one-way streets in the vicinity, make sure to leave enough time to park and get your bearings.

Book your session with De Gouden Kooi’s The Secret of Saint-Rumoldus, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.