Room Escape Artist

Outline is one of the best escape rooms in Barcelona. Here are our recommendations for other great escape rooms in Barcelona, Spain.

Get your head examined.

Location:  Barcelona, Spain

Date Played: April 21, 2024

Team size: 3-8; we recommend 4-5

Duration: 120 minutes

Price: from €40 per player for teams of 3 to €27.50 per player for teams of 6

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: The game includes crawling, climbing ladders, strobing lights, shaking, loud noises, and a lot of smoke.

Mess Meter:  🧹🧹🧹🧹🧹 (out of 5)

Emergency Exit Rating: [F] No Emergency Exit

Physical Restraints: [F] No Emergency Release (for one player only)

REA Reaction

Outline was terrifying.

It was also a masterpiece in precision choreography. The actors moved in and out of spaces flawlessly, appearing right in front us, and disappearing without a trace. The timings were perfectly tuned. It was unbelievable.

To keep us on edge for 120 minutes, there was a lot more to Outline than startling glimpses of haunting characters. Through the intense environment, immense space, haunting soundtrack, and more, the tension ebbed and flowed. We became more comfortable, but never at ease.

The narrative, aesthetic, and puzzle style evolved too, from the factory into a demonic lair. There was so much more to Outline than first appeared.

Because it was so epic, and attempted so much, we have more critiques of this escape room than others of this caliber. It didn’t get everything right. For example, it fumbled the narrative and stylistic pivot that it used to add intrigue and setup the dramatic conclusion. It didn’t always properly direct us with light and sound cues, leaving players confused in the dark.

And when we exited Outline, our immediate reaction was 🧹🧹🧹🧹🧹. Thus the Mess Meter for Spanish escape rooms was born.

Outline outclassed the other ominous-hallway horror games we played in Spain. Each time we saw other versions of this style, we came to appreciate Outline’s execution even more.

If you love horror, or even if you just appreciate horror, (and as long as the accessibility and safety considerations don’t present an obstacle to you) this is a must play on any trip to Barcelona.

Who is this for?

• Adventure seekers
• Puzzle lovers
• Scenery snobs
• Horror fans
• Thrill seekers
• Best for players with at least some experience
• Players who don’t need to be a part of every puzzle
• Players who don’t mind getting dirty.

Why play?

• Many well-coordinated, cinematic moments
• It’s an expansive experience
• It’s truly intense and legitimately scary

Story

Outline is an abandoned factory, haunted by its owner, the late Mr. Morgan. People go in, but they never come out. Recently a local reporter who was investigating the area went missing. We’d been hired to rescue him, and considering the high pay, we decided to take the risk and enter Outline.

Setting

From the opening moments, the set was dark and foreboding. It was gritty. As we moved into the experience, a long hallway stretched ominously in front of us.

Outline was vast. As we explored its depths, we encountered many different rooms, each with disturbing props and set pieces. Something horrible was going on in this place.

Gameplay

Outline Escape Room’s Outline was a terrifying horror escape room.

You perception of the difficulty level will vary based on your comfort level with horror. The puzzles were not especially challenging, but if you struggle with darkness, loud noises, and fear, it will be quite challenging.

Core gameplay revolved around exploring, observing, making connections, and solving puzzles. Puzzles often relied on communication.

We also had to move through the space, which required climbing and crawling.

Analysis

➕/➖ Like many escape rooms in Spain, Outline had a cold start. In this implementation, we were in the world of the game already, but we had a space to store our belongings and pay before the experience began. We would have appreciated more prevalent and clear English signage to help us get our bearings. Elements of the onboarding were deeply frustrating.

➕ Outline excelled at creating tension through gameplay. Early tactics included splitting our party and requiring us to traverse a large, foreboding space.

➕ The soundtrack further amplified the tension with its crescendos.

➕ Haunting characters appeared and disappeared with flawless timing. The actors’ control over themselves, us, and the environment was impeccable. They were the tension.

➕ The puzzles were reasonably complex, requiring observation and communication in a hostile environment. It was interesting to watch the way that fear scaled the difficulty in Outline.

➕ Outline was 120 minutes. Over time, we became desensitized to the actors, even as they startled us. They moved with the same stealth and precision, but we were more comfortable. That said, Outline found different ways to dial up the tension in later segments so that we remained on edge, even as we became less cautious.

➕ The characters were playful and mischievous. They taunted us, but in good fun.

➖ We did not know where emergency exits were. One player was physically restrained for a time without a clear safety release. We traversed uneven surfaces and stairs in the dark.

➖ Outline used light inconsistently to direct us. On multiple occasions one or more players found themselves stranded in the dark after an interaction, with no clear indicator which way to go next.

➖ Outline was filthy. When we exited the game, it looked like we’d done demolition work. We stopped to wipe down our clothes and shoes before we felt like we could reasonably enter a restaurant.

➖ The tension broke awkwardly in one late scene. First we need to manipulate a challenging lock (that many players will be unfamiliar with) under pressure (that accidentally revealed itself to be false pressure). This opened up a slow transition, where the pace of the game ground to a halt for different players in different ways. The whole sequence was messy.

➖ In order to move the narrative forward, we listened to a long monologue, where this transition was told to us. We wished this had been revealed through the gameplay instead.

➕ The aesthetic pivoted dramatically – from factory to occult – as the narrative arc progressed. One late-game transition set, in particular, was gorgeous.

➖ Past players had badly damaged the most beautiful set in the game because two types of props were too similar in size… and everyone jammed the wrong one into a certain space. The damaged set now exacerbates the problem, as each wrong moves makes it seem even more like the wrong item should be jammed in.

➕ Following the narrative and setting transition, the gameplay changed as well. The tension subsided briefly, and we felt comfortable solving in this space… even with the clear demonic overtones. It was strangely beautiful.

➕ This last scene setup the terrifying finale… and a heart-bumping race to the end of this escape room.

Tips For Visiting

• We were able to find street parking nearby.
• The game is available in English.
• This is a horror experience.
• There are actors in the game.

Book your session with Outline Escape Room’s Outline, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.