Skp Room - The Madman in the Alley (El loco del callejón) [Review]

Free candy

Location: Valencia, Spain

Date Played: April 24, 2024

Team size: 2-8; we recommend 3-4

Duration: 100 minutes

Price: from €60 per player for teams of 2 to €23 per player for teams of 8

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: The game includes crawling and climbing.

Mess Meter: 🧹 (out of 5)

Emergency Exit Rating: [F] No Emergency Exit

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

For more on our trip to Spain, here’s our field report.

REA Reaction

Of all the horror games we played in Spain, The Madman in the Alley was the most approachable.

It built apprehension, and it was intense at times, but we knew which scenes to be on edge for. It carved out safe spaces to solve puzzles, such that the puzzles could be more layered and complex than in many other horror games.

The biggest issue with The Madman in the Alley was how much it showed age. Locks, interactions, and paint were all worn. It opted for a dated blacklight puzzle design, which added a great deal of annoyance to the entire game.

That said, it used space well, and we always felt in control of ourselves, and our movement through the space. It also had a few spatial tricks up its sleeve.

If we’d played The Madman in the Alley on any other trip, it would have been a standout. Still, if you’re not driving all over the Spain and instead you’re looking for a horror game in Valencia, it’s a great choice.

Who is this for?

Adventure seekers
Puzzle lovers
Horror fans… although this one is on the lighter side for Spain
Any experience level

Why play?

The combination of horror and puzzles
To interact with the character that greets players
The adrenaline rush

Story

We’d booked a room at a low budget motel for the weekend, but when we arrived it was deserted except for an unusual (but kind!) character who seemed a bit on edge. It turned out, a madman lurked in the alley outside of the motel, and he didn’t take well to visitors. Instead of a casual getaway weekend, we found ourselves unravelling the sinister plots of a madman, and trying to escape with our lives.

Setting

The motel lobby was appropriately dreary and rundown. The alley was dark, but much more vibrant. From there, we wound our way through a number of other sets with different decor ranging from detailed to barely decorated.

Gameplay

Skp Room’s The Madman in the Alley was a standard, horror escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.

Core gameplay revolved around searching, making connections, solving puzzles… and running from the madman.

Analysis

➕ We adored the quirky character who timidly greeted us when we tried to check into the motel. She had endearing nervous tics, and her anxiety set an appropriate tone for the game. She improvised with us really well.

➕ The Madman in the Alley was puzzley for a horror game. It accomplished this by opening up spaces that felt safe for solving. Only in a few instances did we spend prolonged time in the alley, looking over our shoulders.

➕The puzzles were varied, often layered, and well-clued. While the majority were traditional escape room-style puzzles, a few were more memorable interactions that required coordinated teamwork.

➖ Early on we found a single, small, handheld blacklight. For the rest of the game, we felt obligated to shine it on everything, just in case. This was a drag. And the blacklight puzzle was not a worthy payoff. It was too worn, and could not be solved collaboratively, given that we only had one blacklight.

That said, this blacklight sequence led to a hilarious story… which you can hear on the REPOD Patreon Bonus Show Spain Trip 2024, available to backers at $5 and up.

➕ The Madman in the Alley required us to traverse a lot of space, but it wasn’t gratuitous. It wasn’t for the sake of the jump scare. Rather, it furthered the plot of the game, revealing new information and leading us toward a conclusion.

➖ We had to repeat the solution to one puzzle often as we traversed the space. While it could be narratively justified (maybe?) and it was a fair memory puzzle, it became quite a nuisance.

➕/➖ We spent the most time in a number of detailed, fully designed rooms. These sets felt lived in and vibrant. That said, some of the smaller intermediary spaces felt under designed.

➖ We encountered a lot wear on locks and props.

➕ The game was scary, but we had agency. We weren’t at the mercy of a terrifying character who controlled our movement through the space. When Skp Room manipulated the space, it was delightful, and in our favor. This was a wow moment.