Room Escape Artist

Judgment Day is one of the best escape rooms in Québec City, Québec, Canada. Here are our recommendations for great escape rooms in Québec City

The jury has a verdict

Location:  Québec City, Québec, Canada

Date Played: March 2, 2025

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

Duration: 75 minutes

Price: $40 CA per player (student pricing is also available)

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration:  Some light fog

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

There was a slow burn to Judgment Day… a depth that I didn’t entirely appreciate while I played, but that has stuck with me in the weeks since we returned from Québec City.

Judgment Day felt heavily influenced by the horror games we’ve played across Europe – in The Netherlands, Spain, and Greece. We could feel that the creative team at Eliviascape has studied the craft of escape room design. They are reacting to, pushing on, and pulling back on the horror design mechanics we’ve become familiar with. When we reviewed Eliviascape’s earlier game, Abstraction, we noted how much it felt inspired with the Dutch style of horror. Judgment Day felt like a follow on piece by the same artist, this time more willing to take risks.

Judgment Day had a uniquely artistic quality. This was a story told through the set pieces and interactions, with deep symbolism between the narrative and the physical environment.

Eliviascape masterfully built and released tension. They didn’t fall into the regular traps that make heart-pounding horror epics become repetitive gameplay loops. The stakes remained high until – and even especially in – the final moments of play. Yet, they also made a grim and haunting story more approachable, giving more players the opportunity to experience a traumatic narrative.

Judgment Day won’t be for everyone. It’s dark – both aesthetically and thematically – and eerie. It’s both a challenging puzzle game and a commentary. Truthfully, I can’t say every moment was fun. But it had an impact. That’s why I’m still thinking about this one. It’s pushing the boundaries of what the escape room medium can be.

Who is this for?

• Adventure seekers
• Story seekers
• Puzzle lovers
• Scenery snobs
• Fans of grim crime fiction
• Best for players with at least some experience

Why play?

• A thoughtful and artistic experience
• Some impressive setpieces
• An interesting twist on some common European escape room tropes

Story

A voice in our heads compelled us to visit the house at 969 route de l’Église. What we would find there, we couldn’t say; we simply knew that we had to find out.

Setting

Judgment Day was vast with grim and detailed spaces. The game world felt like it was straddling the real world and a bad dream. In some places there was an abundance of detail, and in others, the design was lean but focused.

Gameplay

Eliviascape’s Judgment Day was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.

Core gameplay revolved around observing, making connections, solving puzzles, moving through the spaces, and navigating the environment, which was sizable.

Analysis

➕ The set was more than initially met the eye. In some ways, it was humble, as it was mostly a simple home, sparsely decorated enough to feel real without creating red herrings. However, the deliberate design was evident in how it was exquisitely weathered, which added a lot to the atmosphere. Additionally, it was expansive… and it just kept going.

➕ Right from the beginning, we felt like we had many paths to explore, which initiated the tension that Eliviascape would push and pull throughout the game. It was a bold opening.

➕ The early puzzles onboarded us well, giving us time to learn the space and the characters in this story. At the same time, Judgment Day offered familiar puzzle styles, but with twists.

➖ In one early puzzle, the tolerance was too tight, and the correct action didn’t work. Especially in the early onboarding in a dim environment (where players are more likely to be less precise), forgiving tolerances can be essential.

➕ Eliviascape created an entire, complex set for symbolism. They balanced this artistic, interactive interlude, which made us stop and think, as well as observe keenly, communicate well, and puzzle.

➕ Throughout the game, we appreciated how the story was represented in the physical environments. Escape rooms are a unique medium for such symbolism, and in the second half of this game, Eliviascape continually told a story through set-based interactions.

➖ We followed the story, and we appreciated the symbolism, but small details didn’t always make sense to us. We couldn’t always connect these elements of gameplay with the story.

➕ Eliviascape brought different rooms to life around us, adding intrigue as well as gameplay in a novel way.

➖/➕ The lighting was dim, which we expect will detract from some teams’ experiences. That said, when the lighting was intended to be dramatic, it was effective. Selective spotlighting would have helped.

➖ We struggled with any audio in the game. When vocal tracks played, the audio mixing was off.

➕ Eliviascape maximized the impact of an actor. They didn’t fall into the trap of capturing players, thereby eliminating the stakes and the tension. Rather, they kept us on edge, waiting for the unknown, breaking the tension with more puzzle-focused scenes, and then amping it up again. Furthermore, the actor was important to a puzzle, and read our team well. They weren’t too aggressive, nor did they draw out the scene. By threading this needle, the finale was especially impactful. We also truly appreciated the “safe space” mechanic, which makes Judgment Day more approachable for nervous players, and, in turn, can give other players a hero moment.

➖ While the final scene was outstanding, we felt a lack of an in-world finale to the story. The end arrived before we’d fully realized it.

➖/❓ A few nuances of the game’s introduction were misleading or confusing. We were waiting for a scene that didn’t appear until much later, and we kept asking ourselves if every room was a particular scene we’d been told about. These moments took us out of flow state. We expect that with many more English introductions, Eliviascape will further refine the wording.

Tips For Visiting

• There is a parking lot.
• This game can be played in English or French.

Book your hour with Eliviascape’s Judgment Day, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Eliviascape comped our tickets for this game.