Room Escape Artist

It’s About Thyme

Location: Geneva, Switzerland

Date Played: August 13, 2025

Team Size: 2-6; we recommend 2-4

Duration: 90 minutes

Price:  CHF 260 per team

Ticketing: Private

Accessibility Consideration: All players must climb and crawl

Emergency Exit Rating: [A+] No Lock

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

I can’t say too much about The Garden of Madame Suzette, other than that it’s a staggeringly gorgeous game that you should absolutely play.

In all our reviews on Room Escape Artist, we try our best to avoid spoilers, and what constitutes a “spoiler” varies from game to game. For reasons that become apparent upon playing The Garden of Madame Suzette, it’s difficult to talk about many aspects of this experience without significant spoilers.

But here’s what I can say:

1. The architectural details and production design were nothing short of exquisite.
2. There were multiple transitions, effects, and puzzles that I’d never encountered before across the 800+ escape rooms I’ve played.
3. This was a multifaceted, multisensory, wholly immersive experience. It was truly transportive.

Trip Trap’s Grand Trip Trap Hotel is a lovely framing concept, with each room transporting you into the world and adventures of a different occupant of the hotel. The adventures are varied, both in theme and play style, and each and every one is a must-play experience worth traveling for, making the Grand Trip Trap Hotel a top destination for escape room enthusiasts.

The Garden of Madame Suzette took Trip Trap’s style in a new and intriguing direction. There’s so much more I wish I could gush about, but to learn the secrets of this remarkable garden, you’ll just have to go and pay it a visit yourself.

Who is this for?

• Scenery snobs
• Adventure seekers
• Puzzle lovers
• Any experience level
• Players who don’t need to be a part of every puzzle

Why play?

• Stunning set design
• Unforgettable transitions
• A unique and transportive world

Story

We paid a visit to Madame Suzette’s dwelling at the Grand Trip Trap Hotel in order to tour her personal gardens.

Setting

Given how this game is presented, a detailed setting description would be a spoiler. But rest assured that the set is vast, robust, utterly transportive, and truly beautiful. I suggest going in without any expectations for what exactly you’ll encounter. (And rest assured that while the setting will remain a mystery until it is revealed, it’s not scary.)

Gameplay

Trip Trap’s The Garden of Madame Suzette was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.

Core gameplay revolved around solving puzzles and making connections.

Analysis

➕ The Garden of Madame Suzette had some of the most extravagantly detailed and realistic production design of any escape room I’ve played, in any region in the world. There was so much to marvel at.

➕/➖  While some of Trip Trap’s earlier experiences had perhaps an excess of audio exposition, The Garden of Madame Suzette found a creative alternative to welcome us into the experience. Yet, there was an opportunity to streamline the narrative for improved clarity.

➕ The puzzles in The Garden of Madame Suzette were consistently thematic and fun, and it was a genuine delight to interact with so many wonderful objects in interesting ways. I especially appreciated some layered solves in the latter half which utilized the specific properties of the space, combining environmental ahas with multiple sources of information.

➖ Riddles too often feel ambiguous and expect the solver to “guess what I’m thinking.” While a mid-game riddle was decently conceived, it fell into the common trap of placing a riddle amongst puzzles and disrupted the otherwise buttery smooth puzzle flow.

➕ The transitions throughout The Garden of Madame Suzette were brilliantly executed and well disguised. One reveal in particular was a giant step up from the rest, offering an unexpected and unique way of entering a new space. This transition appeared physically risky and may be somewhat polarizing amongst players, yet I was impressed by how Trip Trap took multiple subtle precautions to ensure this interaction was as safe as possible.

➕ A strikingly situated puzzle was the star of the space it occupied. If an escape room is going to have only one puzzle in a zone, it should guide players to interact with the largest and coolest features of that zone, as this puzzle perfectly exemplified.

➕ The Garden of Madame Suzette cleverly guided us to renavigate the environment through a new lens, which made the space feel even more vast and also prompted interesting player choreography.

➕ The finale was monumental and climactic, combining a ceremonious interaction, a beautiful reveal, and a satisfying narrative conclusion.

➖ The Garden of Madame Suzette set certain expectations which, while intriguing, were potentially to the detriment of the overall experience, both for my team and others that I’ve spoken with. There’s a fine line between productive mystique and unnecessary subterfuge, and with that comes a risk that participants’ initial assumptions — and the excitement that comes with those assumptions — may too closely match or even exceed what they receive, even if what they receive is, itself, something truly incredible.

Tips For Visiting

• Trip Trap has 3 separate locations. The Garden of Madame Suzette is located at the Grand Trip Trap Hotel location.

Book your hour with Trip Trap’s The Garden of Madame Suzette, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Trip Trap provided media discounted tickets for this game.