An Escape Game Fan’s Guide to… Prague (2018)
Note: there are loads of escape games in Prague. We played 14 of them, based on a mixture of recommendations from friends, the internet and Trip Advisor, along with taking a few punts on things that just looked interesting. This is by no means a comprehensive list, and of course the scene is constantly changing with new rooms opening all the time. This is a snapshot as of December 2017.
The basics
Prague is a fairly compact city, and we mostly got around via walking and the occasional Uber. In terms of language, most people speak a bit of English, and you can generally get by. For the games themselves, the simple rule we followed was that if they had an English website, they’d be English-speaker friendly, which worked out for us (and most of the games we investigated have an English site). Most of our GMs spoke great English so clues were rarely an issue.
Nearly every game requires booking online in advance, and payment in cash, generally after the game, so be sure to take enough Czech Forints. You can expect to spend an average of 1000-1500CZK per game (for a team of three) which is around 34-51GBP or 42-63USD.
If you want some great food, check out the taster menu at Eska – it’s modern food made with traditional Czech ingredients, is wonderful, and just a few minutes walk from Chess Key Room – just be sure to allow a good few hours to eat!
The best – our top games
Hacker’s Nest and Haunted House, The Chamber
The Chamber have a number of great games and these were two of our favourite, to the point that we’ve written about The Chamber separately in an article here. Alas our favourite game, Hacker’s Nest has since closed.
http://thechamber.cz/en/
Multiple venues
1490-2090CZK (based on game and number of players)
Mission 53, The Padlock
Never before have I played a game where the host nonchalantly asks before you go in “Would you like some water to take in with you? Or a beer?” – indeed most games in the UK will tell you very clearly on their sites that anyone who has had even a drop of alcohol in the past 12 hours may be refused entry! But that sort of sums up the game – it’s a bit more laid back than many. It’s 99 minute game, and there’s a lot to be doing, but you don’t generally feel rushed (or even have access to a timer). You’re investigating a mystery as rookie police officers and while the stakes become higher later on, it wouldn’t make sense for it to be rushed from the start.
What really stands out about this game is the sense of scale. You start off “outside” – except you’re not physically outside, you’re just in an environment that makes you feel like you’re outside. Mostly because of the flat and full size van there with you. The environment opens up even further, with some nice simulation of travel at one point, but you’ll also return to this initial area later in the game. The puzzles are varied and there’s a nice ending that is fun to enter into the spirit of!
http://thepadlock.cz
Husitská 38, Prague 3 – Žižkov
1799CZK
TepFactor
So TepFactor isn’t an escape room but deserves a mention as one of the most unique things in the Prague area. It’s an entirely different beast – essentially an collection of challenge rooms that you can take on in any order, as many times as you like (you pay by the hour). A mixture of mental, skill and physical challenges. And we mean physical – gym clothes are recommend! It’s also about a 40 minute trip out of the city centre. We wrote about it in much more detail here.
https://www.tepfactor.cz/eng
Chotilsko 1, 262 03, Chotilsko
379CZK/hour
Bubbling under – best of the rest
Emperor’s Secret and Medieval Dungeon, The Chamber
Again, check out our separate piece on The Chamber here.
http://thechamber.cz/en/
Multiple venues
1490-2090CZK (based on game and number of players)
Dream Extractors, Escape X
Themed around the movie Inception, Dream Extractors is a game that starts with a very austere, almost empty play space, through which you proceed into increasingly bizarre and different levels of “dream”. The set design was exceptional, and moving into each new area create a sense of adventure. The puzzles were fine – none really stood out but it’s the theme that ties it all together. It does, however, come with a warning. The final room uses some visual trickery to make you feel (literally) off balance. Two of our team really struggled with this, and found it made them feel quite nauseous. It’s an odd one as it’s a great effect, and it’s done brilliantly – just perhaps too brilliantly!
https://www.escapex.cz/?lang=en
Opletalova 6, Prague 1
1300-1600CZK (based on number of players)
Xavarius, Riddle Twist
Xavarius is another longer game at 75 minutes. It’s apparently based on a fairly well known Czech sci-fi story, but don’t be fooled, the game is very much set in an old Church. It’s a great recreation, that incorporates function well while staying true to the form. There are rows and rows of Church pews that are mostly just set dressing, but they are there nonetheless. The game environment very much feels like a small Church, rather than just an attempt to put across the “feel” of a Church in a much smaller space. The puzzles themselves were mostly great, using the environment in really clever ways, though the final puzzle we found a bit convoluted, and needed quite a few hints to get through. It’s fine to have a challenging final puzzle, but when it’s also not obvious that it is the final puzzle, that can be frustrating. The clue system here was also fantastic.
https://www.riddletwist.cz/?lang=en
Wenzigova 1857/11, 120 00 Praha 2
1500CZK
Zombie Apocalypse, Questerland
Zombie Apocalypse was the best of the three games we played at Questerland, though not by much. It offered a neat environment, some decent enough puzzles, but nothing really stood out as amazing. A decent enough game, but there are far better in the city.
https://questerland.cz/en/
Manesova 54, 120 00 Prague 2
1100-1790CZK (depending on game, time of day and team size)
The rest
Va Bank and Harry’s Magic Room, Questerland
The other two games at Questerland were less than great. Va Bank is a decent enough bank heist game, but felt a lot like games we’ve played a million times before. Harry’s Magic Room is an unofficial Harry Potter game, and it employs the trick of giving you “magic wands” with which to interact with the game. Though in this case, they appeared to just be sticks with magnets on the end, that fitted in obvious holes to make something happen. The game just felt really worn, and because of that it was completely obvious where previous players had (ahem) stuck their wands – so any of that magic was gone. There were actually some decent puzzles there, but it just felt too worn out to really give any magical feeling.
https://questerland.cz/en/
Manesova 54, 120 00 Prague 2
1100-1790CZK (depending on game, time of day and team size)
Bombing of Prague and Alcatraz, Exit Room
We’re fans of games that focus on local history, and this is what Exit Room specialise in. While The Bombing of Prague was good in this respect, it was otherwise fairly uninspired game. We learned something, but didn’t have a great time doing so. Alcatraz meanwhile is a prison escape game, which was a better game but play much more loose with the historical element. It was also the only game where the GM didn’t speak great English, so struggled to really give us good clues when were stuck.
http://en.exitroomprague.cz/
Multiple locations
1290-1490CZK (depending on team size)
Summary
There are some great games in Prague, but it’s fair to say The Chamber are a cut above the rest in terms of quality – it’s definitely worth trying out at least one of their games if you visit the city. Moving on from that, Mission 53 was a great game, but it’s scope and longer play time make it ideal for escape room enthusiasts but less for newer players. TepFactor is something completely different and worth trying, but with the travel time and game length, you’ll need a full half day to get the most out of it. Certainly more than enough to fill a good long weekend, and with prices in Eastern Europe being a bit cheaper it makes an idea escape room getaway!
About the Author
Dean Love Dean is a professional writer who has worked for The Mail On Sunday, The Digital Fix, MicroMart and others.
