The Big Bin

This is a review of the Escape Room “The Big Bin” offered by Art Quest in Tel Aviv, Israel.
  • ⭐️ 8.3/10
  • 🌡 Difficult
  • ⏳ 60 Minutes
  • 👥 4 – 8 Person

Some people said that this game will probably not work for us. Others said that this is an experimental game and people that created it had to be on drugs. That sounded very intriguing to me and reminiscent of my favourite game in Poland – American School Story (sadly not playable in English) – that is a psychedelic and very original one, what made me really want to play The Big Bin (though I was told it is not going to be psychedelic). Apparently, in Hebrew “Big Bin” rhymes with “Big Brother” and in this room players play roles of participants of a reality show. The whole plot of this room is f***ed up – something very rare to see in games and something that I love. Maybe not f***ed up to the extent that I would wish haha, but I still really appreciated it. Expect to be treated in unusual ways.

Similarly as the other game in this venue – Allenby 28 – this room can be put into contrast with other Israeli games that we’ve played that usually take place on polished and glossy sets, while this one definitely feels low budget and in some way lives up to its name. But I want to make this clear, this is a conscious design decision, it gives this place its own identity, suits the theme of a crappy reality show and it was created with passion. Despite looking so, it had one of the best special effects I’ve ever seen.

Puzzles in this game are very original too. Depending on how you count them, their number could be between two and tens of them, i.e. you encounter two complex parts that need many smaller pieces. I have to admit that both parts are ones of the most satisfying things I’ve ever experienced in escape rooms. One of them is quite finicky and could require some patience when working with it (apparently it was the reason behind some of the initial negative reviews before it was properly adjusted), but it could be forgiven seeing how amazing and satisfying it is.

As is the case with experimental games, not everybody will love this game, but I definitely did. Interesting and intriguing plot + original and satisfying riddles + tons of fun – all of these add up to a game that is not to be missed!

Wojtek Nadara

Wojtek Nadara

Escape room enthusiast from Poland, member of team Ewarsaw Eagles that took 3rd place in PolandEscape 2019 (currently called ER Champ), 4th in ERChamp 2021 and 13th in 2020. Polish TERPECA Ambassador. PhD student in theoretical computer science. Mathematics and algorithmics nerd. Gold medalist of ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest.