The House (La Casa)
Last year this room made it to the Top 10 of the Terpeca and having had a fantastic experience in El cóctel del doctor (The doctor’s cocktail), the first room from this company and the first (or almost) horror room in Spain, I had high expectations.
Interestingly, the company (Insomnia Corporation) moved to a new location and they are offering/will offer a whole thematic restaurant and hotel concept that is particularly promising for visitors and locals alike. This new location is close to the town, where they have always been present (Berga, about 1-1,5 hours from Barcelona), but in the middle of the mountains. Already getting there is an adventure, and getting there is only the first step.
As with their first game the location of La casa is unknown. The website informs that it is only possible to play the game having an own car and that the location will be indicated half an hour before the game starts.
Obviously, for those of us who played the other games, we were already familiar with the concept, but it is something that is not very exploited and that provides for an interesting start into the game.
In a way the immersion already starts on the way to the game and then you get there and you will be most likely speechless. The location is very impressive. Many efforts are undertaken in good escape rooms to recreate a certain setting. Well, no need for that here. The game is called La casa (The house) and a house is what you get, but not one in a city, near your local bakery, no, one in the middle of nowhere. Now imagine arriving there at night and then you have all the ingredients that are enough to make a frightened person not wanting to leave the car (any similarity with reality is just a coincidence).
But La casa is much more than a fantastic and original location and setting, it has a few aspects that makes it stand out among other horror rooms, such as a strong immersive beginning, an adrenaline packed ending and a fantastic use of light and sound. The acting, mainly scare jumps, is well-timed, but also without being detrimental to the moments of riddle solving, which is obviously, as usual in horror rooms, not the strongest point.
As a person that does practically does not get scared in horror rooms, I really appreciated the way (sorry, cannot spoil it here) they managed to repeatedly create tension. I believe some of the scariest experiences I had, had to do more with a psychological fear and La casa manages perfectly to create this from the very start (or as I said above, even before).
La casa ranks among the best horror rooms you can play in Spain and managed like Tu Tambien flotarás (You will float too) in the North and La Santa (The Saint) in Madrid to currently snatch the first place in the local Barcelona ranking.
Before finishing the review, a piece of advice. From an experience point of view, I would recommend to book the game at night (for maximizing the fear factor). The downside is that it implies driving at night in convoluted mountain roads (to get to the starting point and to get to the game). Not a big deal, but something to consider if you might feel uncomfortable with it. In any case, plan some extra time. Officially you need to be at the starting location 30 minutes before starting time, but be rather generous with the time planning. A small part of the road at the game’s location is unpaved, uneven road. Maybe they will improve the access, but based on our experience, do not go there with a car with a low ground clearance (ride height). If you are renting a car, do not take a sports car and choose a SUV.
