I’d be hard pressed to think of a more wholesome group activity I’ve taken part in these last few years, than when a group of 10 friends recently decided to venture to Mecidiyeköy’s Trump Towers and experience the real life escape rooms of Escapist. Located a few floors down from the mall’s main entrance, at the end of a corridor with plenty of space set aside for themselves, attendees are greeted by Escapist and their modern, professionally dedicated approach to the trend of escape rooms that are now an international phenomenon. Featuring five distinct escape rooms with everything laid out in both English and Turkish, as well as facilities for group VR activities, it’s a fun and challenging experience appropriate for those aged 13 and older. Having hosted over 135,000 players to date, Escapist‘s serious and clever approach to story crafting and puzzle making provides a genuinely rewarding encounter for participants.
Of their current offerings, those seeking the thrill of escape have several options afforded to them, most easily categorized as ‘adventure’ or ‘horror’, and both involving a great deal of logic deduction and following intuition to come out successfully. 1796 is the conclusion of a time-traveling adventure trilogy, this time bringing you to the cabin of Captain Howard as you attempt to assemble the six Light Stones that once belonged to the “Scholars of Light”. The Holy Treasure puts everything on the line as you attempt to save humanity from extinction by traveling to Cairo and visiting, as every good adventurer surely must want to do, the ancient pyramids. The Forsaken follows a classic storyline to great effect, as you and your friends must find refuge in a tiny village to wait out some stormy weather, but of course not everything is as it seems. Meanwhile, our merry band of adventuring friends decided to split up between the two remaining standard escape room encounters in Agatha’s Key and Siccin.
In writing this review, it is particularly difficult to describe how clever and carefully crafted the full experience is, without actually giving any hints as to what to expect. If you’re looking for the simplicity of whether or not this is strongly recommended, I can say with genuine confidence that it was a great deal of fun and you should experience it for yourself with a group of open-minded friends. That said, I will be lightly alluding to our own impressions here, so be warned.
After checking in, we were all made to put our cell phones (and any other electronics you may have) in secure lockers. Our lovely English-speaking host from Escapist, Eray, then went over some important rules for everyone’s safety and for procedural aspects of the escape room. The most important of which is that each escape room was fitted with a phone which could be utilized to contact them if in need of hints (of which are limited) when stuck on a part of a puzzle, or in the event of emergency or wanting to end the experience. So naturally, after hearing this, we were fired up to never use any of our hints… which we almost succeeded in doing.
The first group of five people ventured ahead of us, wandering into the horror showcase that was Siccin, based on the 2014 horror film of the same name. Eray offered some context to the start of their journey, a reminder of the financial reasons that caused the Saadet family’s relocation to a new house that seemingly does not want them to be there, before sending them on their own into the darkness. From their accounts, in sharp contrast to our group’s more relaxed adventuring, escaping Siccin was a much more on-edge experience.
Huddling together, navigating dimly lit puzzles, encountering apparitions and masked actors, and moving together as a group through various puzzles was the session’s modus operandi. As such, the group found themselves discussing every stage together, working in unison, brainstorming ideas openly and pursuing threads that felt could lead somewhere. While the feeling of horror lingered throughout, especially a fear of the unknown that could manifest at any moment, the actual full session was not as terrifying as some had feared, and is likely appropriate for even those who do get scared easily. As the clock (which is on display in all the escape rooms) counted down from the allotted 60 minutes, this particular group almost successfully navigated to the end before time was called and they could return to the secure comforting light of the open world.
Our group meanwhile found ourselves in the famous Pera Hotel for Agatha’s Key, Eray having laid the groundwork of a storyline that involves murder, Agatha Christie’s hotel room, a missing key (as per the title), and even a bit of romance. Starting off in an elevator, I have to say that my first impression was simply pleasant surprise at just how huge the actual escape room area is and the authenticity of the decor. Exiting the elevator found us in a long hallway of locked rooms, where we spent nearly 10 minutes attempting to navigate ourselves into Agatha’s actual room, set as though you might have entered the very room she inhabited (#411) all those many years ago in the 1920s.
Unlike our partners in Siccin, there was enough light and no real sense of impending dread, so the five of us would often split up to explore different areas. Reading clues, using items left around the room in different ways, and coming together when we needed some extra minds to solve a challenge was the general theme. There were several eureka style breakthroughs that felt really rewarding in their own right and utilized our surroundings in some especially creative ways. By the time the clock was counting down for the last two minutes, we were at what was clearly the final puzzle in a frantic effort to escape before time was called. It was laugh-out-loud good fun as we tried to troubleshoot our way through it.
I left Agatha’s Key feeling particularly surprised at just how enjoyable it was and how much challenge was actually involved. Our group dynamic also felt it complemented the whole adventure, with nobody taking it too seriously, and everyone having their own moment of solving something that was blocking our advancement.
For those interested, it is strongly recommended that you reserve the escape experience you prefer in advance and have everyone arrive a few minutes before it’s meant to start. While we were waiting to enter (and after we had finished), several people had approached without reservations and as far as we could tell, they are generally quite busy, so it’s worth it to ensure your spot. More information on rules, available bookings, and more on their VR experience which looks to be fun in and of itself, are available via the official website for Escapist.
Mecidiyeköy Yolu Caddesi No: 12 Trump Alışveriş Merkezi B4 Mecidiyeköy, İstanbul
