Game House: El Otro Lado

El Otro Lado was the third room we played at Game House, and it’s based on the TV series Stranger Things. I’ve tried a few different escape rooms with that theme now, and it tends to work well – the setting provides some immediate distinctive elements to use for fans of the show, but also a combination of retro 80s nostalgia with creepier dark fantasy and/or high technology. That’s the case here, and made for a game that combined different styles of set and puzzle to good effect.

Retro doesn’t mean old fashioned, and there’s quite a bit of technology used here, though it’s the simpler mechanical steps that I found most pleasing. As with this company’s other games there were one or two points that felt like they could be tightened up a little, such as one that was just a bit unnecessarily ambiguous; but such moments were fewer and milder here, and overall I found it a well-designed and atmospheric room that I’d happily recommend.

It’s a split decision which of the three Game House rooms I’d recommend most highly; but probably El Narco for surprises, Paraná for set design, and El Otro Lado for puzzles and overall.