The Amsterdam Catacombs

by logic locks

In het centrum van Amsterdam staat een oude kerk

Nog voordat we naar binnen treden kunnen we het voelen… Hier is iets niet pluis. Er is een horror escape room diep in de krochten van de Posthoorn Kerk. Het is de #1 Escape Room in Amsterdam volgens TripAdvisor. The Amsterdam Catacombs. Vanuit Real Life Gaming sturen we een team uit op onderzoek.

DINGDONG. Over de intercom worden we beantwoord door een mysterieuze stem. We identificeren onszelf en krijgen toestemming om het terrein te betreden. De metalen poorten knarsen en piepen open. Langzaam lopen we richting de voordeur. Blijkbaar zijn er vreemde incidenten voorgevallen in de dieptes van de kerk, en het is aan ons om daar licht op te schijnen. Aarzelend nemen we de trap naar beneden, de peilloze diepte in.

Amsterdam Catacombs is een horror-escape die momenten van stress, duisternis en flitsen belooft. Halverwege de ervaring zit ons team in een hoekje fluisterend in elkaars handen te knijpen. We komen langs donkere gangen, skeletten en andere lugubere voorwerpen. We sluipen, we onderzoeken, we werken samen, we zweten, we gillen. Aan het eind van de beleving bouwt de adrenaline zich op. Na afloop juichen we opgelucht. Gehaald. Het mysterie is ontrafeld… en iedereen heeft het overleefd.

Deze sfeervolle beleving gaat voor de volle immersie. Er is zichtbaar aandacht besteed aan alle componenten, zoals aankleding, techniek, performance van het personeel, game-flow en het verhaal. Alle componenten zijn goed verantwoord binnen de setting. Het is een samenhangend geheel en bijzonder goed uitgevoerd. The Amsterdam Catacombs is een kwalitatief erg goede escape room die duidelijk bij de beste van Nederland behoort. Het is een echte aanrader voor wie graag de spanning opzoekt en een ‘thrill’ krijgt van horror.

Na de beleving komen we in contact met één van de oprichters van Logic Locks, de makers van Amsterdam Catacombs, voor een interview:

RLG: Who are you and what do you do?

Alexander: I am Alexander Gierholz and I am a Psychologist, Experience- & Game Designer and co-founder of Logic Locks.



RLG: How would you describe the Amsterdam Catacombs?

Alexander: The Amsterdam Catacombs is an adventurous horror Escape Room that stands out in the world of Escape Rooms as it is a 90 minute game that includes actors and a different structure from most other Escape Rooms.

RLG: What gave you the idea to build such an experience?

Alexander: When we had the wonderful opportunity to design a game for the iconic location of the Catacombs under the Posthoorn Kerk in Amsterdam, the atmosphere of the location immediately steered us towards this theme.

RLG: You already named a few unique selling points; iconic location, actors, different structure from other Escape Rooms etc. Are there other eccentricities you can highlight?

Alexander: The Amsterdam Catacombs is an unusually difficult Escape Game. The winning rate is below 15%. However we made sure that in this game losing is at least as much fun as winning.

RLG: For whom is this experience suitable?

Alexander: If you dare to go on an adventure and you can handle to see your friends loose their nerves. The experience is for players above 16. For kids under 16 years old we would need to speak with their parents.

RLG: And how long is the experience?

Alexander: 90 minutes

RLG: What is the minimum and maximum players that can play?

Alexander: After many requests we started to allow bookings for groups of 2. It works surprisingly well, but you should ideally have had a bit of experience with Escape Rooms. The maximum is a team of 6.

RLG: And do you have specific days that you open or are you open all week?

Alexander: All week long.

RLG: For the players who just did the experience, is there are specific feeling, idea or even ideology that you want them to bring home? You get what I mean?

Alexander: Things are usually not as they seem and you will have more fun if you don’t have too much preconceptions.

RLG: Fascinating. So what does the future look like? Is there a Catacombs 2 coming up? Are you expanding to new locations? What’s in the pipeline for Logic Locks?

Alexander: We are currently wrapping up some custom designs for external clients and will very likely open another Escape Room around the beginning of next year.

RLG: Is there something that Logic Locks, or you personally, would want to see or achieve in the Escape Room / Real Life Gaming industry?



Alexander:
I hope people dare to experiment more and dare to diverge from the traditional concept of Escape Rooms. I hope to see collaborations between game designers and theatre producers and look forward to more meaningful immersive experiences.

RLG: To keep the tradition, is there anything you want to put a spotlight on? It can be a casting-call, or a new production. Plug yourself shamelessly. What would you like to tell our readers?

Alexander: We are always interested in expanding our team with talented and passionate actors so if you are curious in working one or two days a week in Amsterdam. Feel free to contact us. Besides this I would advise you to follow us on Facebook for more updates. Also I am looking for people who have some experience producing audio dramas. Oh yeah… and we have started blogging again, if you are interested in experience design, keep an eye on the blog of the Logic Locks site. It will fill slowly!

Thanks so much for the interview! I am looking forward to the new RLG productions!