”What I like about creation is leaving the players with something to remember.”

The Dome has dominated the TERPECA list of top escape rooms in the world since it opened in 2019. It’s stayed in the top 10, and for two years in a row, it was considered the world’s #1 escape room by enthusiasts everywhere.

Eric Spring in ‘t Veld is the owner of Mama Bazooka and the mind behind The Dome and The Girl’s Room, located in the Netherlands. We dig into the concept behind his games, why he designs escape rooms a certain way, and the challenges he faced along the way. I especially enjoyed learning about the American TV show that was a huge inspiration for The Girl’s Room.

In fact, over the course of the interview, Eric often came back to the importance of finding your inspiration. His two most well-received games were both conceived when an inspiration “lit a fire inside (of him).” He also very candidly tells us about losing that inspiration while in the process of playtesting The Dome, and how he needed to step away to regain a fresh perspective. This worked, because David tells us that there was a marked difference in players’ reception to the game in the very early days of the game’s launch compared to after Eric returned from his break, reinspired.

Creating anything requires not only a huge investment of time and money, but it also requires a strong belief in your concept. I certainly found inspiration from hearing Eric tell us about his escape room journey, and I hope you will as well.

Thank You to Our Sponsors

We are immensely grateful to our sponsors this season: Weldwood Marketing, Buzzshot, and COGS. We truly appreciate your support of our mission to promote and improve the immersive gaming community.

Weldwood Marketing

Maximize your online presence with Weldwood Marketing. It’s a one-stop shop for digital marketing—specializing in web design, SEO, online ads, and best business practices. They can even manage all your integrations so you can track the customer journey from clicking on an ad to booking your game. Let Weldwood help unlock more money for your business.

Special offer exclusively for REPOD listeners:

Weldwood rarely offers discounts, but they did for us. REPOD listeners get 15% off Marketing Services for the first 3 months, PLUS $750 off escape room websites. Schedule your Discovery Call and mention REPOD in the notes! Visit weldwoodmarketing.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

Buzzshot

Buzzshot is Escape Room Software, Powering Business Growth, Player Marketing, and improving the Customer Experience. They offer an assortment of pre and post game features including robust waiver management, branded team photos, and streamlined review management for Yelp, TripAdvisor, Google Reviews, and Morty. Buzzshot now has integration with the other REPOD sponsors: Morty and COGS.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners get an extended 21-day free trial plus 20% off your first 3 months, with no set-up fees or hidden charges. Visit buzzshot.com/repod to learn more about this exclusive offer.

COGS

COGS by Clockwork Dog is an easy to use software/ hardware platform for running interactive events, including escape rooms, and other immersive experiences. They have plug & play hardware that seamlessly integrates with their software so you can create a show with lighting and sound cues without having to write a single line of code. Map all kinds of inputs to outputs by building up simple logic steps which determine what you want to happen and when.

Special Offer for REPOD Listeners:

REPOD listeners can get the COGS Starter Set for only $130 + free shipping to the USA. This bundle is usually valued at $257. You can learn more and purchase your Starter Set at cogs.show. Use code REPOD at checkout.

Topics Discussed in this Episode

• 00:00 Sponsor Break: Cogs By Clockwork Dog, Interactive Show Controls
• 02:30 The Beginnings of the Netherlands’ Escape Room Scene
• 06:10 How His Early Games Have Changed Over the Years
• 11:12 The Girl’s Room
• 15:55 Sponsor Break: Weldwood Digital Marketing Agency
• 18:03 Describing The Dome
• 19:26 The Challenges of Creating The Dome
• 25:57 Sponsor Break: Buzzshot, Escape Room Marketing Software
• 27:55 The Lost Trailer for The Dome
• 29:41 Reworking The Dome for Multiple Teams
• 31:45 The Feeling of Being at the Top of the TERPECA List
• 36:17 Inspiration for the Mama Bazooka Name Change
• 37:14 The Iconic Doorway & the Mama Bazooka Team
• 40:10 Sponsor Break: RECON & PG’s Playhouse
• 41:20 A Unique Approach to the Lobby
• 44:05 Effect of Mama Bazooka’s Popularity on a Small Town
• 48:05 What Comes Next for Eric
• 51:10 Credits
• 53:53 Bonus Story

Leave a Voicemail

Got a question or thought for the podcast? You can submit a voice recording by calling the Room Escape Artist not-so-hotline that always goes straight to voicemail (551-227-7273).

Resources Mentioned in this Episode

• Mama Bazooka Website
• REA Reviews
  • The Laboratory
  • The Girl’s Room
  • The Dome
    

About Eric Spring in ‘t Veld

Instagram: @mama_bazooka

Eric grew up backstage, in a home filled with music, puppets, and spotlights. His parents managed famous Dutch artists, while his mother, a puppeteer, ran a life-sized puppet theatre, with his father taking care of set design, lighting, and sound. Little Eric soaked it all in. He later toured for years as a drummer, playing festivals and theaters across Europe and the Caribbean.

Then, in 2011, a new adventure came knocking: escape rooms. After playing one in Budapest with his then-girlfriend, they decided to bring the concept to the Netherlands. Together with a crew of creative friends, Eric helped build the country’s very first escape room, The Laboratory, opening it to the public in 2013. It became a hit. Soon followed The Girl’s Room, which won international awards, and a few years later THE DOME, crowned best escape room in the world twice by TERPECA.

In his work, Eric enjoys exploring the space between absurdity, unpredictability, tension, humor, illusion, and beauty.

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The post REPOD S9E3 – Mama Bazooka: Finding Your Muse appeared first on Room Escape Artist.

At the time of the review, Mama Bazooka was known as Escape Room Nederland.

I no longer know what’s real.

Location:  Bunschoten-Spakenburg, The Netherlands

Date Played: May 9, 2019

Team size: 4-6; we recommend 4

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: € 144 per team Mon-Thur, € 165 per team Fri-Sun

Ticketing: Private

Emergency Exit Rating:  [A] Push To Exit

Physical Restraints: [A+] No Physical Restraints

REA Reaction

The Dome was something special. It was an escape room designed to feel like a hallucination… and through the magic of design and technology, it achieved it.

We loved the gameplay, the puzzles, and all of the magical things that happened along the way.

The Dome wasn’t perfect. The story was really interesting, but I’d be lying if I said that we completely grasped what was going on while we were playing. Also, one of the coolest bits of tech didn’t push the right buttons for us.

Flaws are fine. They’re humanizing.

The Dome was the kind of escape room that’s worth traveling for. If you’re near Amsterdam it’s certainly worth the trek out of the city. This game was in rare company.

Who is this for?

• Adventure seekers
• Story seekers
• Puzzle lovers
• Scenery snobs
• Technophiles
• Sci-fi fans
• Players with at least some experience

Why play?

• It feels like a hallucination; it’s unreal
• Engaging puzzles and challenges
• Magnificent set design
• Some of the most impressive escape room tech we’ve ever seen

Story

We’d entered a futuristic facility that had been conducting a study using hallucinogens. We were unsure of what to expect, but we’d been told that a previous test subject named Hector Franssen had escaped the facility… and that we would likely lose our grip on reality while in the experiment.

Setting

We entered into a blue, glowing sci-fi set. It was a sleek series of corridors and challenge chambers. It was gorgeous. We quickly got lost in the experience.

I’m at a loss for a way to convey where the game took us without damaging the experience. The level of detail never wavered. We were fully and completely in the world of The Dome.

Gameplay

Escape Room Nederland’s The Dome was a standard escape room with a moderate level of difficulty.

Core gameplay revolved around observing, making connections, puzzling, and adventuring.

Analysis

The Dome was all about discovery. At any given point we had no idea what might come next. This created a magical sense of adventure.

The gamespace opened up… and continued to do so. It was huge, detailed, and amazing.

The gameplay had a smooth difficulty curve. It ramped up slowly, teaching us how to interact with the environment. It then became increasingly more challenging through a diverse array of puzzles. The difficulty dropped off in the end, however, pushing our momentum forward to the conclusion.

As we played through The Dome, we completed a series of tests. As the game revved up and morphed, it stopped feeling like a series of tests and more like a string of hallucinations. We were completely lost in the game world.

Playing The Dome, we couldn’t quite follow the story. Escape Room Nederland explained it clearly after the fact, and looking back it made sense, as much sense as hallucinations do, but as we escaped The Dome we wished for just a bit more clarity on what had just taken place, narratively.

Many of the interactions in The Dome were enormous. Everything in this game had layers.

The puzzles in The Dome varied enormously, requiring largely different skill sets to complete. Our favorite puzzle shed light on the kind of design that made this experience beautiful.

One amazingly cool segment overstayed its welcome. This was admittedly one of the coolest innovations in The Dome and my inner 5-year-old loved that it existed. From a gameplay standpoint, however, we found it more frustrating than energizing.

The Dome creatively played with the concept of success and failure.

The Dome excelled at transitions. These were some of the most dramatic and captivating moments of the experience.

There was a ton of technology within The Dome, but it never felt like tech… it felt like magic.

REPOD

We were excited to have Eric Spring in ‘t Veld, the owner of Mama Bazooka and the mind behind The Dome and The Girl’s Room as a guest on REPOD. Take a listen to our conversation.

Tips For Visiting

• They have games in the lobby.
• Leave time after your game to watch the highlight reel.
• Minimum age is 18.
• There is a parking lot.
• You need to be able to walk up stairs and climb a little bit to play this game.

Book your hour with Escape Room Nederland’s The Dome, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Disclosure: Escape Room Nederland comped our tickets for this game.

The post Mama Bazooka – The Dome [Review] appeared first on Room Escape Artist.

When a lab setting isn’t boring as purgatory.

Location: Bunschoten-Spakenburg, The Netherlands

Date played: May 8, 2017

Team size: 4-6; we recommend 3-4

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: from €99 per team

Story & setting

Trapped in a mad doctor’s lab, we had to escape.

The Lab Room was dark and bright, clean and dirty, polished and ragged. While not horror, per se, it kept us on edge. All of the set’s contradictions created an emotional ride. It was the most intense lab scenario we’ve encountered to date.

Puzzles

We puzzled linearly through The Lab Room. With each successive solution, new information and triggered events opened to us.

Much of the puzzling was tech-driven. Props didn’t necessarily open in the manner one would expect.

Standouts

Escape Room Netherlands’ use of set, lighting, and sound design in The Lab Room was brilliant. It both kept us on edge and also functioned as clue structure. More than in most room escapes, lighting was an integral component of the experience.

Not everything was high-tech. There was a great low-tech puzzle that fit well with the laboratory theme.

The technology was well-hidden and seamlessly integrated into the escape room. This wonderful execution drove much of the experience.

The Lab Room was full of surprises. Even when I knew a surprise was coming, I still jumped whenever the room reacted to us.

Shortcomings

The narrative didn’t really come through. The drama was environment and technology driven, but didn’t tell a story in the way that the Girl’s Room did.

Given how well thought-out most of The Lab Room’s details were, some of the puzzles seemed a bit random.

The ending happened abruptly and didn’t really feel like an ending.

Should I play Escape Room Netherlands’ The Lab Room?

The Lab Room was the first escape room in The Netherlands. It set the tone for many of the thrilling adventures, detailed sets, and impressive technology we experienced in our weekend of 10 Dutch escape rooms. Despite its location about 50km outside of Amsterdam, Escape Room Netherlands had a profound impact on the growth of the industry throughout the region.

With this original escape room, Escape Room Netherlands leaned into the set, crafting a gamespace that would elicit reactions from players. They integrated technology masterfully to create the emotional roller coaster of The Lab Room. 

It’s thrilling, but once you know what Escape Room Netherlands did next, it’s rudimentary. For a truly integrated experience, with puzzles, narrative, set, and story, play The Girl’s Room. If that’s too much to handle, emotionally or physically, play The Lab Room instead. It’s older, but it’s on a higher level than many newer escape rooms you’ll find.

Ideally, play them both, in the order in which Escape Room Netherlands created them. You really have to go out of your way to visit Bunschoten-Spakenburg. It’s not the easiest place to get to, but it’s so worth it.

Book your hour with Escape Room Netherlands’  The Lab Room, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Full disclosure: Escape Room Netherlands provided media discounted tickets for this game.

The post Mama Bazooka – The Laboratory [Review] appeared first on Room Escape Artist.

At the time of the review, Mama Bazooka was known as Escape Room Nederland.

Brace yourself for this one…

Location: Bunschoten-Spakenburg, The Netherlands

Date played: May 8, 2017

Team size: 4-6; we recommend 4

Duration: 60 minutes

Price: from €119 per team depending upon size

Story & setting

Not for the faint of heart, Girl’s Room was a magnificent horror / thriller escape room. Aesthetically, the set was nearly flawless in a dark, twisted, and dirty sort of way.

You should probably just watch the video:

Puzzles

The puzzles in Girl’s Room were tech-driven and tied to the narrative (sometimes directly, other times in more abstract ways).

There was plenty to puzzle through. It felt like the game delighted in initially making things seem tantalizingly attainable, only to throw a wrench into the gameplay with evil twists in the puzzle mechanics.

Standouts

Girl’s Room contained some of the most memorable moments that I’ve had in a room escape.

The set. The level of detail in Girl’s Room was insane. There was a gigantic set piece in the middle of this game that really didn’t need to be there at all, but they put it there and integrated it into the experience. It was amazing.

The tech was well embedded and used to powerful effect.

The story, horror, and thriller elements were incredibly well executed. When the game wanted us on edge, we were on edge.

Escape Room Netherlands’ lobby was awesome.

Shortcomings

Some of the jump scares were really effective, but as Girl’s Room progressed, many of the late-game scares felt annoying and unnecessary. (Find more information on jump scares in room escapes).

I think that the final puzzle may have been a little buggy. It was still solvable, but it got tedious.

The hinting wasn’t tailored to a team’s specific experience. This was a major issue for Lisa’s team (who played after my team). When they were stuck on an early puzzle that maybe should have had more clear cluing, the hints only delivered information they already knew, apparently unaware of the team’s actual misinterpretation of the puzzle. For Lisa’s team, this soured what was an otherwise brilliant room escape.

Should I play Escape Room Netherlands’ Girl’s Room?

Girl’s Room was exceptional. It was frightening, well built and brilliantly designed. It still managed to include a strong puzzling component.

It’s not an escape room for people who struggle with mobility or are averse to horror.

I also do not recommend that brand new escape room players take on Girl’s Room. It’s a profoundly special game, but it is also intense and difficult. So many of the things that make it incredible will be completely lost on a newbie.

Located about 50km outside of Amsterdam, Escape Room Netherlands is challenging to get to. If you’re seeking a truly special thrill, however, it is absolutely worth the trip.

REPOD

We were excited to have Eric Spring in ‘t Veld, the owner of Mama Bazooka and the mind behind The Dome and The Girl’s Room as a guest on REPOD. Take a listen to our conversation.

Book your hour with Escape Room Netherlands’ Girl’s Room, and tell them that the Room Escape Artist sent you.

Full disclosure: Escape Room Netherlands provided media discounted tickets for this game.

The post Mama Bazooka – Girl’s Room appeared first on Room Escape Artist.