The Midnight Express
The Midnight Express is an escape room set in a classic night train around the turn of the century, on her maiden run from Utrecht to Constantinople. Along the way, not every passenger turns out to be who he says he is.
A rich investor wants to prove his high-speed line can make the run in a single day, and you get to come along to witness the record attempt. The room itself is deliberately a bit more linear, classic puzzle ideas in new clothes. The real design work is in the spaces: a fancy train gets monotonous after five carriages, so you also go backstage, where normally only staff are allowed. And you walk back through carriages you've already been in, to find that the journey has carried on in the meantime.
Welcome aboard
The corridor where you begin, with the luggage of fellow passengers you haven't met yet. In your own compartment lies a booklet introducing everyone who works on board, from the conductor to the cook. The set runs all the way up to the ceiling, with curved wooden panels and windows where the lampposts slide by.
Departure
In the compartment, a shunting puzzle is waiting for you. The moment you've slid the wagons into the right order, the landscape outside starts to move: the record attempt has begun. That's when the story really starts.
The dining car
The posh side of the journey, where the investor receives his guests with starched linen and crystal glassware. Everything here breathes that the record attempt is above all a society event. That image holds for exactly one more door.
Behind the scenes
A train has a back of house too: the kitchen where the cook is fighting dinner into shape, and the locomotive where it's hot and filthy. You never leave the train, but every carriage feels like a different world, each with someone else in charge.
Night falls
The journey takes a full day, so somewhere along the way it gets dark. The lamps dim, the windows turn deep blue, and the train you thought you knew by now feels different. Time has passed since you last walked through here.