Magic UniverseMad LandEscape roomOther 9.8/10 Magic Universe is a lot. The Good: The sheer size of the experience is nothing like you will find anywhere else in Europe or the Americas. Multiple floors, massive set pieces, full scale props, 1 to 1 ratio facades that are simply there for your immersion and nothing else. This room took 5 years of master craftsmanship to build and it shows. The tech and production are wild. Your eyes will be wide open trying to take in the insane amount of lighting and automation used to make this world come alive. Multiple charismatic actors bringing energetic characters to realization, bantering back and forth in their second language as if it were their first Living in this fictional world for three hours and they utilize every single second of it. The Bad: A stereotype within the world of escape rooms is the bigger the scale and production, the worse the puzzles and flow. Magic Universe is not the exception. The puzzles within this experience lack in satisfaction and originality. There are some moments that really WOW you, but most of the time puzzles are less puzzling and more quick time events or placing A on B. This experience is more immersive theater than escape room. Prepare yourself for long cutscenes with stumbling dialogue and a story that really leaves a lot to be desired. Many moments you will ask yourself “why?” Or “what?” Certain characters are kind of a drag to be around. At moments of their appearance your smile fades slightly knowing they are about to deliver even more confusing exposition. Not all parts of the room are created equal. It feels like playing 3 different experiences that were mindlessly jammed together to create this monster. Certain parts of the room had me so wrapped up in the world and smiling ear to ear. Other parts I felt left out of my own gameplay as actors and cutscenes took over. False expectations are created when sections of the set are revealed and you think to yourself, “oh I can’t wait to see how they utilize that in gameplay.” But you will simply walk by underwhelmed for a large percentage of this room is show. Overall: You will not leave Magic Universe disappointed. This is an experience unlike anything else on TERPECA’s 100. In my opinion it should even be rated higher than 2025 #1 Magnifico. It’s just an amazing feat of engineering. A few points in this room you won’t believe what they were able to pull off, but they did and executed it perfectly. Is Magic Universe perfect? No. But it is an experience unlike anything else in the entire world. It’s s the equivalent of candy. Bright, sugary, and sweet but lacks substance.
