Overall Review:
The Architect is a must-play for escape room enthusiasts visiting Amsterdam, especially if you’re a fan of historical themes and clever puzzles. It’s a beautifully designed classic escape room that proves why Sherlocked is considered one of the best in the world. While it’s not as high-tech as some newer rooms, the craftsmanship, flow, and immersive setting more than make up for it. After playing The Alchemist and The Architect, we’re already planning to try every room Sherlocked has. Highly recommend!
We played The Architect right after completing The Alchemist, and we were hooked from the start. This 60-minute escape room is Sherlocked’s oldest, opened over 12 years ago, but the gameplay still holds up incredibly well. It has that classic escape room feel, with smooth puzzle progression and some great surprises that kept us on our toes—including a moment where three of us were suddenly separated, which we loved! The flow from one clue to the next was intuitive, and although there weren’t too many combination locks, we got to use a lot of old-school keys, which really added to the immersion. We only needed one hint (and the game master actually called us because we were so close), but overall, the puzzles were super satisfying to solve.
The atmosphere of The Architect was stunning and deeply immersive. Located inside the historic Old Stock Exchange building in Amsterdam, the setting alone is already a vibe—and Sherlocked leans into that with gorgeous vintage set design and props. From the moment we stepped in, we felt transported to another era, somewhere in the 1700s or 1800s. Everything from the lighting to the textures of the rooms felt authentic, like walking into a secret chapter of history. You could tell a lot of care went into creating a believable and rich environment
Our game master was fantastic—attentive, professional, and clearly passionate about escape rooms. They monitored our progress closely without being intrusive and only gave us one call when they felt we were just a nudge away from solving the final challenge. The balance of support without hand-holding made the experience feel truly earned. You could tell they really wanted us to have a great time and experience the room fully before stepping in
She also states to answer her questions at the end that we had because one of the puzzles we figured out not direct way and we wanted to see it activated
Particularly interesting or different
Yes
One of the coolest parts of The Architect was how it engaged more than just our minds—we had to use multiple senses, which made the gameplay even more interactive and exciting. That, along with the unexpected player separation, created a moment of suspense and teamwork that we’re still talking about. Plus, the use of vintage keys and secret passages gave it an Indiana Jones-meets-Da Vinci Code vibe, which we loved.
