Le Cachot De La Bastille [Jail Of "La Bastille"]

This is an ok room made frustrating by some poor design and lack of polish. The first frustrating moment was the door between the cell and the captain's quarters which in order to open you have to somewhat force. That would be ok if one of the escape room's rules wasn't "No force necessary". Either grease the door and the lock or change the rule to "No force necessary except for the door". The other major frustration is in the captain's quarters where the main puzzle is divided into 3 threads. Two of the threads are needlessly entangled with one another and the markings on the chests denoting which chest belongs to which thread are very misleading. We spent a long time trying one key in the wrong lock, not knowing that the actual chest it opens was locked in a different chest belonging to the other thread for which we hadn't found the key yet. Disentangle the threads! No escape room needs a key locked in a chest locked in a chest. And if that wasn't enough, the Sunshine Piglet actually managed to misplace the final key among the used keys. I guess the lack of sunshine in the dungeon makes her unpredictable 🌑🐷. But also, there are too many keys! I understand that the setting is medieval so it's somewhat appropriate for most of the barriers to be lock and key, but there are ways to improve the design. 1. There are at least two keys that can just be replaced with combination locks. 2. Put labels on the keys so players can tell them apart. I can only imagine the frustration of players that accidentally shuffle the keys in the cell room. It is also bad for hints. When you are guided by a GM through intercom and they talk about "the key" or "the chest" it's very hard to understand which one they mean. Speaking of which, the hosts had some difficulty instructing us in English. And although we had some time left when we lost the final key, they abandoned us and waited for the time to expire. I won't give this a dislike because the decorum is successful in evoking a medieval prison and some of the puzzles are nice although none of them are special. It's also one of the cheapest offerings in Paris. You can play this for just 75€ with 2 people on off-hours! I just wish the next room we play doesn't have any keys 🔑🤢