L'Alchimiste

Place is a bit unassuming at first but the escape room was fantastic! Room looked great and had a lot of true to theme decor! Really felt like you were in an old alchemists workshop. The puzzles I thought were very good and varied. Surprised to find out there were no alphanumeric (except for one) or even directional locks, only some old fashioned key locks, but the way you obtain the keys were more than just a scavenger hunt. Without spoiling anything, they were very clever with the puzzles and they felt unique. And many different types of puzzles as well. The kind of puzzles that make you feel really clever when you get them. With 4 people, much of the time it felt like everyone was involved and doing something (some parallel path puzzles), so rarely just one person doing something while others watch. Our entire party did not speak any French, only English. There are some recorded voiceovers in French that carried the story and I think was supposed to nudge you in the right direction, but it didn’t pose much of a real problem. Honestly kinda funny. Necessary clues in the room were replaced with English versions that all worked well. Our host Jules was so very nice and welcoming. His English was quite good and gave any hints in English. He was great at giving just the right level of nudge when we needed it. Difficulty was honestly harder than we expected and we’ve all done 40+ escape rooms. But I think especially with the gentle nudges, just hard enough that it felt like a good challenge and not unreasonable. Would highly recommend to any escape room enthusiasts in Annecy!