Usually, the beautiful castle of Saint-Félix-Lauragais, an hour from Toulouse, welcomes peaceful tourists. But, at this moment, if you knock on its great gate, there will be no friendly medievalists to take you by the hand. The welcome, as warm as the flames of hell, is temporarily provided by demonic monks. “Tenants” quick to put a (stinking) burlap bag over your head, to tie you up after confiscating your cell phone, while using their limited vocabulary to make you obey or witness an animal sacrifice.
Welcome to the Black dimension, a new ephemeral and horrific game transposing the codes of the escape game into the vast building. By adding creatures – gothic fairy or golem vaguely reminiscent of a ninja turtle – which you really have to determine if they are there to help you or steal your soul. A “20 Minutiens” duo suffered the brunt of this adventure. He ran into a cemetery chased by who knows what, opened the door to a kitchen which is not part of the game, let other “teammates” give mouth-to-mouth to Lucifer, visited all the way to the dungeon and, it must be said, failed to solve quite a few puzzles.
“The setting is really great”
“The setting is really great and well used. Perhaps too well, even,” confides Cathy, a competitor who is not easy to frighten and who has not always remembered the mission to be accomplished in this or that sector of the castle once she has passed a row of large period pieces. . Fortunately, monster comedians know how to adapt to their audience and interact at the right time.
So, obviously, we won’t spoil almost anything for you. Except that it is better to read the messages on the signs carefully, come with sneakers rather than in evening wear, and “age” your teenager to offer him the great thrill of this game “forbidden for months 14 years old and not recommended for under 16s” is not really a great idea. Adrenaline is guaranteed, in double dose if you choose the night time slots.
The right Halloween slot
It must be said that the creators of the game, from the Toulouse company Immersive Games, are beginning to master the concept. They have already haunted the castle in the village of Bonrepos-Riquet, the disused buildings of the Francazal military base and even a leisure center last summer. “The Saint-Félix-Lauragais town hall had contacted us for a long time, we created and installed everything in a month,” explains Alexandra Rivière, the president of Momento Event, the parent company. She called on her usual screenwriter, Aurélien Witasse, who, this time, put his beloved zombies aside in favor of the evil monks: “No need to resolve everything, you just have to let yourself be carried away and feel the emotions. »
The choice, for the first time, of the All Saints’ Day/Halloween period seems to be paying off. Even before its official launch, on the evening of October 20, 89% of game slots were already reserved. And the monks were already thinking of extending their stay. That is, if the team is still up for it. Because it seems that “some really weird things” happened during the preparations…
*Until November 5 at the Château de Saint-Félix-Lauragais. The game lasts an hour and a half and is played in teams of eight, from 5:30 p.m. to 11:45 p.m. It costs €39 per person.