We were one of the first people to play Boda Borg in Zürich as part of a testing on November 2019. And we went back a couple of weeks later, to play more.
What is Boda Borg?
Questing: the “DIY” version of movies, books, and video games! Gather your team of 3-5 people and move through the real-life experience we call Questing. You will face a variety of mental and physical challenges at Boda Borg locations, where success in the first challenge means entry into the next. If you fail you have to start all over again or choose another Quest.
They mention you can master 1-3 quests in your first 2h. I think that’s probably right for a family setting or a group who wants a light experience. For reference, we did pretty average (many repetitions!) and got 5 greens and 1 red stamp on our first 2h session.
- Web: https://www.bodaborg.ch/
- Time: 2hr (or more!) recommended. A successful run = 10min.
- Players: 3-5, but if you are more you can split, and merge.
- Ages: 7-70
- Languages: English or German. We tested in English.
- Price: 30chf/person for 2 hours. 42chf/p for a full day.
- Opening: Monday-Thursday until 10pm. Friday-Sat until 11pm Sunday until 6pm.
- Location: Oberglatterstrasse 35, 8153 Rümlang
How it works
A successful run lasts about 10min. You are expected to get it wrong, and try again. After a mistake you have to leave the quest and restart from the beginning. Even if you know how it works, all riddles are parameterized so the solution will be different each time, but the method the same. You’ll know what to do, but you’ll need to do it again.
All rooms auto-reset in a matter of seconds once you are out. If it’s crowded and another group wants to try, then you’ll have to wait. We always went during the week on the evening and it was mostly empty and never had to wait. Once you succeed, in the end, you get a stamp (green, red, black). If you get all of them in 4 hours you become a Quest Master. I doubt anyone can do it in their first 4h, but once you know how they work you could come back another day and replay it. Some are still challenging (physical ones mostly).
Modes
- Green (6 quests): mostly puzzles and mental challenges. Technically one quest (quiz) can be played 3 times.
- Red (7 quests): a mix of puzzles and physical challenges.
- Black (5 quests): which are dexterity/physical challenges. In general, if it was compared to an “escape room” it would be on the easier side. But the physical ones make you tired. Especially because after a small mistake… you have to try again!
Final thoughts
The decoration is very good. Puzzles are easy but you need to understand them. In the context of an escape room they’d be frustrating because sometimes you don’t know what to do next, but in this keep-replaying context it works very well. Overall, I would strongly recommend it. Going with the right mindset is key. Do not expect escape rooms, go with an open mind and enjoy what they offer.
Secret tips
- Come in comfortable clothes: Gym clothes, or at least gym pants are highly recommended. Unless you intend to stick to exclusively green quests, you’ll need sports shoes too. Like in other countries’ Boda Borg, the ones in Zurich also rent knee-pads. May sound like a joke, but kneeling and crawling is quite their signature. If you have knee problems, don’t be ashamed to bring knee-pads.
- Drink often: It’s very easy to play non-stop for 2hr, especially when you “almost got it”. And it’s also very easy to forget to hydrate. Take breaks, go for a drink and come back. You are not competing, the heroes who solved everything needed to re-play all rooms multiple times. Especially important if you are focusing on reds and blacks.
- Don’t get frustrated: Repeatedly dying in a videogame can get annoying (unless you are a Dark Souls veteran). Questing is similar: be patient and enjoy the game. It’s more worth to have fun with your group and get fewer stamps than to get one more stamp and end in bad humor. If something gets tricky, is hard to perfect or keeps getting you… change! There are 18 games, go play something else! Sometimes stopping for 5 minutes and discussing possible approaches is better than getting one more random fail.
Our progress so far…
We played (but not beat) all of their 18 games multiple times each. In total we succeeded in 12/18. Can’t wait to go back again, perhaps when they add new quests? An employee that helped build this location mentioned they were working on 4 new ones!
