Salutem Medicina Institute

Immersia Escape Games (Boisbriand, Canada)

Time limit: 60 minutes

Age limit: Recommended 13+

Player limit: 2-5

Difficulty: Medium

Awards: TERPECA Finalist (2020-2025), Best of Morty (2023), Golden Lock Award (2022)

Date visited: July 2026

After completing Weekend at the Shack at Immersia's Laval location, we took a short drive north up to their Boisbriand venue to play all 5 games there. The order of play was recommended by the owner, so anyone looking to do something similar can follow our custom schedule! We started off with Salutem Medicina Institute, a creepy mental asylum where clinical trials are being conducted on patients...

• This was another run room with a cool start that involved a live actor who immersed us immediately in an atmosphere that reminded me of films like Shutter Island, Gothika, and A Cure for Wellness. Like most of Immersia’s games, this one had an in-character intro video that set the stage for what was to come.

• The theming was strong, with well-made props that looked like they were taken straight out of a horror movie set. They probably could have leaned into the grotesque a lot more but (unfortunately for me) chose to draw the line at eerie rather than genuine terror.

• There was a retro slant to the set, including a lot of old-school utensils and equipment, as well as a classic monochrome CRT computer and X-ray lightboxes that you interact with as part of the puzzles.

• As an insane asylum game, there were of course medical experiments involved. I liked the way this room touched on the morality of such activities and the use of media as part of the presentation and narrative, though I felt like they could have gone even further with it by forcing players to confront dilemmas and make difficult choices.

• The puzzles were thematic and pretty straightforward for the most part, primarily involving entering number or word combinations into locks or electronic equipment. However, the approaches to obtaining the solutions were quite varied, ranging from reading, logical deduction and following instructions to hand-on and sensory tasks.

• Immersia is really good at making effective but sparing use of their live actors. Unlike immersive theatre-style games where the actors become an integral part of the experience, here they are used more on the periphery to add a boost of immersion and interactivity while keeping the traditional escape room structure intact.

• The final act of the game was a great idea that required teamwork and involved “real” stakes, but sadly the tech failed us and we wasted a fair bit of time until our GM noticed and had to bypass it manually once he confirmed we had the correct solution. It was an unfortunate dampener on an otherwise very good climax.

Escape time: 40 out of 60 minutes

Theming	Atmosphere	Puzzles	Creativity	Fun
A-	A-	B+	A-	A-

Verdict: With a creepy, atmospheric set, thematic puzzles, and sparing, effective use of live acting and media, Salutem Medicina Institute is a well-rounded, high-level thriller experience — though I personally wish it could have taken even bigger swings to maximise the potential of its riveting premise.

OVERALL RANK:

H	E	Z	J
A-	B+	A-	A-