Welcome back to the next issue of Escape Rooms Australia.
As the chill of winter settles in, there’s no better time to warm up with an exciting escape room adventure! This issue brings you the latest on brand-new rooms that will challenge your wits and teamwork, alongside engaging blogs packed with tips and stories from fellow puzzlers. Escape rooms offer the perfect cozy escape from the cold—immerse yourself in thrilling scenarios, solve clever puzzles, and create unforgettable memories with friends and family. Whether you’re a seasoned solver or new to the game, our e-magazine has something to spark your curiosity this season.
Stay warm, stay curious, and happy escaping!
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Enthusiasts and GamesMasters feel free to send us your stories, we would love to hear about them.
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Owners, please keep us updated on any new rooms you have opening, we would love to promote them for you.
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Survivor
𝙎𝙪𝙧𝙫𝙞𝙫𝙤𝙧 🎬
Survivor is a fully immersive horror experience where every step could be your last. Dive deep into the paranormal, and prepare for the unexpected. Are you brave enough to uncover its dark secrets?
🔮 Survivor
Genre: Immersive horror, psychological thrills, live actors – suitable for horror enthusiasts and thrill-seekers alike.
👻 Plot:
A few months ago, Cindy Lin, a new inmate, took her own life just days after her arrival. Since her tragic death, the prison has been plagued by eerie supernatural events, leading to widespread mental breakdowns among inmates. As a result, the facility was shut down and abandoned. Now, it’s your turn to investigate. Led by William, the head of the Hong Kong Police Supernatural Investigation Team, you’ll explore the prison at midnight. But beware—something sinister lingers within these walls. Can you survive the night?
🤹🏻♂️ Features:
🔥 Australia’s premium immersive escape rooms, blending psychological horror with spine-tingling supernatural thrills! 👻
• 🎶 Spine-chilling sound effects and mesmerizing light shows that will send shivers down your spine! 😱
• 🗣️ Interactive NPCs and a fully immersive narrative that will pull you into the story like never before! 📖
• 🔍 Non-linear exploration that allows you to uncover secrets and clues at your own pace for a truly engaging experience! 🔍
• 👽 Paranormal encounters that will test your nerves and leave you questioning what’s real and what’s not! 🤔
Ready to face your fears? 😱
Genre: Immersive horror, psychological thrills, live actors – suitable for horror enthusiasts and thrill-seekers alike.
Horror Level: Mild Horror
Style: HongKong,Prison
Players: 2-8
Difficulty: 4.5/5
Suggested Ages: 14+
Duration: 90 Minutes
Furukawa Hospital
𝙁𝙪𝙧𝙪𝙠𝙖𝙬𝙖 𝙃𝙤𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡 🏥
Step inside the eerie walls of Furukawa Hospital, a place abandoned and haunted by the unknown. Do you dare to confront what lies within?
🔮 Furukawa Hospital
Genre: Chilling horror, atmospheric thriller, and immersive experience featuring Interactive NPCs – ideal for thrill-seekers eager for fear and enigma.
👻 Plot:
Once bustling with life, Furukawa Hospital now stands as a decaying monument to unspeakable horrors. Bloodshot-eyed crows linger at the windows, and the echo of a child’s cry fills the empty hallways. Rumors say a dark demon roams inside, watching, waiting… and those who dared to enter have never returned. You were once part of this hospital, yet something sinister forced its closure. Now, a chilling invitation drags you back to confront your past. Will you escape the horrors waiting within, or will you become another lost soul, swallowed by the darkness?
🤹🏻♂️ Features:
• Spine-tingling sound and visual effects
• Multiple Endings
• Suspenseful, immersive story with a non-linear experience
• NPCs that bring fear to life with realistic interactions
Genre: Chilling horror, atmospheric thriller, and immersive experience featuring Interactive NPCs – ideal for thrill-seekers eager for fear and enigma.
Horror Level: Intense Horror
Style: Japan Hospital
Players: 2-8
Difficulty: 4.5/5
Suggested Ages: 14+
Duration: 75 Minutes
The Unplayed Melody
This isn’t just an old house — it’s a playground of forgotten memories.
Somewhere inside are half-finished games, curious puzzles, and strange little clues left behind by a child who once filled these rooms with imagination. Things have been left out of place. Music boxes have gone quiet. The story isn’t over… and you’re the one meant to finish it.
Step through the wardrobe. Bring the pieces back together.
And maybe — just maybe — you’ll hear the melody that was never played.
Genre: Fantasy, Cinematic Show, atmosphermic Thriller.
Horror Level: Intense Horror
Style: Japan Hospital
Players: 2-6
Difficulty: 3.5/5
Suggested Ages: 10+ (You need to have at least 2 members over 15.)
Duration: 80 Minutes
Buried Alive
It’s dark, very dark…
Your breath is staggered and muffled. Your fingers fumble in the darkness, probing the confines of your enclosure. It’s a tight space; you find yourself within a rough-hewn wooden box.
Step into Australia’s most intense escape room experience – you’re not just playing a game; you’ve been buried alive.
Six feet under,
Sixty minutes to escape!
Players: 2
Difficulty: 8/10
Suggested Ages: All guests must be 18 years and over (Our staff reserve the right to ID check if you look under age)
Duration: 60 Minutes
Asylum
it’s all in your head…
Head pounding, you regain consciousness in pitch darkness. You fumble briefly in your cold metal seat before realizing your hands are bound. The room around you stinks of bleach and disinfectant. An electrical buzz hums in the background. A chain rattles behind you… you’re not alone. Before you can cry out, the electrical buzz gives way to a crackling intercom announcement: “Let the game begin.”
Players: 2-4
Difficulty: 8/10
Suggested Ages: All guests must be 18 years and over (Our staff reserve the right to ID check if you look under age)
Duration: 60 Minutes
Plagued
The year is 1666, and the Black Death is sweeping through the village.
Your family has fallen ill, and your home has been marked with a red cross – sealed shut by the authorities. No one enters. No one leaves.
But whispers tell of a cure— perhaps hidden within an apothecary shoppe. It may be your only chance to save your family.
Will you find the cure in time, or does a far worse fate await?
Players: 2-8
Suggested Ages: 13+
Duration: 60 Minutes
Deadwood Heist
A heist worth more than money! Retrieve a dead drop from the most disreputable bank in the west. Uncover information about the assailant responsible for mysterious deaths across time, and report back to Tessa and Professor B.
Players: 2-8
Difficulty: 3/5
Suggested Ages: No U18s onsite after 6pm. Minimum age 12. U18s must be accompanied by a parent/guardian.
Duration: 60 Minutes
Pyramid
Welcome, treasure seekers. You stand at the entrance to an ancient pyramid rumoured to hold priceless gems and hidden riches. As you descend into the pyramid, you sense an ominous force protecting these sacred halls. Ancient hieroglyphs warn of a curse that seals intruders forever within the tomb’s walls. Your survival depends on solving the cryptic puzzles hidden throughout the chamber. Find and surrender the legendary jewels onto their rightful place or be entombed within this pyramid for all eternity!
Notes: Contains smoke effects. Let staff know if you want them disabled.
Players: 2-6
Difficulty: 4/5
Suggested Ages: 10+
Duration: 60 Minutes
The Forgotten Arcade
Once a legendary hotspot in the golden age of gaming, the Forgotten Arcade mysteriously vanished without a trace.
Decades later, its arcade machines have been discovered in a dusty storeroom, but something is very wrong. These aren’t just games, they’re portals to alternate realities based on the worlds inside them.
An old pre-recorded message warns that a rogue AI known as The Glitch has corrupted the arcade, invading each game and threatening to break into the real world to rewrite reality itself.
Your mission: Enter the arcade machines and travel through the game worlds. Solve puzzles and overcome challenges to collect Glitch Pieces hidden within. Use the Glitch Pieces to reboot the arcade’s core system and trap The Glitch before it’s too late!
Players: 2-6
Difficulty: 3/5
Suggested Ages: 10+
Duration: 60 Minutes
Frankenstein’s Monster
You and your team have been gathered to complete the unfinished work of the legendary Dr. Frankenstein. Piece together his experiment and bring his infamous creature to life! Can you locate all the missing parts and follow the final steps before time runs out?
Players: 2-4
Difficulty: 3/5
Suggested Ages: 10+
Duration: 30 Minutes
The Christmas Heist
Step into the toy warehouse, where the hottest gift of the season is being kept under lock and key! Your mission: sneak in, steal the blueprints for the most valuable toy of the year, and escape before you’re caught. Do you have what it takes to pull off the heist of the season?
Players: 2-6
Difficulty: 3/5
Suggested Ages: 10+
Duration: 45 Minutes
Lost in Wonderland
Alice has found herself trapped within the mysterious Looking Glass of Wonderland, a realm filled with wonders, puzzles, and enchantments. The only way to save her is to find four magical keys scattered across this mysterious yet perilous domain. Each key is hidden within a unique and challenging location, guarded by riddles, illusions, and strange inhabitants of Wonderland.
Players: 4-8
Difficulty: 4/5
Suggested Ages: 8+
Duration: 90 Minutes
Game of Stones
The winter came, the wall fell and the army of the dead destroying everything in their path is already approaching the first kingdom of people. Mankind has nothing to do but to prepare for war – not for the throne, the crown, but for the life itself.
Players: 2-6
Difficulty: 3/5
Suggested Ages: 10+
Duration: 60 Minutes
Bloodline
It has been over three decades since the Hillman family went missing from their Pig farm home in rural Australia in the early 1990’s. Since their unexplained disappearance, countless other groups have gone missing in the area, leaving investigators baffled and without an explanation. An elite private investigator, Harry Cooper and his assistant Jessie, have been flown in from overseas to enter the abandoned residence and try and crack this case. Only, they too have gone dark and not been heard of in just over a week. You and your team are being sent in as backup to bring them home and try and work out just what is going on.
This Escape Room is not for the faint hearted as it contains live actors. You have been warned.
Players: 4-8
Scary Level (1-5): MAX scary level adjustable
Suggested Ages: 14+
Important Note: Horror game, live actors in this game
Duration: 90 Minutes
End of Days
Nuclear war has erupted across the land. You and a small group of survivors have banded together in an effort to survive the nuclear fallout and find shelter. Despite your struggles, you get lucky and find a small house that is somehow still standing and intact. With no time to spare due to the toxic clouds heading your way, you enter it. Upon entering, you realize the place was once home to a doomsday prepper. Now, collect all the supplies you can and find a way to survive before it’s too late!
Players: 2-5
Difficulty: 3.5/5
Suggested Ages: All ages from are welcome. Children under 16 years of age must be accompanied by an adult. Children under 18 years of age must have a parent or guardian sign a waiver before entering to the themed rooms.
Duration: 60 Minutes
hackSAW:REMASTERED
Rise and shine, my friends. You’re probably wondering where you are. I’ll tell you where you might be. You might be in the room where you die. What do the wicked see when they look into the mirror? I see you as pathetic. So are you going to watch yourself die here today, or do something about it?
Let the games begin..
Players: 2-6
Difficulty: 3/5
Suggested Ages: Parental discretion is advised for players under 15. Players with pacemakers, please contact chadstone@rushescapegame.com.au before booking. This is a horror genre come to life.
Duration: 60 Minutes
Gotham’s Knight – The Riddler’s Game
Shrouded in darkness, you find yourself drawn into the sinister depths of Gotham’s underworld. The Riddler, Gotham’s most twisted mastermind, has laid a deadly trap. Somewhere in Gotham City, a bomb ticks down to chaos, its presence hidden among cryptic puzzles and sinister traps. The flickers of light barely pierce the blackness, casting eerie shadows and revealing fleeting glimpses of the Riddler’s handiwork.
As the chosen few, you must navigate this treacherous labyrinth, piecing together the Riddler’s cryptic clues and solving his maddening riddles.
NOTE: This is a Dark Room (It’s in COMPLETE darkness, besides minimal lighting from puzzles and screens)
Players: 2-6
Difficulty: 3.5/5
Suggested Ages: 16 (12 WITH ADULT)
Duration: 60 Minutes
Pirates of the Mediterranean- Dead Mans Treasure
Trapped in the brig of the notorious pirate ship The Black Serpent, you and your crew are prisoners of the feared Captain Blackheart. Legends say Blackheart guards a map to the Dead Man’s Treasure, hidden on a cursed island in the Mediterranean.
You’ve broken free, but the real test begins. Outwit ghostly traps, solve forgotten riddles, and uncover clues that lead to the treasure map. Will you escape before Blackheart returns, or be lost to the ship’s curse? The treasure awaits—if you dare claim it.
Players: 2-8
Difficulty: 3.5/5
Suggested Ages: 16 (6 WITH ADULT)
Note: The Great Escape- Bendigo was formerly known as Breakout Bendigo Escape Games (Same awesome escape rooms. New look, New name, and some fresh updates!)
Duration: 60 Minutes
The Orphanage- Lost Souls, Forgotten Truths
Enter the shadowed halls of Heaven’s Step Orphanage, where innocence masks something far darker. Founded by Father Friedrich and Mother Mercy, the orphanage claims to “turn naughty children into perfect little angels,” but rumors of torturous rites and ghastly surgeries have spread through town.
As children disappear behind its closed doors, the townsfolk turn to you for help. Your mission: infiltrate the orphanage, uncover its secrets, and free the trapped souls—without being caught. Will you escape unscathed, or fall prey to their merciless grasp? The fate of the children—and your own—is in your hands. Enter, if you dare.
Players: 2-6
Difficulty: 4/5
Suggested Ages: 16 (12 WITH ADULT)
Note: The Great Escape- Bendigo was formerly known as Breakout Bendigo Escape Games (Same awesome escape rooms. New look, New name, and some fresh updates!)
Duration: 60 Minutes
A Wizards Quest- A Spellbinding Escape
Welcome to your first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Your studies are interrupted when the four ancient House Wands, symbols of unity and power, mysteriously vanish, throwing the school into chaos and awakening dark magic.
Guided by Professor Grimwald, you and your friends must navigate Hogwarts’ secret passages, uncover clues, and retrieve the wands before the situation worsens. Will you restore balance to Hogwarts, or be trapped by its mysteries forever? Your adventure begins now—prepare your spells and wits!
Players: 2-6
Difficulty: 3.5/5
Suggested Ages: 16 (6 WITH ADULT)
Note: The Great Escape- Bendigo was formerly known as Breakout Bendigo Escape Games (Same awesome escape rooms. New look, New name, and some fresh updates!)
Duration: 60 Minutes
Bank Heist- Vault Locked, Time Ticking
The plan is set, the stakes are high, and failure isn’t an option. You and your crew are about to infiltrate Founders National Bank, home to the $2B Serpent Diamond—hidden behind top-tier security. With the guard off duty, you have a brief window to pull off the heist.
Once inside, the clock is ticking. Navigate labyrinthine corridors, disable security, and outwit the bank’s defenses—all under immense pressure. Can you crack the vault and escape with the diamond before reinforcements arrive? This is the heist of a lifetime.
Players: 2-6
Difficulty: 3.5/5
Suggested Ages: 16 (6 WITH ADULT)
Note: The Great Escape- Bendigo was formerly known as Breakout Bendigo Escape Games (Same awesome escape rooms. New look, New name, and some fresh updates!)
Duration: 60 Minutes
A Sweet Escape
Billy Bonka has been running his famous Chocolate Factory for many years, however it has come time to find a successor and retire. With no one to take his place, he has decided to set up a challenge. If you and your team can complete these challenges within the 60 minute time limit, you will prove yourself worthy of the Golden Ticket.
Players: 2-6
Difficulty: 3.5/5
Suggested Ages: 12+
Duration: 60 Minutes
Aladdin & The Magic Vault
Can you retrieve the lamp from the evil sorcerer’s impenetrable Magic Vault?
Having escaped from the cave of wonders with the lamp in hand all of Aladdin’s dreams became true.
That was until Sorcerer Abanazar returns to take his revenge…
Having tricked Aladdin out of the lamp he whisks it away to a heavily guarded palace in the desert. Abanazar then uses his fearsome power to enrich himself and attack his enemies, bringing misery and destruction across Arabia.
It’s up to you to get the lamp back and rescue the genie before it’s too late. But it won’t be easy, the lamp is being held in the infamous Magic Vault, secured with powerful spells that will take all your wits to break!
This room is great for those who like more of a challenge or who have played escape rooms before. It is our newest room and has a higher amount of technology.
Please Note:
Groups will be split into two teams to start with and have to collaborate to get back together.
Must have at least two players aged 15+ in each team.
Ages 7+ are allowed however there must be at least 3 players aged 13+ due to the height of some puzzles.
Players: 4-10
Difficulty: Medium
Suggested Ages: Must have at least two players aged 15+ in each team. Ages 7+ are allowed however there must be at least 3 players aged 13+ due to the height of some puzzles.
Duration: 60 Minutes
Knight in the Museum – Hijinks and Monkey Business
After a mad rush to get to the museum, you’re late and the last group to enter the building. Only the staff didn’t notice you were in the lift when they locked up for the evening!
But that’s not your only problem…
A mischievous capuchin monkey has escaped from its enclosure and is causing havoc. It’s been scarpering about, misplacing rare and precious museum artefacts. But good luck explaining that to the over-zealous Night Watchman! There’s only 1 hour before he’s back on your floor,- and if you can’t find and replace all the artefacts, you risk being caught and thrown in the slammer for theft! Can you do it? Or will you greet the day from behind bars?
Players: 2-6
Difficulty: 7/10
Suggested Ages: At least 1 x adult aged 18yrs+ must be present when booking any child rate ticket. Children under the age of 5 years can attend but MUST be in a restraint such as a pram if brought into the room. Please note that removing child from the restraint will stop the game.
Duration: 60 Minutes
Dr. Frankenstein
Dr. Frank N. Stein is a renowned scientist and researcher, known for his groundbreaking work in the field of genetics and biotechnology.
However, he has encountered a serious problem that requires urgent attention from experts in the medical field.
You have been chosen for your expertise in your respective fields and are now tasked with helping Dr. Stein find a solution to this critical situation.
Your skills and knowledge will be put to the test as you work to solve this challenging problem in a race against time.
The fate of many lives are in your hands, and your quick thinking and decisive actions will be critical in determining the outcome.
Failure is not an option.
Note: The Great Escape- Klemzig was formerly known as Escaplex (While the name and look has changed due to rebranding, you can still expect the same great rooms, puzzles, and immersive experiences you love.)
Players: 2-8
Difficulty: 4.5/5
Suggested Ages: 12+
Duration: 60 Minutes
The Wild West
You and your band of misfits have strolled into the saloon bar with a plan in mind – to break into the safe and steal the loot.
The safe contains a fortune in gold and cash, and you and your crew are determined to get your hands on it. But you’d best be careful, the Sheriff isn’t far away, and he’s always on the lookout for troublemakers like yourselves. If he catches you in the act, you might find yourselves with a new mission – to escape jail!
As you scope out the bar and make your plans, the tension in the air is palpable. The stakes are high, and the risks are even higher. But with your skill, ingenuity, and a little bit of luck, you just might be able to pull off the heist of a lifetime.
Can you outsmart the Sheriff and make a clean getaway with the loot? Or will you end up behind bars, with your dreams of riches shattered? The clock is ticking, and the fate of your crew is in your hands.
Note: The Great Escape- Klemzig was formerly known as Escaplex (While the name and look has changed due to rebranding, you can still expect the same great rooms, puzzles, and immersive experiences you love.)
Players: 2-8
Difficulty: 3.5/5
Suggested Ages: 12+
Duration: 60 Minutes
Through a Killer’s Lens
Suspecting a photographer may have something to do with the disappearance of your sister, you decide to follow him home and break into his dark room to find some evidence that could confirm your suspicions.
Searching through his dark room, everything appears to be normal at first, but you know that looks can be deceiving. As you delve deeper into the photos and videos, you begin to uncover a sinister world that is far from picture-perfect. With every new discovery, your worst fears are confirmed, and you realise that your sister’s disappearance may be just the tip of the iceberg.
But as you continue to dig deeper, you also put yourself at risk of being caught by the sinister photographer and becoming his next subject. Can you uncover the truth before it’s too late?
Note: The Great Escape- Klemzig was formerly known as Escaplex (While the name and look has changed due to rebranding, you can still expect the same great rooms, puzzles, and immersive experiences you love.)
Players: 2-8
Difficulty: 3.5/5
Suggested Ages: 12+
Duration: 60 Minutes
Blades Out- A Deadly Dinner
Your team of inspectors have been called to investigate the murder of an unfortunate guest who attended a dinner party and was served a deadly meal. The victim, a prominent member of society, was poisoned by an unknown assailant during the event, and all attendees are now considered suspects.
As the lead investigators on the case, you must navigate through a web of lies, deceit, and hidden agendas to uncover the truth behind the murder. With the clock ticking and the pressure mounting, you must use all of your skills and experience to identify the killer, and the means used to carry out the heinous crime.
The stakes are high, and with the killer is still at large, time is running out. Can you solve the case before the killer strikes again?
Note: The Great Escape- Klemzig was formerly known as Escaplex (While the name and look has changed due to rebranding, you can still expect the same great rooms, puzzles, and immersive experiences you love.)
Players: 2-8
Difficulty: 2.5/5
Suggested Ages: 12+
Duration: 60 Minutes
The Inside Job- Syndicate of Thieves
As a skilled team of thieves, you have been approached by an international jewel thief to plan and execute the heist of a lifetime – stealing Mr. Arthur Willard’s prized possession, the “Jubilee Diamond”. The diamond is worth millions and is hidden in a safe at Mr Willard’s private residence.
The heist will require careful planning, precise execution, and nerves of steel. The jewel thief has handpicked each member of the team for their unique skills.
Together, you must work seamlessly to overcome any obstacles that stand in your way, outsmart the security measures, and make a clean getaway with the diamond. But with the stakes so high and the consequences of failure so severe, even the smallest mistake could prove costly. It’s a high-risk mission, but with the right strategy and flawless execution, you stand to gain the ultimate prize.
Note: The Great Escape- Klemzig was formerly known as Escaplex (While the name and look has changed due to rebranding, you can still expect the same great rooms, puzzles, and immersive experiences you love.)
Players: 2-8
Difficulty: 2.5/5
Suggested Ages: 12+
Duration: 60 Minutes
The Adventurers’ Guild- Chapter Two: The Forgotten Parchment
Our four adventurers’ return for yet another quest. But many questions sit at the tip of their tongue’s such as:
Why are we here?
What happened on the last quest, did someone take notes?
Did I leave my stove on*?
… all these will be answered in Chapter Two: The Forgotten Parchment.
*Please note no stoves were harmed in the making of this quest.
The Adventurers’ Guild requires at least 4 players to complete.
Players: 4-6
Difficulty: Hard
Suggested Ages: Our games are suited to kids 7 and above, children who are under 7 can come in to the room free of charge and can be in excess of the room capacity.
We do not take duty of care for kids under 16 and as such if the group only consits of childen under 16 we require a parent to stay on site during the escape experience.
Duration: 60Minutes
A Blackwood Murder
During his lavish annual Christmas party, wealthy businessman Mr. Archibald Blackwood was discovered dead — slumped over the dining room table, his final toast left unfinished.
Who had a motive? Who had the opportunity? And what secrets were hidden behind the sparkle and champagne?
You and your team of investigators must work quickly to examine clues, interrogate suspects, and piece together the truth. Can you solve the murder before the night ends… or will the killer slip away unnoticed under the cover of Christmas cheer?
P.S this is not an escape room but a real life murder mystery. Find out who did it, why and how they murdered Mr Blackwood.
Players: 2-6
Difficulty: 3/5
Suggested Ages: 14+
Duration: 60Minutes
Undercover
No signs of forced entry. No calls. No notes. Just a trail gone cold… starting from her apartment.
You and your team have been granted access to Jane’s apartment. What begins as a simple missing persons case quickly spirals into something far more tangled. Her notes, her files, even her belongings hint at a story much bigger—and far more dangerous—than anyone expected.
What did Jane uncover?
Who wanted her gone?
The clock is ticking, and someone doesn’t want the truth to be found.
Experience Bunbury’s first ever Murder Mystery style game!
Players: 2-6
Difficulty: 4/5
Suggested Ages: 14+
Duration: 60Minutes
Frankenstein Resurrection
The thrilling reimagining of Mary Shelley’s iconic Victorian Gothic world is here. Join us as we bring to life one of literature’s most iconic monsters in this unforgettable escape room!
In Frankenstein Resurrection, the genius but totally mad Dr. Victor Frankenstein reveals his chilling proposition: your freedom from his tortuous captivity, but only if you act as his unwilling assistant in the most unholy of experiments. Together, you must help his madman harness the power of life and death to resurrect his infamous creation – the Monster.
As the grandfather clock ticks relentlessly in the corner, you’ll scavenge for clues… and organs… solve perplexing puzzles, and navigate the eerie contraptions that litter this macabre laboratory. All the while, Dr. Frankenstein’s madness looms large, and every choice you make could lead to either salvation or doom.
Dare you enter?
Players: 3-6
Difficulty: 7/10
Suggested Ages: 16+
Duration: 60Minutes
REVISITED: Escaping with Kids!
Last week I took my niblings out for their belated Christmas present, and so I created a change to practice what I had preached in my earlier article on taking younger players along to an Escape Room https://eramag.com.au/jan-24/. Let’s see what happened.
Children Are The Future
The administration:
- Recommended age? Yep, not scary for 10 & 8 year olds – tick
- Theme? Wizarding school that gracefully avoids copyright infringements – tick
- Difficulty? At the easier end for the venue we went to (and hopefully the experience held by us ‘big kids’ would help)
Once on site, the important stuff: a tactical wee, a reminder that we are a team and we all win (or lose) together, and instruction to call out and tell everyone what they find once in the escape room.
Honey I Locked Up The Kids
The clock starts counting down but hold on a minute! Let’s look around the room together, clockwise, first before we all scram. As this was a classic Gen1 room, I mostly wanted them to take note of the lock requirements that were already visible: “This one needs five numbers!”, “We need four letters over here”, “Oh this is the arrow one!” Okay, go nuts!
As a primarily linear room, we were pretty good to stay on track. Any distraction away to try and solve later puzzles was matched with coming back together for unlocking the correct lock. Possibly after trying the combination in several other locations first.
Who Am I Kidding?
We made sure to ask the kids probing questions to help them solve the puzzles, and to be patient and logical when working on bigger ones. Assigning one kid to write on the boogie board while the other one deciphered a code helped their teamwork, and they chose a central table to store items they had found individually to show the rest of the team.
A further room reveal heightened the excitement levels (I think they would still be there enjoying the immersion if they had their own way) to the point of squabbling over opening the next locks. We quickly established a pattern for them to take turns, and continued encouraging them to try out their answers (even when we could tell they were obviously wrong).
Being close by to prompt and hint meant that they ‘solved’ all the puzzles except one: a very taxing magnet maze that us ‘big patient kids’ took care of (letting them give us directions of course).
I Kid You Not
We managed to escape with ten minutes to spare, which they were very proud of. Our experienced Games Master gave us a great debrief and walkthrough afterwards, even quizzing the kids expertly to test their memory and got them to pick their favourite parts.
Success, and a great activity that they talked about for days after. Making an easy pick for their next present and day out.
See you next edition!
Atbash and Snail Codes
This time a cute little code for you to speed through, named after our favourite shelled gastropod – the snail! In this instance, our snail code is a type of cipher called Atbash.
Don’t Be Shy
The Atbash cipher popped up in the Bible’s Old Testament (so it’s that old), and works by lining up the alphabet to its reverse. A=Z, B=Y and onwards, as we can see with our plaintext above and our cipher text below:
As you can see, there isn’t much to make this one secure. Until we start mucking around with it.
Getting Up To Speed
Let’s get our familiar looking 5-by-5 grid and fill it with the alphabet. As so often happens, a letter needs to make way, and we say goodbye ‘J’. Not really goodbye, but we combine ‘J’ in with ‘I’ for this one.
Not very special yet, until we add a little colour to look more like a snail. Or, a red snail and a blue snail locked in eternal struggle.
These colours give us two equal paths, and if we briefly swap in some numbers, we can still see where each spot will match up to its opposite. A red 4 would be swapped to a blue 4, meaning that ‘W’ would become ‘D’, and so on. Lucky cell 13 in the centre doesn’t get swapped to anything, it remains as itself.
Protective Shell
Unfortunately, even putting our Atbashed alphabet into snail spirals doesn’t make it all that secure. That’s why we should always shift our alphabets with a keyword. In this case, our red vs blue snails will be shuffled along with one ‘Wyoming’.
Adding a keyword (of at least six letters, none of which are repeated) bumps the rest of the alphabet along, and goes a long way to making your text more secure.
Snail Mail
To business! Trying out this code for the word ‘flag’. ‘F’ is our central cell, so that stays the same. F=F. ‘L’ on the red left side is position 6, the equivalent of blue 6 and ‘C’. L=C. ‘A’ on red 10 swaps to blue 10 Q. A=Q. Finally ‘G’ in red 9 goes to blue 9 and R. G=R. So FLAG becomes FCQR. To decode it’s basically just the same process.
Let’s Go, Escargot!
Look out in your Escape Room for this distinctive set of spiral patterns, along with the vital keyword that will help unlock it. Sketching out the numbered positions that mirror to each other will also help. You could even flatten out the spirals into the long lines like our first image above.
Good luck escaping!
ZEX QGH ZH EHGH?