Welcome back to the next issue of Escape Rooms Australia.
The Escape Room industry is definitely growing with more and more customers joining the escape room community and as you can see by this issue lots more rooms opening around the country for us to all go and enjoy.
We are always open to feedback to help improve this magazine feel free to email us at:
Enthusiasts and GamesMasters feel free to send us your stories, we would love to hear about them.
Please feel free to share this magazine with fellow Escape Room Enthusiasts by clicking on the share icon.
Owners, please keep us updated on any new rooms you have opening, we would love to promote them for you.
Seraphime Escape Rooms is closing 28th January 2024 so for anyone who hasn’t yet visited Keziah book your trip to Ipswich to visit. I’m sure she will make you very welcome.
Book now at : https://www.seraphimescape.com.au/
Forest of Echoes
All right, scouts! Are you ready for your big adventure in the woods? Don’t mind the rumours about the forest being haunted by spirits, we’re pretty sure it’s all nonsense and poor old Sam will find their way back one day soon. After all, time can pass very quickly in there; morning to noon to evening to night and before you realise, it’s morning again! Stay safe in the woods, scouts – it’s everyone’s responsibility!
This escape room game is for SIXTEEN YEAR OLDS AND ABOVE ONLY. It is NOT APPROPRIATE FOR CHILDREN’S PARTIES (we recommend Ex Libris). There are light sexual and drug references, and delicate items in the room.
Voices by: Aileen Barnes, Dani Siller, Bill Sunderland, Patrick Sunderland, Alex Williams, Matt Yule, Pim Tharnassakorn, Rae Loverde, Brodie Fairall (music composer), Simon Arthur, Aaron Hooper, Leanne Yong
Online bookings for our rooms close 24 hours before the slot time. If you’d like to make a booking after that, give us a call on 0457 000 036 to see if there are still slots available!
Multilinear (many puzzle streams at once)
Colour puzzle
Low scares
Players: 2-7 (4-6 RECOMMENDED)
Difficulty: 5/5
Suggested Ages: 16+ ONLY
Duration: 90 Minutes
Break In
Your gang of thieves has broken into a house to steal a valuable work of art.
You have finally found the room where the painting is kept.
Getting it out may not be as easy as you think.
The police are on their way. 60 minutes is all the time you have.
Some crawling will be involved.
Groups under 16yrs old require an adult in the room.
Players: 2-6
Difficulty: 2/5
Recommended For: Beginners
Duration: 60 Minutes
Legend of the Sword
The mighty sword has been entrapped in stone, can you prove your worth to obtain it?
After King Arthur fell at the battle of Camlann, England was thrust into a century of darkness. Excalibur was lost and the valiant Knights of the Round Table disbanded, their bonds of kinship forever broken.
In the darkness, Morgan Le Fey formed the Order of the Sword, searching the land for good and just knights, hoping to restore what was lost and bring England back to the light. She has brought you here, to King Arthur’s tower, in the ruins of Camelot to prove your worth. If you can make it through the tower and draw Excalibur from the stone, England’s glory will be restored!
But someone else lies in wait; a powerful sorcerer twisted by time and regret – Merlin! He has set formidable trials which you must overcome to complete your quest and prove yourselves worthy of lifting the mighty sword.
Please note: Groups will be split into two teams to start with and have to collaborate to get back together.
Players: 4-10
Difficulty: Level 2
Recommended For: 7+
Duration: 60 Minutes
Deranged Scientist 2.0
Embark on an EPIC mission to save humanity at the “Deranged Scientist’s Room” Escape Room! Professor Skoda, the mastermind behind a deadly virus that nearly wiped out the world, has been CAPTURED! But the race against time isn’t over yet… YOU are part of a SPECIAL TEAM tasked with infiltrating Skoda’s hidden laboratory to find the ANTIDOTE! Can you crack the enigmatic codes, decipher perplexing puzzles, and unearth the antidote to SAVE what’s left of our world? Immerse yourself in a world of suspense, intrigue, and danger as you navigate the labyrinthine secrets of Professor Skoda’s twisted mind.
Players: 1-10
Difficulty: 5/10
Recommended For: 16+
Duration: 50 Minutes
Codename Iago
Unravel the mystery of Australia’s biggest conman turned spy at Codename Iago Escape Room in Nelson Bay! Step into the shoes of unsuspecting friends who stumble upon John Friedrich’s unclaimed storage unit from the late ’80s. Little did you know, he wasn’t just a conman, but a master spy! Can you decipher the secrets hidden within? Crack codes, solve puzzles, and uncover the truth behind John Friedrich’s double life! It’s a thrilling adventure based on a true story that will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Players: 1-8
Difficulty: 6/10
Recommended For: 16+
Duration: 50 Minutes
The Lift
You are in a 1940’s hotel with your friends. The bellboy isn’t in today, so you’ll have to carry your own bags. But the lift only fits a few. A few of you get into the lift while the others wait outside.
Suddenly, a fire breaks out in the hotel, trapping half your team in the lift! Your teammates outside will have get the lift working if you want to escape. But even if you get the power on and the lift working, it won’t be that easy.
All the doors in the lobby are locked and there’s no way out. Can you find a way to open the door before the fire reaches the lower floors?
Players: 2-8 (Minimum 3 pp charge on Public holidays to cover staff penalty rates!)
Difficulty: 5/10
Escaper Rate: 40%
Recommended For: Corporates, Friends, Families and Travelers!
Duration: 60 Minutes
Area 1: Nuclear Enrichment
The power surge that rocked Area 1 must be investigated.
We need willing and expendable contractors to go into the dangerous reactor facility and wrestle control back from a disgruntled employee who has taken everything offline.
Contains dark spaces, loud noises, flashing lights and light physical activities.
Players: 2-6
Difficulty: Not Specified
Suggested Ages: 16+
Duration: 60 Minutes
The Calypso Enterprise
After a distress signal from the spaceship Calypso, your team has been teleported to outer space on a rescue mission.
However when you arrive the crew has vanished, the ships self-destruct has been activated, you and your team will need to work together, to find a way back home before the ship plummets into outer space.
Warning: Space travel could be dangerous to your health, you will need to be prepared to battle the unknown, explore a hostile environment, and come together as a crew.
Players: 2-6
Difficulty: 3/5
Suggested Ages: Family friendly room 7+
Note: an adult will need to present with children under the age of 14
Duration: 60 Minutes
Wizard World Dragon Escape
Welcome you have entered into a magical game that must be completed in one hour for you to pass your wizard exam and you and your team escape. Enter into the mansion and find the magic dragon shields. Explore and find magical items, seek out the magic wands and discover what powers they possess. awaken the living portraits and mix potions in this magical adventure. This family or friends all ages event can host between two players upto ten players per session.
Players: 2-6
Difficulty: Not Specified
Suggested Ages: Our rooms are designed for almost all ages we just advise if under the age of 10 that an adult is in the room.
Duration: 60 Minutes
The Vampire Crypt
The evils within the Crypt have been terrorising the town…your team of Vampire Hunters have been hired to rid the Crypt of the evil Vampire within! Will you succeed and stab a stake straight through the Vampire’s heart? Or will you also succumb to the Vampire… 
Players: 2-6
Difficulty: 5/5
Suggested Ages: 10+
Accessibility: Fully wheelchair accessible
Duration: 60 Minutes
Yokai Izakaya
Centuries ago, a rumor spread about the Yokai Izakaya that was surrounded by evil spirits which guarded its fabled backyard. People claimed to see a monk continually circling the area, who never seemed to age. After hearing this myth, you and your ghost hunting team decided to investigate the haunted izakaya, but your colleague Dahlia went missing during her investigation just a few days before your arrival. Now, you are in a rush to find her.
Just then, you received a text message from Dahlia, saying “Help me…” At the same time a disembodied voice approaches you, “There is no backyard here! Stay away…” You and your team have 60 minutes to discover the secrets of this haunted izakaya and rescue your colleague before it’s all too late..
Players: 2-5
Difficulty: 7/10
Suggested Ages: 16+
Duration: 60 Minutes
Peter Rabbit
Once upon a time, in the quaint town of Bunnyville Toowoomba, the annual Easter Escape Room Challenge was just around the corner. Every year, the townspeople eagerly awaited this event. The challenge, hosted by the legendary puzzle master Mr. Hoppington, was known to bring families, friends, and neighbors together for a fun-filled, egg-citing adventure. This year, Mr. Hoppington had outdone himself. He transformed his family’s old barn into a fantastical escape room, filled with Easter-themed puzzles and riddles. The walls were adorned with vibrant murals of autumntime meadows, pastel-colored eggs, and whimsical bunnies hopping through the grass. A sweet scent of chocolate and fresh flowers filled the air.
Players: 4-8
Difficulty: 4/5
Suggested Ages: Participants must be either 16 years or older, or at least 8 years old and accompanied by a parent or guardian who is older than 16.
Escape Rate: 78%
Duration: 50 Minutes
Return To Wonderland
In this new adventure, you must return to Wonderland to free the White Rabbit who has been wrongly imprisoned by the notorious Red Queen for stealing her cherry tarts. Navigate through the whimsical and curious ways of Wonderland, uncovering clues to find a way into the Queen’s castle and rescue the White Rabbit before it’s too late!
Are you ready to enter Wonderland and save the White Rabbit? The clock is ticking and time is running out.
Players: 2 – 8 people. Recommended minimum of 4. Minimum of 4 applies to bookings during Peak Times (Fridays and Saturdays).
Difficulty Level: Most Challenging. A most curious challenge at Trapt. Try after our other experiences.
Best For: Creativity, Communication & Problem Solving
Suggested Ages: 18 or over. If you are under this age you must attend with your own parent, and that parent must accompany you in the TRAPT experience.
Duration: 50 Minutes
Haunted
In the early 1900s, in a remote village, the shadows of war loomed heavily. A villager was forcibly taken to join the army, leaving behind his wife and his unborn baby. Alone and worried, the wife held on to her memories, finding solace in their small cottage on the edge of the village.
As time passed, a new rumor began to circulate through the village. Treasure! Precious!
Villagers also claimed to have seen a ghostly presence roaming the woods, its form shifting and its presence chilling the air. Some said it was a lost soul from the war, while others believed it was a guardian spirit.
Players: 4 – 8
Difficulty Level: Not specified
Age Limit: 14 years
10% surcharge on weekends and public holidays
Important Note: Horror game, live actors in this game
Duration: 90 Minutes
Jurassic Island
On an remote island there was a plan to create the ultimate dinosaur experience only things took a turn for the worse.
You have 60 minutes to prevent the ultimate dinosaur chaos!
Players: 4 – 10
Difficulty Level: Tricky
Age Limit: There are no lower player age limits for children accompanied by an adult in any capacity. For teams where all players are aged 13 years old and over, we do not require an adult to play, provided a responsible adult remains onsite.
Duration: 60 Minutes
The Mummy
Welcome, brave adventurers, to The Mummy; an immersive journey into the heart of an ancient Egyptian tomb. As the heavy doors creak open, revealing a dimly lit chamber adorned with mystical hieroglyphics and relics of a bygone era, you can feel the weight of history surrounding you. The air is thick with the scent of forgotten secrets and the whispers of lost souls.
Legend has it that within this sacred burial ground, the spirits of enslaved people remain trapped, yearning for release. It is your noble task to embark on a treacherous exploration, delving deeper into the depths of the tomb, solving riddles, and unravelling the mysteries of The Mummy.
Players: 2 – 8
Difficulty Level: 3/5
Fear Factor: 2/5
Suggested Ages: Any
Duration: 60 Minutes
Sherlock’s Home
Welcome to “Sherlock’s Home”! You are a group of skilled detectives on a mission to uncover the lost treasures hidden within the chambers of Castiglione’s ancient castle. Legend speaks of 12 priceless golden zodiac statues, hidden in the castles depths. Your task is to navigate through the castle’s hidden rooms, solve puzzles, and find all 12 statues within the given time. Can you unearth the secrets and claim your place in history as the ultimate treasure hunters? The clock is ticking, and the adventure awaits!
Players: 2 – 8
Difficulty Level: 3/5
Fear Factor: 2/5
Suggested Ages: Any
Duration: 60 Minutes
Mission Improbable
Soldiers, welcome to MI6. You have been selected for a mission that will require your focus, discipline, and strategic thinking. You and your team of elite black operatives are on a critical operation to infiltrate a top-secret government facility. On your mission, you find youselves trapped in an elevator shaft, and security is closing in on your position. You have exactly 60 minutes to escape before you are discovered and eliminated.
The stakes are high, and failure is not an option. You’ll need to use your training, and quick thinking to solve puzzles, uncover clues, and decipher codes to find a way out. Time is of the essence, and every second counts. You must be decisive, making split-second decisions to avoid detection and evade security.
Rendezvous at the evac at 0600 hours. I’ll be your eyes and ears. Radio into the coms if you need me. Stay alert and stay alive.
Players: 2 – 6
Difficulty Level: 3/5
Fear Factor: 1/5
Suggested Ages: Any
Duration: 60 Minutes
The Walking Undead
PREPARE YOURSELVES……. Massive immersion upgrades incoming 28/07.
Welcome, to The Walking Undead. You find yourselves trapped in a dark and eerie laboratory, with no memory of how you got there. Suddenly, a chilling voice booms through the speakers, introducing you to the mad biochemist, Dr Sin.
Have you ever wandered what it would be like to be the victim of a sadistic scientist? Have you ever stared into darkness and felt like the darkness was staring back?
Dr Sin is obsessed with experimenting on test subjects and this time, he has chosen you. The room begins to shudder, you can hear the sound of footsteps echoing in the darkness. The horrors are closing in and time is of the essence.
Players: 2 – 8
Difficulty Level: 4/5
Fear Factor: 5/5
Suggested Ages: 16+
Duration: 60 Minutes
The Cabin in the Forrest
DISCLAIMER…. THIS IS THE HARDEST ROOM IN MELBOURNE!! Recommended for Escape Room Enthusiasts ONLY
PREPARE YOURSELVES…..
Aokigahara, also known as the Suicide Forest, is a 35 square kilometre forest that lies at the northwest base of Mount Fuji in Japan. It is a dense, eerie forest. It’s reputation is a site for suicides and has created a haunting atmosphere, with remnants of hanging ropes, scattered personal belongings, and corpses littering the forest floor.
The silence is deafening, the darkness is suffocating, and the trees seem to twist and contort as if alive, drawing in unwary travelers and tempting them to join the countless lost souls who have perished within the forest’s depths. You and your friends are deep in the forest and must escape before consumed by darkness. You have 75 minutes. Goodluck.
Players: 2 – 8
Difficulty Level: 5/5 (Hardest Room In Melbourne)
Fear Factor: 5/5
Suggested Ages: 16+
Duration: 75 Minutes
The Dunny
Your greatest fears are realised as you try The Dunny door, and realise it’s locked! It appears that you are now trapped in the outhouse of the famous, if somewhat deranged, Aussie celebrity Huge Axeman.
An old ham radio hanging in the corner of the outhouse offers some hope. But if you don’t know where you are, how can you tell the emergency services where to find you? There is only one hour of daylight left. From somewhere in the bush outside you can hear the rhythmic sound of wood chopping as someone tunelessly sings Waltzing Matilda.
In an Escape Room like no other, you’ll need to think and act quickly as a team to solve puzzles and challenges as the clock ticks down. Even if you can escape The Dunny, you’ll still need to survive the Australian wilderness, and contend with an array of deadly Australian fauna. You have but one hour to escape…
Dare You Enter?
Players: 2-8
Difficulty: 7/10
Suggested Ages: 13+
Duration: 60 Minutes
Enchanted Forest
The once vibrant and lively enchanted forest is now under threat. The witch and her cunning fox are on the verge of completing a curse that will plunge the forest into eternal darkness. Will you venture into the shadowy dangers and aid the inhabitants of the forest to thwart their evil plans?
With only 60 minutes to complete the challenges, team up with your friends, family, or colleagues to escape before the time runs out!
Players: 2-8
Difficulty: 8/10
Suggested Ages: Not Specified
Duration: 60 Minutes
Click Image for Answer
THE ADVENTURE OF FIVE GRAND TIPS
In this edition we’re going to look at some of the more common mistakes that players make and the easiest ways to flip them into something good. This could be in new groups or in established teams, but hopefully you find something to help your escape experience.
LISTEN TO THE BRIEFING
The thing you miss will be the simplest thing to fix!
Your host will tell you the kind of locks you will encounter and how to operate them:
-Pull the lock down firmly
-Press the keypad neatly
-Don’t try and use the same code twice
All the information they give you is going to come in handy.
What To Do:
Focus. Just for a couple more minutes…
COMMUNICATION!
A nice easy one to start off with! Communication needs to hit a sweet spot between too much and too little. You don’t want everyone to be talking at once (with no one able to hear anything being said), and you don’t want to miss out on valuable input when people keep great ideas to themselves.
At our loudest extreme we have a small space being filled with noise – when what is needed is showing some patience and respect.
But never think that your idea shouldn’t be heard in an Escape Room. You might be wrong about how to solve the puzzle, but by putting your idea out, it could serve as a vital prompt to lead the group to solve the puzzle collectively. Be ready to move over and let someone else have a go too.
What To Do:
Say to your team mates: “what are you doing? /what did you find?” and then actually listen to the answer.
OUTSIDE KNOWLEDGE
What all Escape Room designs should have in common is a lack of outside knowledge needed to solve it. We aren’t going to expect you to have memorized every Sherlock Holmes case, cipher and code, or recite pi to four million decimal places. If something in the room requires knowledge, we will provide it.
Like our code blog keeps restating – if a cipher gets used, we will give you the means to unravel it. You don’t need to learn Morse code.
What you might need to learn though is to unlearn how you can use an everyday object. Being able or open to think differently about what you thought you knew is a big one.
If we made all our puzzles super straight forward then we would have called it a ‘Solve-in-five-minutes-and-stroll-out Room’.
What To Do:
Try and see things from a different point of view – metaphorically and occasionally literally.
HAVE A LOOK AROUND
Instead of rushing in to whatever looks the most intriguing in a room, start by getting your team to have a look around first. Being patient initially helps everyone know what locks are around (Do they need letters, numbers or something else? How many dials?), what patterns and puzzles are immediately identifiable, and to get a start on linking things up.
This look-first, touch-second approach will help cut down on your players getting distracted, on items that won’t help with solutions, repeating the same efforts as someone else, and running around like headless chickens.
Collective intelligence (all the team being smarter as a unit) comes from everyone seeing the same room, and communicating well (see above).
What To Do:
Slow down and work the Room as a team.
LAUGH
What To Do:
As always, have fun!
Good luck players!
In our next edition, we want to present an Escape Room Bingo! Please email us with the phrases or reactions you hear or say, either in hosting or playing Escape Rooms!
TURNING GRILLE
This edition we are looking at another type of grille, following on from our earlier article on the grilles developed by Richelieu and Cardano.
Our variant this time was made by an Austrian cavalry officer back in 1880: Edouard Fleissner von Wostrowitz. Fortunately for us, this one has become known more simply as the ‘turning grille’. Why? Get your paper and scissors and we can find out!
Turning To Arts And Crafts
First up, get either some stiff paper or a sheet of card. Cutting up a cereal box will do a great job.
Mark out a square (that will soon become our grid of 8×8 cells). Aim for a larger one more than a smaller size – for ease of cutting – so either 8 inches or maybe 16cm. Then measure and mark out your grid to get 8 lines by 8 columns for 64 cells.
The example message for today is the following direction:
“secret key is behind the fourth green statue from the left on the top shelf”
Pick your own message, but limit it to not more than 64 characters (not including spaces).
This method is going to include colouring each of the quadrants for ease of reference, but you could bypass this easily enough.
Turn On The Skill
Now for the tricky bit. We need to cut out specific cells, not just random ones. Follow this pattern and you’ll be fine (you will see why soon!). This can be easier with a craft knife, but if you only have scissors: please be careful.
Once we have these 16 squares cut out we can rest the grille over a piece of paper. Ideally, have the corner with the cutout on your top left position (green quadrant if you have coloured it the same as the example). Now, write out your message: going down a column, and then move to the right and across from there. Here is the grid with numbers to get you started.
Writing out our message (without spaces!) in this way will only get us through the first 16 characters.
Turn Around
Every now and then I get a little bit lonely and – oops let’s focus! We need to turn the grille 90 degrees – left or right, your choice! Then continue writing out your message. Turn and continue, turn and complete. If your message didn’t get all the way to 64 characters, fill the last few spots with X or Z.
Finally we have a grid with letters looking like this:
Turn It Over To Your Mates
From here, you need to make sure your message recipient has the same grille to decode at the other end.
If your Escape Room has a cutout grid, look for the neatly squared assortment of letters, and then turn around to reach a solution.
You can vary your own Turning Grille with different dimensions (smaller, or even larger to get more characters in), strange patterns of cutout holes, or mixing up the orientations of which way or order the grille gets turned.
Here’s a wonderful quote for you to decipher using our grille pattern from above.
