Best escape rooms in Sydney for beginners and advanced players (April 2015)

I have now been to fourteen different escape rooms in Sydney and I thought now would be a good time for me to give another quick summary of my thoughts on all fourteen rooms.   See the table below.  

It’s really difficult to compare all fourteen rooms and rank them (as they are so different – it really is like comparing apples and oranges).  However, based on the criteria that is important to me (quality of puzzles, quality of theming and overall enjoyment level), my recommendations are as follows:

For Newer Players:                   ParaPark Sydney’s 9A Gateway

                                                PANiQ Room’s Abandoned Military Bunker on the Rocks                                                 Mission Sydney’s Vampire Castle

ClockLocked’s Dexter

                                                Escapism’s The Garden

For Advanced Players:             PANiQ Room’s Supercell 117

                                                The Enigma Room’s In Memoriam

Mission Sydney’s Dr M

The Enigma Room’s Dr Disaster                   

                                                ParaPark Sydney’s 9A Gateway

PANiQ Room’s Abandoned Military Bunker on the Rocks

Escapism’s Forensic

I have thought long and hard about this and my favourite room in Sydney (so far) is PANiQ Room’s Supercell 117, followed by either of The Enigma Room rooms, Mission Sydney’s Dr M and ParaPark’s 9A Gateway.  At the other end of the spectrum, I would give Escape Hunt Sydney and Mystery Puzzle a miss – they are not in the same league as their competitors on several fronts.

I would be really interested in receiving any feedback or comments that you have on any of the Sydney escape rooms (good or bad and whether or not they appear in this list). 

Here's my table of my favourite rooms, ranked in order of the amount that I enjoyed them (and from the point of view of an advanced player, rather than a beginner).  I hope it is useful!

Overall Ranking	Place	Website	Room Theme	Comments
1	PanIQ Room (The Rocks)	Click here.	Supercell 117	The best-designed escape room in Sydney.  It has a great mix of high-tech and low-tech puzzles and the theming and props are flawless. I think this room is a little tricky for first-timers (that’s not to say that you wouldn’t enjoy it, but you might not get out in time).  Personally, I’d do a couple of other simple rooms before tackling this one.  It’s suited to kids and groups of up to say 6 people.  See my full review here.
2	The Enigma Room (Sydney CBD)	Click here.	In Memoriam	A truly fantastic room.  A really clever design, perfectly themed and a great mix of high and low-tech puzzles.  Again, I think this room would be tricky for first-timers, so I’d personally do a couple of easier rooms before tackling this one.  It’s suited for kids and groups of up to say 6 people. See my full review here.
3	Mission Escape (Sydney CBD)	Click here.	Dr M	I absolutely loved this room!  It is the most high-tech room in Sydney – the puzzles are largely home-made and very original and the theming is excellent.  It’s a little pricey (up to $45 per person) but definitely worth it.  They are ranked the number one escape room in Sydney on TripAdvisor and I can see why.  The room is too scary for kids (probably best suited to say 12yo+).  I would try other rooms before tackling this one (as it was pretty tricky – I doubt most first-timers would escape in time).  See my full review here.
4	The Enigma Room (Sydney CBD)	Click here.	Dr Disaster	Another awesome room.  A great mix of low tech, high tech and really creative puzzles.  A really fun theme that was really well-executed.  Again, this is a tricky room so I would suggest tackling one or two easier rooms before this one.  It’s a little scary for kids (probably suited to 10yo+).  See my full review here.
5	ParaPark Sydney (Macquarie Park)	Click here.	9A Gateway	This is another fantastic room.  The quality of the puzzles and theming were excellent (and many of the puzzles are home-made and very original).  Of all of the rooms, I think this is a really good option if you are a first timer or an advanced player (both would enjoy this room).  It can be a little scary for young kids, so I would suggest not bringing kids who are under say 10yo here.  Check out this room – you will love it.  Macquarie Park is only 15 minutes from the city – it’s definitely worth the trip! See my full review here.
6	PANiQ Room (The Rocks)	Click here.	Abandoned Military Bunker on the Rocks	This is another excellent room with a great mix of high tech and low tech puzzles.  Several of the puzzles are unlike anything we had seen in other escape rooms and the quality of the theming is second to none.  This room is tricky but I think is suited to first timers and advanced players alike.  See my full review here.
7	Escapism (King Street Wharf)	Click here.	Forensic	We all very much enjoyed the Forensic room, but jeez it was difficult (my group says it wasn’t that hard, but they are wrong – trust me, it’s very hard).  The game master told us that less than 5% of all groups escape this room!  The theming is great and the quality of the puzzles is excellent. This room is definitely not for first-timers .  Don’t do this room unless you have first tried at least a handful of other rooms.  See my full review here.
8	Clock Locked (Ultimo)	Click here.	Dexter	We all really enjoyed Dexter.  The puzzles were all very original, the theming was great and there was a really great atmosphere in the room.  The room is too scary for kids and it is not big enough for groups bigger than 4 people. I would recommend this room for first timers and advanced players alike. See my full review here.
9	Mission Escape (Sydney CBD)	Click here.	Vampire Castle	This is a great room.  It was the first high-tech room we had done and I couldn’t stop thinking about it for several days after.  It was my first taste of a great escape room in Sydney.  We didn’t escape (we missed it by a couple of minutes), but I was well and truly hooked after this room. As with Dr M, the puzzles are all high tech and the theming and props are excellent.  Again, it’s a little scary for kids under 12yo. I think this is a good room for beginners and advanced players alike.  See my full review here.
10	Escapism (King Street Wharf)	Click here.	The Garden	The Garden is a well-themed room that has been well considered and creatively designed.  It is a good room for beginners and suits all ages.  It is however far too simple for advanced players.  See my full review here.
11	Clock Locked (Ultimo)	Click here.	Da Vinci	We all really enjoyed Da Vinci, for the most part.  Our only disappointment with this room was that one particular puzzle has an error in it.  I think this issue might have been rectified now.  Their theming is great and the puzzles are all fun.  The room is too scary for kids and too small for corporate groups.  I would recommend either room for first timers and advanced players alike. I wouldn’t do this room with a group of more than 5 people maximum.  See my full review here.
12	Escape Hunt Sydney (Sydney CBD)	Click here.	Murder in the Pub	I didn’t love this room, despite it being the first escape room that we did in Sydney.  They had some faults in their puzzles, we were given a bad “hint” by the game master and one of the chains came away in our hands (even though we hadn’t yet found a key).  That being said, we went on their opening weekend and hopefully some of the problems and issues we faced have been fixed by now.  However, their biggest issue is theming, which is amongst the worst we have seen in Sydney.    Their rooms are aimed at corporate groups (as they have 6 rooms in total (ie 3 different rooms each duplicated).  These rooms are suited to first timers, corporate groups and those with kids (but not advanced players or those who appreciate fine theming and a fully immersive experience). See my full review here.
13	The Mystery Puzzle (Sydney CBD)	Click here.	Pirate Adventure	My group had fun at the Pirate Adventure, but it’s a simple room and it isn’t suited to advanced players.  Pirate Adventure is a big room but it isn’t filled well.  There is too much “hunt and seek” and not enough puzzles.  Most disappointing is that the theming and props are very poor.  They don’t make sense in the space – it is as though the owners have picked up cheap things at an op shop just to fill the space.  I would however say that these rooms are suited to kids, first timers and corporate groups.   Steer clear of this place if you have done an escape room before (because I suspect you will find it far too easy and boring like we did).  And definitely don’t bother doing both rooms. See my full review here.
14	The Mystery Puzzle (Sydney CBD)	Click here.	Casino Revenge Thriller	I really didn’t enjoy this room at all. It was an average quality room. Theming and props were very poor and it was just too easy – there weren’t enough puzzles to fill an hour worth of escaping.  The props made no sense at all – lots of items were there just to fill the space.  There were errors in the puzzles too. Most disappointing is that this room is incredibly similar to their other room, Pirate Adventure (which we had already done).  Almost all of the puzzles and the various mechanisms were identical.  Personally, in light of the lazy design between the 2 rooms, I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone.   However, like the Pirate Adventure room, this is geared at first-timers, kids and corporate groups. See my full review here.