Sunday 31 May 2020

Labyrinth Escape Rooms - CirCurse review



Hi everyone

Back in January, on my birthday, my team returned to Labyrinth Escape Rooms.  My team has been to Labyrinth several times in the past, having tried their Insane Asylum, Mexican Cartel and Japanese Horror rooms (and really enjoying all of them).  

I bumped into Joan and Frank, the owners of Labyrinth Escape Rooms in Melbourne at PAX last year, which was awesome (we hadn't seen each other for a couple of years).  They mentioned that they had opened CirCurse and they invited my team to come and check it out.  We finally got around to heading back to Labyrinth in January 2020.  We had a long chat with Joan and Frank about how they had relocated their business (and the amount of work that clearly went into the move).  

On the other side of Victoria Road from their new premises is a Coles with an attached underground secure parking lot (not overly expensive).  We parked there (and took the opportunity to grab some ice-creams from Coles for sustenance)…

CirCurse was our 136th room to date and our 88th room in (or around) Sydney.  Here is the room description, from their website:

The great Hyde Circus was once an exciting and jaw dropping show but now, there are no ticket sales, crowds or queues. As the new Director, you’ve heard rumours of foul play so you sneak into the performers trailer to find out what could be going on. Is the circus cursed or will you uncover a secret the performers have been trying to bury all these years?

Here is what we thought of CirCurse:
  • the theming is really nicely done and quite unique.  While playing the game, I remember thinking that we felt like we had been completely transported out of Parramatta and were in a circus.  I thought the props, lighting, sounds, etc were really nicely done and really added to the theming and immersion;
  • some of the props were beautifully made, with a lot of attention to detail.  Joan told us that they engaged a painter to create some of their amazing props, which really look beautiful;
  • the puzzles in CirCurse are a true mix of hunt and seek fun and some nice high tech puzzles (that are very well-concealed).  This added to the magical feeling of the room.  The puzzles throughout CirCurse really fit the theme – at times bright and colourful (as you would expect for a circus) and at other times a little ;
  • there are some dark sections within CirCurse - I think my 7 year old would have been fine but my 3 year old might not (it obviously depends on your children), so keep that in mind.  There are no jump scares at all – just a section where it gets dark for a short period;
  • there were a couple of puzzles that were really unique (and of a type we had not seen used anywhere else).  There were some really interesting puzzle elements used in CirCurse, relying on different senses and skills.; and
  • the room is rated “hard” on their website.  I can’t recall how quickly we escaped, but I felt like we had a bit of time up our sleeves.  But we were kept pretty busy during the entire escape. 

As always, my team really enjoyed our time at Labyrinth Escape Rooms.  Joan and Frank have a great escape room business with awesome rooms.  This was our fourth room at Labyrinth and I can again confirm that we have consistently had a great time. 

We were lucky enough to debrief with Joan and Frank after our escape (it’s always fun to talk with genuine escape room enthusiasts).  We even managed to get a sneak peek at some other rooms they are looking to open in the near future ;-)
Where:                         1B Victoria Road, Parramatta
Duration:                      60 minutes
Themes:                       3 themes (but others currently under construction)
                                       Price:                           $43 each (4 players) (but we played at owners’ invitation)
Overall Rating:             A beautiful, challenging, well-themed room
More details:                http://labyrinthescaperooms.com.au