The Cool Space - Séance Review

Hi everyone

In February 2024, I headed to check out the (then) newest escape room outfit in Sydney. Located in Chippendale, the business is called The Cool Space. This time I played with 2 of my enthusiast friends, so we were a team of 3.

The Cool Space is run by friends Josh and Daniel, who themselves are enthusiasts and who each worked previously at 2 of the best escape room businesses in the country. I think it’s always nice to know that the ER owners/designers have played a lot of rooms as enthusiasts, as it usually shows in their attention to detail in their own design (especially if, like most of us, they have been burned by shitty puzzles themselves when playing others’ rooms).

Their first room is called Séance. Here is the room summary:

Contact a spirit and puzzle your way through their story in a unique, seated escape room experience! Calling all ghost hunters! The new owner of the Abercrombie mansion needs your help… Gather your crew, it’s time to perform a seance! After discovering a strange box inside the mansion, the new owner has tasked your team of ghost hunters to make contact with a haunting spirit said to hold the key that unlocks the box. The task is fairly simple, gain the spirit’s trust and get the key.

What could possibly go wrong?

Séance was my 289th room. Here is what I thought: 

• my favourite aspect of Séance was the innovative use of what is a pretty small space. Players are seated throughout the entire experience at a table while a séance takes place; at no point do players walk around the space of even stand up. This is truly unique (I have not heard of anything like that anywhere else) and no doubt this made designing the puzzles and room flow really challenging, but it really paid off;
• from a business perspective, the smaller space would no doubt have been cheaper and quicker to build compared to other much larger rooms. But I think it was a really clever move by The Cool Space, as it allowed them to open quickly and start making money while they then build their second, larger space. I 100% prefer this over the more common practice now of newer ER businesses purchasing room designs and whole fitouts from third party companies like Indestroom – I have yet to play an Indestroom room that I really enjoyed;
• the puzzles and theming in Séance were all strong. When I played back in February 2024, some of the puzzle elements were quite simple. I returned in July 2024 to watch my wife and her family play Séance and Josh and Daniel showed me the various puzzles they had changed and certain puzzle elements that had been swapped out for sturdier materials;
• there was also fun actor engagement in Séance. In fact, I brought along a ‘family heirloom’ with me in an attempt to try to make the actor break character. I had mixed results and will have to try again when I play their next room 😊;
• from a puzzle and room flow design perspective, I thought there were a lot of clever elements in Séance. All facets of the space were utilised (and they were utilised really well); and
• this room is a scary room, so it’s not suitable for kids (their website suggests 16+). I have played many of the scariest rooms in the world and I think the scariness level in this room is very low (so if you don’t like scary rooms, don’t be put off). If you have a real aversion to scares, reach out to them ahead of time and I am sure they will accommodate your request.

I was really impressed by Séance, especially given that it’s Josh and Daniel’s first room. The puzzles were all challenging and rewarding to solve and the use of the space is truly unique and innovative. We really enjoyed this room and look forward to what they have to offer next. Also, everyone who plays Séance walks away with one of the coolest ER pins I have seen to date. The Cool Space’s logo is an ice cube – the pin for Séance is an ice cube seated on a chair (much like players in Séance). I suspect their next room will have a similarly cleverly-posed ice cube (pins are awesome and greatly appreciated).

Where:                    2/134 Abercrombie St, Chippendale

Duration:                60 minutes

Themes:                  1 theme so far (another on the way soon)

Price:                       $55pp (for a team of 4)

Overall Rating:       A truly innovative room, executed really well

More details:           https://www.thecoolspace.com.au/