Riddle Room - The Dungeon Review (Canberra)

Hi everyone

The second room at Riddle Room that my team played during our March 2021 long weekend was The Dungeon. 

The summary of The Dungeon is as follows:

 

Gone mad with power, the old King decided he only wants the greatest minds to dwell within his kingdom. Will you pass his tests, or will you be banished forever?

 

Players: 3 - 7

Recommended players: 4 - 6

Difficulty: 4.5 / 5

Scare factor: 0 / 5

The Dungeon was our 5^th room in Canberra and our 172^nd room to date.  Here’s what we thought:

·           Dungeon is a poorly lit space but I would not describe it as scary. For that reason, I think the room would be suited to families and younger kids, provided they were ok with dark spaces;

·           the room flow and design in Dungeon is really interesting (and a little unlike any other room we have been to).  The room is designed with 2 paths that players must take (each of which is linear, but both paths can be progressed simultaneously).  So I think then I would describe the room as multi-linear, rather than non-linear?  Either way, it was really well designed.  To assist players in understanding the order, the game includes iconography on a wall which signposts each step along the way for both paths, with a convergence point towards the end.  We hadn’t seen this done before and it was really cool;

·           the puzzles in Dungeon are truly varied.  Some of the puzzles involved hunt and seek fun (which held us up for a few minutes), others use spatial awareness, pattern recognition, the works.  It was a great room for enthusiasts like my team, as we really enjoyed the diversity of challenging puzzles;

·           the theming in Dungeon was excellent.  You can really tell that Riddle Room has spent a lot of time and expense in fitting out their rooms.  Dungeon is quite a large space and given the multi-linear paths in the room, I think this room could probably handle up to say 5 or even 6 players;

·           we escaped Dungeon in 32 mins and 22 seconds, which was the monthly record.  Despite escaping so quickly, I still felt that the room had a heap of puzzles and we were all kept very busy throughout.  My team always does better in non-linear rooms, as we can break up and each attack different puzzles at the same time.  The same was true in Dungeon.  The downside to this is that at the end of the room, we then need to walk back through each of the puzzles and see what our team mates solved without us;

·           as with their other rooms, there is a lot of well-concealed tech in Nightmare.  But again, one of my favourite puzzles in Dungeon was a simple, low-tech puzzle that relied on coloured rope.  It was really nicely done.  I also really liked the last minute hunt and seek puzzle thrown in for good measure (which now that I think of it, was a common element in the other RR rooms as well);

·           as far as theming goes, all of the props were of a high quality and both the props and puzzles all made sense in the space.  There was also a strong storyline that continued throughout the experience and brought everything together nicely;

·           again, we had great customer service in Dungeon.  Our dedicated game master watched our every move – she was friendly and helpful and she offered to take us back through all of the puzzles at the end of our experience; and

·           I am pretty sure Riddle Room uses the Voice of God system in their rooms (although we didn’t ask for a hint in Dungeon so I’m not 100% sure).

My team loved Dungeon.  It was themed really well, there were a heap of challenging and varied puzzles and the multi-linear room design was something we hadn’t seen before. 

Where:                         8 / 160 Lysaght Street, Mitchell ACT

Duration:                      60 minutes

Themes:                      4 themes (with plenty of space for more rooms)

Price:                           $40 per person

Overall Thoughts:        Awesome theming and challenging, varied puzzles.

More details:                http://riddleroom.com.au

Riddle Room - The Nightmare Review (Canberra)

Hi everyone

My team of 4 finally managed to get down to Canberra in March 2021 after several years of trying to find a long weekend to get down there.  I had met Chris and Jesse, the owners of Riddle Room at PAX in Melbourne in 2019.  It was awesome to finally go down and check out their rooms.

We played all 4 of the rooms at Riddle Rooms in a single day.  We checked out 3 back to back (with a break for lunch) and then we came back after dinner than night to play the 4^th room.

First up we took on Riddle Room’s first room, The Nightmare.  Before Riddle Room took on commercial premises, their Nightmare room was constructed in a garage.  Things have obviously come a long way since then, given that Riddle Room now has one of the largest commercial premises of any escape room business in the country. 

The summary of The Nightmare is as follows:

The DreamWake Corporation is looking for volunteers to enter the mind of a young girl trapped in an endless nightmare. Can you find the cause, save her, and get out in time?

 

Players: 2 - 6
Recommended Players: 4 - 5
Difficulty: 3.5 / 5
Scare Factor: 1 / 5

The Nightmare was our 4^th room in Canberra and our 171^st room to date.  Here’s what we thought:

·          Nightmare is a dark, scary-themed room but it wasn’t uber scary (there are no jump scares or anyone coming after you, for example).  That being said, I don’t think the room would be suitable for young children (as there are some aspects that are very dark (ie poorly lit) and some of the creepier elements might not go down so well with little ones);

·          as far as room design goes, Nightmare has a really nice flow.  There are interesting puzzles, some of which included elements that we had not seen used before (and that’s becoming pretty rare these days);

·          there is a lot of well-concealed tech in Nightmare (as there is in all Riddle Rooms for that matter).  But one of my favourite puzzles in Nightmare was a simple, low-tech puzzle that relied on following coloured rope.  It was really nicely done;

·          as far as theming goes, all of the props were of a high quality and both the props and puzzles all made sense in the space.  There was also a strong storyline that continued throughout the experience and brought everything together nicely;

·          there isn’t a huge amount of hunt and seek fun in Nightmare, but where it is used it is quite effective (I’m thinking here of the end of the experience);

·          something that Riddle Room does extremely well is the customer service side of things.  We had a dedicated game master watching our every move – she was friendly and helpful and she offered to take us back through all of the puzzles at the end of our experience.  Not all rooms in Australia have dedicated game masters (in fact, not all rooms in Canberra have dedicated game masters) and it always makes a huge difference; and

·          I am pretty sure Riddle Room uses the Voice of God system in their rooms, although I am not 100% sure as we didn't ask for any hints in Nightmare.

Overall, I would describe Nightmare as a really strong room with nice puzzles and theming.  The only puzzle we didn’t love was a puzzle that used black light.  There was nothing wrong or unclear about the puzzle – we just don’t like black light puzzles.  They have been done to death in escape rooms and they very rarely fit the room theme.

I forgot to write down how long it took us to escape from The Nightmare, but I think it was somewhere around the 40 minute mark.  It was a strong room and it proved to be a really good warm up for my team before we took on the rest of the rooms at Riddle Room.

Where:                         8 / 160 Lysaght Street, Mitchell ACT

Duration:                      60 minutes

Themes:                      4 themes (with plenty of space for more rooms)

Price:                           $40 per person

Overall Thoughts:        A fun, well-themed first room from Riddle Room

More details:                http://riddleroom.com.au         

 

Revelation Puzzle Rooms - Cold Case Review (Canberra)

Hi all

Our third room, played back to back, at Revelation Puzzle Rooms (back in March 2021) was Cold Case. 

As with Toxic and Doomsday, the overarching story continues with Cold Case, the room summary of which is below:

Your close relative has been suddenly killed and the man responsible has eluded the police’s grasp. You have decided to take matters into your own hands. The detective on the case has agreed to give you access to the crime scene.

Before long, the case will go cold and the criminal will walk free. Can you find him before it is too late?

Cold Case was our third room in Canberra and our 170^th room to date.  Here is what I thought:

• the theming in Cold Case was excellent.  The room theme allows for more creativity than a science/lab themed room (as with Toxic/Doomsday) and I thought Revelation did a fantastic job;

• I thought the puzzles in Cold Case were really fun and really quite varied.  As with Toxic and Doomsday, there is a lot of high tech in the room that is well-concealed.  There is also some hunt and seek fun and some really unusual puzzles;

• of all 3 rooms at Revelation, Cold Case is the room that is best-suited to escape room enthusiasts. The theming is really strong, there is a strong, immersive storyline and there is a really nice mix of interesting and unusual puzzles that have been clearly designed to fit perfectly with the room’s theme.  That’s not to say that newer players/corporates/families would not enjoy Cold Case - they absolutely would, but I think newer teams perhaps don’t appreciate great theming and immersion as much as more experienced players;

• although we escaped this room very quickly, it felt like it was Revelation Puzzle Rooms’ most difficult room of the 3 on offer.  Our team managed to score the record for the fastest 4 player team (as well as the fastest team ever (of any size) to escape.  That, out of interest, included bumping off “Escape This Podcast” who used to hold the record for the fastest team :-)  

• the average escape rate with Cold Case is 37%, as compared with 51% and 53% in Toxic and Doomsday respectively.  I agree that Cold Case is the harder of the rooms.  Again, we escaped in less than 30 minutes (26mins 25 secs), so for an experienced team like ours, I think the room would benefit from 2 or 3 extra puzzles.  But again, I get that most of Revelation’s players might be newer players and Revelation has to play to its market.

Cold Case was our favourite of the 3 rooms on offer at Revelation.  It is the strongest of the 3 rooms on theming and puzzle design and for me personally, I enjoy a detective-type room more than I do a science-themed room.  Each to their own.

Where:                         8/151-155 Gladstone Street, Fyshwick

Duration:                      60 minutes

Themes:                      3 themes (with another one planned for release later in 2021)

 Cost:                           Price:                           $40pp (depending on team size)

                                    Overall Thoughts:         Excellent theming and puzzles – our favourite room at Revelation

More details:                http://revelationpuzzlerooms.com

 

Revelation Puzzle Rooms - Doomsday Review (Canberra)

Hi everyone

The second room that we hit at Revelation Puzzle Rooms (in March 2021) was Doomsday, the room summary of which is below:

 

You are a group of operatives working for a super secret organisation. Extremely high levels of Valerium have been detected inside Genesis Laboratories and you have been sent to investigate. You infiltrated the Lab as Chemists, Biohazard Officers and the like.

After a few days, you manage to track down the source to Lab 3, and you are now breaking back in, in the middle of the night, to find the exact source and put a stop to it. You can’t be sure of the exact cause, but whatever it is, it can’t be anything good. Can you make the right choice before the time runs out?

Doomsday was our second room in Canberra and our 169^th room to date. 

Here is what I thought:

• Doomsday is “break in, find something and get out” room, but it has a really unique element that I haven’t seen (or even heard of) before.  Doomsday is played in the same physical space as Revelation’s Toxic room.  From a design perspective, Revelation designed effectively 2 rooms’ worth of puzzles in the same space, with half being playable in the Toxic version and the other half in the Doomsday version;

• we played both rooms within about 15 minutes of each other, so we were very aware of each of the puzzles in the space that we had just solved.  I suspect most teams who play both rooms might not be playing them back to back like we did, but it really doesn’t matter either way – the puzzles in each room are quite different;

•  I was really impressed with the execution of this and I am genuinely surprised that other escape room businesses have not tried this idea, particularly in some locations (like Sydney or Melb CBDs) where rents are incredibly high and space is at an absolute premium;

•  I was also impressed that the storyline in Toxic and Doomsday is seamless and continues across both rooms.  It also makes sense why players are back in the space (and the puzzles all make sense in the space too, which is great);

• again, as with Toxic, there is a little bit of hunt and seek fun, together with a really nice mix of puzzles;

•  my team found this room a little harder than Toxic.  We got stuck on a couple of puzzle elements (the usual thing of not seeing what is right in front of us).  We escaped in 32 minutes and 24 seconds, which was still a 4 player record for the room, so that was nice;

• the level of theming in Doomsday was, you guessed it, the same level as in Toxic :-); and

• again, as with Toxic, this room is not scary and would suit families (although there is a reasonably noisy alarm that goes off during the experience, so bear that in mind for any younger kids who don’t like loud noises).  But the experience is not scary and the level of difficulty would definitely suit families as well.

As with Toxic, my team really enjoyed Doomsday.  The continuation of the overall story was nice, there was a nice mix of new puzzles, and it was really cool to see how the same space can be used for quite different puzzles. 

For breaking the 4 player record, we walked away with a cool room pin and record breaker pin, which was really nice.  In each of their rooms, Revelation shows each of the puzzles on a screen and how fast your team managed to solve each puzzle (together with how fast you were relative to other players).  That was something that we have seen used in Sydney and elsewhere in Canberra. 

Where:                         8/151-155 Gladstone Street, Fyshwick

Duration:                      60 minutes

Themes:                      3 themes (with another one planned for release later in 2021)

Cost:                            Price:                          $40pp (depending on team size)

                                   Overall Thoughts:          A fun room that uniquely uses the same space as another room

More details:                http://revelationpuzzlerooms.com