Review of Labyrinth Escape Rooms' Insane Asylum

My group of friends (4 adults) checked out Labyrinth Escape Rooms’ Insane Asylum room in September 2015, about 2 weeks after they opened.  This was our eighteenth escape room in Sydney (so far!).

We found the place very easily.  They have plenty of off-street parking right in front of the premises, which was great.

They currently have just the one room, but they are putting the finishing touches on their second room, Mad Scientist, which should open very shortly.  They also have plans to open a third room in the future, the theme of which sounds really cool (and unlike any other theme we have heard of in Sydney).  I'll leave it to the owners to announce their third theme in due course.

First off, I'll say what I enjoyed most about Insane Asylum at Labyrinth Escape Rooms:

a)    we had an awesome time, which is always the most important measure of a great room.  It had been a while since we had tried a really good quality room, so we were all really pleased with this room;

b)    the room design is clever.  The theming is spot on – all of the props make sense in the space, the eerie music is really effective, the vibe suits the theme precisely;

c)    they did the simple things really well, like good website design, excellent service, all torches worked well, etc (you would think that this is a given, but so many places ignore the simple stuff);

d)    they have a heap of home-made puzzles, which I always appreciate.  All of the puzzles were of an excellent quality and many of them were of a type we had never seen anywhere before;

e)    whilst difficult, the puzzles were all clear and worked as they were designed to;

f)     there was a lot of attention to detail in the design of the props and the puzzles, which was great;

g)    their communications system is easily the best that we have seen.  There are no walkie talkies, phones or iPads – you simply talk and listen.  They have a state of the art communications system.  After we escaped, they showed us exactly how good their cameras are (particularly the infrared cameras in very low light);

h)   the owners, Joan and Frank are very passionate about their business and it clearly shows.  Their front of house was excellent and they took the time afterwards to take us through the room and explain every single puzzle (and answered my many, many questions).  This level of service is something that only the very best escape room outfits provide.  Their enthusiasm for their rooms is infectious.

As for some of the improvements that could be made to Insane Asylum, there really is very little to report here. We had some issues with a multi-directional speed lock in one of the puzzles (which just wouldn’t open for us despite us having the right combination).  This was a shame because it slowed us up in the early section of the game (and caused me to panic and ask for more clues than I otherwise might have).  Speed locks are always temperamental (although it certainly didn't ruin our experience).

My only other comment is that this room is pretty challenging, so first timers would be pretty hard pressed to escape without a hint or two (we had 3 hints so don't feel bad in asking for them - better that than to only progress part way through the room!).  

This is a great room and I'm really pleased that western Sydney has such a great escape room outfit on offer now.  We loved the room and I’ve received feedback from 3 other people (friends and readers of this blog) who all agree that this is up there with the best rooms in Sydney.

Where:                    Suite 3/85-93 Victoria Road, Parramatta

Duration:                60 minutes

Themes:                 1 theme (so far) 

Cost:                       $35pp for a team of 4 (although there is currently an opening special)

Overall Rating:      5 out of 5 stars

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