Xcape Sydney - Review of Magic Painting

Hi there

Magic Painting was the fourth room we tried at Xcape during a single day when we tried 5 of their rooms back to back in December 2017.

The room summary for Magic Painting is as follows, taken from Xcape's website:

Returning to your home, the kingdom of mist. You and your group of comrades have raised suspicions as mysterious things have happened since you’ve been away. People are behaving weirdly, a sense of witchery and black energy surround the kingdom and its populace and the sudden disappearance of the King and Queen have raised alarmed bells. Suspicions point to the King’s most loyal henchman who has a love for witchery and black magic. You take on the role as Prince Ryan and now the Kingdom crown is under threat, you seek to reclaim what is rightfully yours and investigate the sudden happenings. But be wary, sometimes those who you trust most will often scheme your downfall.

We were a 3 person team.  Magic Painting was our 69th room in Australia (and our 56th room in Sydney). 

So, here's what I thought of Magic Painting at Xcape:

• this was one of my favourite rooms at Xcape;

• there are some aspects of this room that we had never seen in an escape room before;

• as with all of their other rooms, there is a lot of tech in this room (and it all suits the theme pretty well);

• again, the production quality of the room is very strong.  I think the theming is also pretty strong;

• there is a nice storyline to this room (and there's more I'd like to go into on this, but can't without giving spoilers).

There were a few things in Xcape's Magic Painting room that I think could be improved:

• there are some safety concerns that my team members had with one particular aspect of this room.  I'm not sure whether this would pass a WH&S test to be honest;

• there is one high tech puzzle that is pretty cool, but it is not 100% clear on how you need to solve it.  We eventually figured it out but there was a little bit of a logic jump to get there;

• this is an 80 minute room but we were out in less than half of that time.  I therefore think that this room should either be changed to a 60 minute time limit or about 3 or 4 additional puzzles included to warrant an 80 minute time limit.  Also, at a cost of up to $60pp, this is a very expensive room.

Overall, I think this was my second favourite room at Xcape.

I liked many aspects of the room.  This room would definitely appeal to those players who love high tech rooms.  Xcape's rooms remind me a lot of Mission Sydney's rooms - they are high production value and full of high tech.  I don't think I saw a single padlock in any of their rooms.

At the time of writing this review I have now done 90 rooms.  I have come to enjoy totally immersive rooms with clever puzzles and theming.  I like high tech but equally, I enjoy low tech rooms provided that the theming is there.  I don't think any of the rooms at Xcape are at the same level as several other Sydney rooms when it comes to level of immersion.  However, Magic Painting is one of Xcape's better rooms.

Where:                   18 Queen Street, Chippendale 

Duration:               80 minutes

Themes:                 6 currently

Cost:                       $50pp (or $60pp on weekends/evenings) (but we played at the kind invitation of Xcape)

Overall Rating:       A room suited to those who love high tech.

More details:          http://www.xcapes.com.au/