I went down to Melbourne in October to check out PAX. Earlier that week, an escape room "unconference" was being held in Melbourne, called Superconductor. Superconductor is attended by enthusiasts and escape room owners from around the country (and some internationals). I wasn't able to attend Superconductor this year, but I was lucky enough to meet up with those who did attend afterwards at TRAPT Bar in Melbourne.
I got to catch up with owners and enthusiasts I hadn't seen for a while and of course I was lucky enough to meet new enthusiasts and owners. It was a little surreal to see so many owners in the same location (given that usually when I see them, it's when doing their rooms).
The catch up was fun. We also tried a couple of rooms at TRAPT - I'll post reviews of those rooms on my Melbourne based blog soon, but spoiler alert, they weren't great (as usual). While in Melbourne, my wife and I also took our girls to check out the fourth room at Mystery Rooms - that room was fantastic (again, see my Melbourne based blog for my review soon).
A couple of days after Superconductor, I went and checked out PAX. It was my first time to PAX and I was there by myself (my wife took our girls off sightseeing for the day/evening). It was pretty confronting walking into the main halls - it was loud and enormous and jam packed full of people. But it was fun - I checked out a few of the exhibits and games (and the tabletop games hall as well).
The highlights of PAX for me were the panels. I checked out a Pokemon Go panel which was fun and in the evening, I checked out 3 escape room panels back to back. The panels covered issues such as how to design an escape room (which was hilarious), the importance of immersion in escape rooms and a general Q&A.
I really enjoyed the panels - again it was nice to catch up with other enthusiasts and various owners I hadn't seen for ages. Afterwards I was lucky enough to hang out with the owners/presenters from the panels until way past my bedtime...
I really enjoyed PAX and I hope to go again in future years. I'm also hoping to check out Superconductor in the future too.
-Scott
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