Tuesday, 25 May 2021

Escape Rooms Canberra - The Vault 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 been liaising with the owners of Escape Rooms Canberra for a couple of years online, so it was great to finally go down and check out their rooms.

We played both of their rooms back to back on our last day of our long weekend in Canberra. 

First up we took on Escape Rooms Canberra’s The Vault, the summary of which is as follows: 

 

The world has already ended. The promise of mutually assured destruction wasn't enough to stop the superpowers of the USA and the USSR from unleashing their nuclear arsenal. Now there is only desolation and waste. But there's still hope. Small bands of survivors have emerged into the wasteland; the human race survives by a thread but the rebuild has begun. Still, the threat of destruction lingers on.

In the wasteland, a madman has taken control. He believes that the human race is a disease and the only way to save the world is to finish the work of our predecessors and wipe the human "parasite" from the face of the earth. He has gathered an army, found the last Nuclear Vault and flipped the doomsday switch. You are part of a small band of survivors who have infiltrated the Vault, and it is up to you to cancel the launch and stop the apocalypse.

The Vault was our 8th room in Canberra and our 175th room to date.  Here’s what we thought:

·          on the plus side, for those who like tech in rooms, there was a lot of tech in this space.  Some of the time it was really nicely-concealed tech, but other times I found that it didn’t really fit brilliantly with the theme (or it was there just for the sake of it);

·          the production quality of the space was very high.  In fact, from the moment you enter Escape Rooms Canberra from the street, you are in a different world.  The owners have clearly gone to a lot of time and expense in fitting out the entire premises (which is a pretty bit space).  The Vault is no exception and the props and fit out are excellent;

·          on the puzzle side of things, I wasn’t a huge fan of this room.  I think the puzzles were ok, but they really felt like they had been done before.  With the exception of one high tech puzzle towards the end of the experience, the puzzles didn’t feel unique or particularly well-related to the story.  I would probably describe the room as being medium to hard in difficulty – I don’t recall what time we escaped in, but I am pretty sure we had a reasonable amount of time left on the clock;

·          we needed a hint with one puzzle.  They use walkie talkies instead of the voice of God system that is used at pretty much all escape rooms these days.  I was surprised that for a venue that only has two rooms (and on the day 2 employees working as game masters), we didn’t have a dedicated game master watching our every move.  I think this is one of the things that differentiates the best escape room business from the rest of the pack – when players are paying $40 per person or more for a room, that should include a dedicated game master.  This was a shame.

Overall, I would describe The Vault as a well-themed room with high production quality, but a little lacking in puzzle depth and overall immersion. 

Where:                         2/24 Dundas Court, Phillip ACT

Duration:                      60 minutes

Themes:                      2 themes

Price:                           $40 per person 

Overall Thoughts:        High production value but lacking in the puzzles department.

More details:                https://www.escaperoomscanberra.com/



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