Review of The Enigma Room - In Memoriam Theme

My group of friends (4 adults) checked out The Enigma Room's 'In Memoriam' room in March 2015. This was our twelfth escape room in Sydney so far.

We found the place very easily, thanks to an email they sent us the day before with directions and photographs of their entrance.  We were given a briefing by the owners, Matt and Barry before embarking on our attempt to escape from In Memoriam.

They currently have two rooms, Dr Disaster and In Memoriam.

First off, I'll say what I enjoyed most about In Memoriam at Enigma Room:

• it was fantastic.  The room design is very clever and contains many different elements, both high tech and low tech;
• every single puzzle is well considered, well designed and works perfectly;
• the theming was fantastic - the props were all perfect, they made sense and really added to the overall feel of the room.  Every single item in the room made sense.  We all really appreciated that there was so much attention to detail with the props and theme;
• the pre-escape room video is great and really got us in the mood for the escape;
• the use of a tablet for communicating and obtaining clues was also perfect;
• there were some puzzles that we had never seen before and which we all really liked - it's always nice to see something new and different;
• the owners are very passionate about their rooms and it shows from the quality of the room.  They also took the time out to show us every element of the room, the thinking behind the puzzle design, theming and various 'easter eggs' hidden throughout; and
• having done both this room and Enigma Room's Dr Disaster on the same night, we really loved that both rooms were completely different (but both of excellent quality). 

I have nothing negative to say about In Memoriam.  We did significantly better in this room than in their other Dr Disaster room - I think we just got luckier in this room.  So from my personal experience, I think this room was the easier of the two (but I understand from Matt and Barry that other teams who have tried both rooms at Enigma Room have had the opposite experience to us).

We enjoyed every minute of In Memoriam.  High tech puzzles unlike anything we have seen, a great theme (that was really well-executed) and a heap of fun.

I personally think the puzzles are pretty tricky (compared to the other 10 rooms we have done elsewhere Sydney).  I think first-timers might find this room pretty difficult (although a heap of fun either way).  I'd suggest warming up on some easier rooms (at other escape room outfits) before tackling this one if you're an escape room newb.  In so doing, you will also really appreciate just how good this room is compared to most of the competitor escape room outfits.  It is a truly excellent room.

My group really enjoyed In Memoriam and we all agreed it was a 5 out of 5 room.

Where:                    Suite 602, Level 6, 262 Pitt Street 

Duration:                60 minutes

Themes:                 2 themes 

Cost:                       $35 each (4 players) (We got an opening special)

Overall Rating:      5 out of 5 stars

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

Review of The Enigma Room - Dr Disaster Theme [CLOSED]

My group of friends (4 adults) checked out The Enigma Room's 'Dr Disaster' room in March 2015. This was our eleventh escape room in Sydney so far.

We found the place very easily, thanks to an email they sent us the day before with directions and photographs of their entrance.  We were given a briefing by the owners, Matt and Barry before embarking on our attempt to defeat Dr Disaster.

They currently have two rooms, Dr Disaster and In Memoriam.

First off, I'll say what I enjoyed most about Dr Disaster at Enigma Room:

• it was fantastic.  The room design is very clever and contains many different elements, both high tech and low tech;
• every single puzzle is well considered, well designed and works perfectly;
• the theming was fantastic - the props were all perfect, they made sense and really added to the overall feel of the room.  Every single item in the room made sense - we really enjoyed how they had paid homage to various villains from movies, TV, video games, etc.  We all really appreciated that there was so much attention to detail with the props and theme;
• the pre-escape room video is great and really got us in the mood for the escape;
• the use of a tablet for communicating and obtaining clues was also perfect;
• there were some puzzles that we had never seen before and which we all really liked - it's always nice to see something new and different; and
• the owners are very passionate about their rooms and it shows from the quality of the room.  They also took the time out to show us every element of the room, the thinking behind the puzzle design, theming and various 'easter eggs' hidden throughout.

I have nothing negative to say about Dr Disaster.  

Unfortunately for us, the puzzles were too good for us on the day.  Although we did manage to escape with 4 seconds on the clock (technically we escaped!), we had to ask for lots of clues to get out in time.  This was a shame (and completely our own fault in not being able to solve what were completely solvable puzzles).  The real shame was that we had to rush through the last 10 minutes and didn't get a chance to stop and enjoy those last few puzzles - we instead were madly running around.

I personally think the puzzles are pretty tricky.  I think first-timers would be pretty hard-pressed to escape this room (unless they ask for lots of clues).  It might be best to warm up on some easier rooms (at other escape room outfits) before tackling this one - but you should definitely give it a go.  It is an excellent room.

My group really enjoyed Dr Disaster and we all agreed it was a 5 out of 5 room.

Where:                    Suite 602, Level 6, 262 Pitt Street 

Duration:                60 minutes

Themes:                 2 themes 

Cost:                       $35 each (4 players) (We got an opening special)

Overall Rating:      5 out of 5 stars

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

The Sydney Great Race (Amazing Race)

Hi everyone

Whilst this is not an escape room post, it does relate to something that I think would be appealing to many escape room fans.

On my birthday this year, my sister bought me tickets to go on an Amazing Race in Sydney with her, my wife and our friends.  We were a team of 5 adults.  The race is run as an homage to TV's The Amazing Race (although they carefully avoid any copyright infringements).

On the day (March 2015), we arrived at our meeting point in Wynyard Park to find 16 other teams (who looked much fitter than most of those in my team, myself very much included).  There were teams dressed up in cool outfits, there were small teams (of 2) and larger teams (of 6).

We had lots of fun throughout the day - taking photos with various items in the city, trying to work out some puzzles and challenges as quickly as possible, embarassing ourselves by singing and dancing in public in the city, etc.  It's amazing how you lose your inhibitions when you're in a race and have your eyes on the prize!

Three of our team know the city pretty well (and I probably know it the best, having previously worked in the city for 10 years).  This definitely helped in finding the locations and puzzles.

In the end, our team was pretty fast.  We managed to finish the race in about 80 minutes (with other teams crossing the finish line over an hour after us).  However, they cleverly give you bonus puzzles throughout the day, which if successfully solved will give you time off the clock (eg one puzzle might give you 10 minutes off your total race time, etc).

In the end our total time, when factoring in all of the bonus puzzles that we did, totalled negative 19 minutes and we came in first (much to our own surprise).  There was only 6 minutes in it though, so we just scraped through!

It was a heap of fun.  As the winners, we are now invited to the "invitation only" Champions Great Race race later this year, which should be fun.

When I received the tickets for the Great Race on my birthday, I thought that it would either be really awesome or really naff.  Thankfully, it was the former.

I recommend this race for all ages, although you have to be relatively fit to (literally) run around the city for a couple of hours.  One of my team was wearing a pedometer and she counted that we had done about 12,000 steps (many of which were staircases and on uneven ground).

It's definitely a fun day out.  For more information, you can find the Great Race website here.

My sister managed to get a Groupon or Scoopon, which meant that the per head cost was around $25.  As always, it pays to be registered on Groupon and Scoopon.

I'd be interested in hearing anyone else's comments if they have been to the Great Race as well!

Thanks
Scott

Discount voucher - PANiQ Room at The Rocks - Abandoned Military Bunker at The Rocks

Hi everyone

PANiQ Room is one of my favourite escape room outfits in Sydney and for a limited time, you can get a discount to one of their rooms!

The discount is available here through Our Deals (I had never heard of Our Deals before stumbling across them online).

The discount is a good one - the price is $35 for 2 people, $59 for 3 people, $69 for 4 people, $79 for 5 people and $89 for six people.  This is more than 50% off!

The discount is only available for PANiQ Room's Abandoned Military Bunker at The Rocks room (and is not available for their Supercell 117 room).

It's not clear how long this deal is good for, so probably best to act quickly.  Once you get the voucher, you have until June 5 to use it (and bookings must be made by 22 May 2015).

I absolutely loved their Supercell 117 room, so hopefully the Abandoned Military Bunker is just as good!

Enjoy!

March 2015 Update – Discount vouchers and coupons for Escape Rooms in Sydney

This is the updated page listing all known vouchers and coupon, scoopon or groupon codes that provide discounts for escape rooms in Sydney.   If you are aware of any new codes (or if you own an escape room and want to publish a code here), please feel free to post a reply below with the code.  I'll try to update this list once each month. Thanks.

Place	Website	Discount Code
Mission Escape Sydney	http://www.missionsydney.com/	No current codes that I am aware of.
Escape Hunt Sydney	http://sydney.escapehunt.com/	Student 15% discount Monday to Thursday only use code “STUDENT15”. Special 15% discount Monday to Thursday for anyone use code “MID15”.
Room Escape	http://roomescape.com.au/	No current codes that I aware of.  They are commonly on Groupon and Scoopon at around 50% off (see here for a recent Groupon offer). Note though that the Groupon/Scoopon excludes their newest rooms. You can also become a “member” on their site (it’s free, you just have to share/like them on Facebook) and you then get the members’ only prices.
The Mystery Puzzle	http://www.themysterypuzzle.com/	No current codes that I am aware of.  They have been on Groupon and Scoopon before @ $15 per person (see recent expired offer here - click on "More Info" and you can sign up to receive an email when another offer is available).
Clock Locked	http://clocklocked.com.au/	No current codes that I am aware of. They are often on Scoopon and Groupon at around 50% off @ $15 per person (see recent expired offer here - click on "More Info" and you can sign up to receive an email when another offer is available).
Parapark	http://paraparksydney.com.au/	No current codes that I am aware of.
Escapism	https://www.strikebowling.com.au/escapism	No current codes that I am aware of.
Paniq Room	http://paniqroom.com.au/	They also have a 15% off weekday special for student (see their website).
Enigma Room	http://www.enigmaroom.com.au/	No current codes that I am aware of.

Updated Summary of all ten escape rooms I have been to in Sydney (as at February 2015)

I have now been to ten different escape rooms in Sydney, so I thought now would be a good time for me to give a quick summary of my thoughts on each room.   See the table below.  

It’s really difficult to compare all 10 rooms and rank them (as they are so different – it really is like comparing apples and oranges).  However:

• for advanced players, my favourite rooms are PanIQ Room’s Supercell 117, Mission Escape’s Dr M and Parapark Sydney’s 9A Gateway; and
• for beginners, my favourite rooms are Parapark Sydney’s 9A Gateway and ClockLocked’s Dexter.

I'd be really interested in receiving any feedback or comments that you have on any of the Sydney escape rooms (good or bad and whether or not they appear in this list). 

Here's the table - I hope it is useful!

Place	Website	Room Theme	Comments
PanIQ Room (The Rocks)	Click here.	Supercell 117	This room was fantastic!  It has a great mix of high-tech and low-tech puzzles, the theming and props are flawless and the room design is the best I have seen.  I think this room is a little tricky for first-timers (that’s not to say that you wouldn’t enjoy it, but you might not get out in time).  Personally, I’d do a couple of other simple rooms before tackling this one.  It’s suited to kids and groups of up to say 6 people.  See my full review here.
Mission Escape (Sydney CBD)	Click here.	Dr M	I LOVED this room!  It is the most high-tech room in Sydney – the puzzles are largely home-made and very original and the theming is excellent.  It’s a little pricey (up to $45 per person) but definitely worth it.  They are ranked the number one escape room in Sydney on TripAdvisor for good reason.  The room is too scary for kids (probably best suited to say 12yo+).  I would try other rooms before tackling this one (as it was pretty tricky – I doubt most first-timers would escape in time).  See my full review here.
ParaPark Sydney (Macquarie Park)	Click here.	9A Gateway	This is another fantastic room.  The quality of the puzzles and theming were excellent (and many of the puzzles are home-made and very original).  Of all of the rooms, I think this is a really good option if you are a first timer or an advanced player (both would enjoy this room).  It can be a little scary for young kids, so I would suggest not bringing kids who are under say 10yo here.  Check out this room – you will love it.  Macquarie Park is only 15 minutes from the city – it’s definitely worth the trip! See my full review here.
Mission Escape (Sydney CBD)	Click here.	Vampire Castle	This is a great room.  It was the first high-tech room we had done and I couldn’t stop thinking about it for several days after.  It was my first taste of a great escape room in Sydney.  We didn’t escape (we missed it by a couple of minutes), but I was well and truly hooked after this room. As with Dr M, the puzzles are all high tech and the theming and props are excellent.  Again, it’s a little scary for kids under 12yo. I think this is a good room for beginners and advanced players alike.  See my full review here.
Escapism (King Street Wharf)	Click here.	Forensic	We all very much enjoyed the Forensic room, but jeez it was difficult (my group says it wasn’t that hard, but they are wrong – trust me, it’s very hard).  The game master told us that less than 5% of all groups escape this room! There wasn’t much ‘hunt and seek’ in this room but instead it was all mind-bending puzzles.  Once we figured out a few puzzles, we got on a roll and we managed to escape with about 6 minutes left on the clock (much to the surprise of our game master). They also only give you 50 minutes to escape (rather than the standard 60 minutes), which makes it that much harder.  The theming is great and the quality of the puzzles is excellent. This room is definitely not for first-timers .  Don’t do this room unless you have first tried at least a handful of other rooms.  See my full review here.
Clock Locked (Ultimo)	Click here.	Dexter	We all really enjoyed Dexter.  The puzzles were all very original, the theming was great and there was a really great atmosphere in the room.  We got stuck on the ‘hunt and seek’ element, which my group always falls down on. Personally, I was a little disappointed with one aspect of this room (but I can’t say anything more about it here without spoiling the room).  That being said, none of the other 3 people in my group were disappointed by this aspect. The room is too scary for kids and it is not big enough for groups bigger than 4 people. I would recommend either room for first timers and advanced players alike (and they are often on Groupon and Scoopon at 50% off).  See my full review here.
Clock Locked (Ultimo)	Click here.	Da Vinci	We all really enjoyed Da Vinci, for the most part.  Our only disappointment with this room was that one particular puzzle has an error in it (the issue related to a difference of opinion as to how letters and numbers are written (this seemed to have been a cultural issue as I think European letters and numerals are written differently than here)).  I think this issue might have been rectified now.  Their theming is great and the puzzles are all fun.  The room is too scary for kids and too small for corporate groups.  I would recommend either room for first timers and advanced players alike (and they are often on Groupon and Scoopon at 50% off).  I wouldn’t do this room with a group of more than 5 people maximum.  See my full review here.
Escape Hunt Sydney (Sydney CBD)	Click here.	Murder in the Pub	I didn’t love this room, despite it being the first escape room that we did in Sydney.  They had some faults in their puzzles, we were given a bad “hint” by the game master and one of the chains came away in our hands (even though we hadn’t yet found a key).  That being said, we went on their opening weekend and hopefully some of the problems and issues we faced have been fixed by now.  However, their biggest issue is theming, which is amongst the worst we have seen in Sydney.    Their rooms are aimed at corporate groups (as they have 6 rooms in total (ie 3 different rooms each duplicated).  These rooms are suited to first timers, corporate groups and those with kids (but not advanced players or those who appreciate fine theming and a fully immersive experience). See my full review here.
The Mystery Puzzle (Sydney CBD)	Click here.	Pirate Adventure	My group had fun at the Pirate Adventure, but it’s a simple room and it isn’t suited to advanced players. We escaped in 39 minutes and were told that this was the average escape time for all groups (which confirms my view that the room is too easy).  Pirate Adventure is a big room but it isn’t filled well.  There is too much “hunt and seek” and not enough puzzles.  Most disappointing is that the theming and props are very poor.  They don’t make sense in the space – it is as though the owners have picked up cheap things at an op shop just to fill the space.  I would however say that these rooms are suited to kids, first timers and corporate groups.  They are often on Groupon/Scoopon at 50% off.  Steer clear of this place if you have done an escape room before (because I suspect you will find it far too easy and boring like we did).  And definitely don’t bother doing both rooms.  See my full review here.
The Mystery Puzzle (Sydney CBD)	Click here.	Casino Revenge Thriller	I really didn’t enjoy this room at all. It was an ok room, but again the theming and props were very poor and it was just too easy – there weren’t enough puzzles to fill an hour worth of escaping.  The props made no sense at all – lots of items were there just to fill the space.  There were errors in the puzzles too. But what we found most disappointing about this room was that it was incredibly similar to their other room, Pirate Adventure (which we had already done).  Almost all of the puzzles and the various mechanisms were identical.  We escaped in 26 minutes and left bored and very underwhelmed.  Personally, in light of the lazy design between the 2 rooms, I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone.   However, like the Pirate Adventure room, this is geared at first-timers, kids and corporate groups.   And with a groupon or scoopon, I’m sure many people would enjoy this room. See my full review here.

Escape Club (aka Room Escape) at Kingsford

Also, although I haven’t yet been there, anecdotally I have been informed that Escape Club (based at Kingsford) is nothing special.  I have read a lot of consistently bad reviews on TripAdvisor.  I also know someone who went there who described it to me as dirty, run down and having poor instructions in some of the puzzles (perhaps due to a translation issue).  This person I know had booked to take his children to the Harry Potter room, but when they arrived they were told that there were lots of broken elements in the Harry Potter room so they instead were given a different room to do.  This left me with no confidence at all about this place, which is why I haven’t been there yet.

They often have Scoopons/Groupons for some of their rooms (but not their new rooms).  Although I haven’t been there, I have heard enough bad things about this place that I would not recommend it to anyone.  Read the reviews on TripAdvisor and form your own view though.

Review of PANiQ ROOM - Supercell 117 theme

My group of friends (4 adults) checked out PANiQ ROOM's 'Supercell 117' room in February 2015. This was our tenth escape room in Sydney so far.

We found the place pretty easily, but I can see how some people might get confused (because you have to be down on the correct ground level, which is lower than some of the nearby streets). We found it in about 5 minutes (and we were looking at 9:30 at night) - it is well sign posted when you find the front door.  We were given a briefing by the owners, Akos and Martina and a bit of a history of PANiQ ROOM, which was founded in Hungary.

They currently have two rooms, Supercell 117 and Abandoned Military Bunker on the Rocks.  

First off, I'll say what I enjoyed most about Supercell 117 at PanIQ Room:

• it was truly excellent.  The design of the room is unlike anything else I have seen and is such a great concept (I would love to go into this more, but it would be too much of a spoiler so I won't - take it from me though, it's very clever);
• they have a really good mix of high-tech puzzles and low-tech puzzles, many of which are home made and original (which I always appreciate);
• every puzzle works perfectly, which is great (you would think that this should be a given, but after having done so many escape rooms, trust me when I say that not all rooms have puzzles that work properly - and there is nothing more annoying than puzzles that don't work or are ambiguous);
• the theming couldn't have been better - the props were all perfect, they made sense and really added to the overall feel of the room.  Every single item in the room made sense - although they did have some red herrings, those red herrings still worked perfectly with the theme.  I really appreciated that there was so much attention to detail with the props and theme;
• there were some puzzles and locks that we had never seen before and which we all really liked - it's always nice to see something new and different;
• we got out with 9 minutes and 32 seconds left on the clock, which shows that it is not an easy room by any means.  I think some beginners would find this room challenging, which is a good thing in my honest opinion;
• the owners are very passionate about their rooms and it shows from the quality of the room.

As for some of the negatives with Supercell 117 at PanIQ Room, I have had a think about this over the past 2 days and my group of 4 who did the room have spoken about it since at length.  None of us could come up with a single negative aspect of this room.  Their price is around $35 per person, but I honestly think that this is very good value given the quality of the room and the amount of fun that we all had. 

I can't fault Supercell 117.  It was incredibly well designed and constructed and the theming and props are the best I have seen so far.  My group enjoyed every minute of it and we really can't wait to try their Abandoned Military Bunker on the Rocks!

Try their room - I promise you will love it. 

Where:                    40 Gloucester Street, The Rocks (entry Cambridge Street)

Duration:                60 minutes

Themes:                 2 themes 

Cost:                       $35 each (4 players) (We got a 20% off opening special)

Overall Rating:      5 out of 5 stars

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