The Mystery Rooms: Chapter 4 – A GRIMM Finale [Review]

Location: The Mystery Rooms, Fitzroy (Melbourne), VIC, Australia

Date completed: April 2018 (5 players). Succeeded escaping (juuuust in time)!

Creativity: 9.5; Difficulty: 8.5; Atmosphere: 9; Fun: 8.5.

Requirements:

• Fluent English
• 4-6 players
• Acute senses
• Full mobility
• Warm clothes
• Some knowledge of fairy tales highly recommended

Once upon a time, a group of escape room enthusiasts entered a series of quests to retrieve the talismans of Strength, Knowledge and Courage. With those magical items, they could  restore the separation between the realms of Reality and Fantasy, and avoid an invasion by the forces of the Snow Queen. Backed by a secret organization called GRIMM, our heroes departed into a chilling adventure!

We were invited by the Mystery Rooms to try Chapter 4 – A GRIMM Finale, which is a special escape room for those who have previously completed the other three (excellent) games in the venue, where you obtain the aforementioned talismans. It is an intense game that keeps the entire team busy! And a piece of advice, which will sound like something a mother would say: bring a jacket!

Cryptology: Total Carnage [Review]

Location: Cryptology, Chermside, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Date completed:  October 2017 (3 players). Succeeded escaping.

Creativity: 5; Difficulty: 4; Atmosphere: 3.5; Fun: 4.5.

Requirements:

• Fluent English
• 2-6 players. We recommend no more than 4.

Waking up trapped and cuffed in a dark dungeon, we were once again captured by some maniac serial killer. We had one hour to find a way out, before the criminal came back to probably end our days. While the “Saw premise” for escape rooms is very common these days, it’s all a matter of execution (as we have seen in some notable examples). So  we were curious to see how Cryptology, the escape room brand from Playtime / Kingpin Bowling, would develop this theme.

Soon we noticed strange sounds around us. But they were not the heavy footsteps of the serial killer…

Escape Manor: The Asylum [Review]

Location: Escape Manor, Brisbane City,  QLD, Australia

Date completed: October 2017 (4 players). Succeeded escaping!

Creativity: 8; Difficulty: 7.5; Atmosphere: 8; Fun: 8.5.

Requirements:

• 2-6 players (Public Booking)
• 45-minute room
• Basic English
• 1 player not colour blind

When we travel, we do enjoy to take part in ghost tours. Not exactly for the supernatural parts, but hearing the specific stories of people who previously lived in places tends to be interesting. So we found it quite curious that The Asylum’s story revolved around a group of strangers on a ghost tour to visit an abandoned mental facility. It was a very clever plot, as Escape Manor does public bookings (something not common in Australia) and the group can indeed be formed by strangers. The names and places cited by the gamemaster’s briefing actually existed in Brisbane in the early 20th century.

So there we were, ready to embark in a ‘tour’. Our guide was quite enthusiastic about the visit to the mental facility. A bit TOO enthusiastic. He closed the door behind us, and all we could hear was a maniac laugh….

Escape Manor: The Covenant [Review]

Location: Escape Manor, Brisbane City,  QLD, Australia

Date completed: October 2017 (4 players). Succeeded escaping!

Creativity: 7.5; Difficulty: 7.5; Atmosphere: 7.5; Fun: 8.

Requirements:

• 2-6 players (Public Booking)
• 45-minute room
• Intermediate English

That contract was suspicious, but the terms were so good… What did you wanted most? Money? Fame? Love? It was all there. The ‘solicitor’ making the deal was a bit weird, and his hair was so hard and spiky you could expect it to pierce through his hat. For some reason, you felt like trusting him anyway. Silly mistake. Now, how deep must you go to destroy that contract to save your very soul.

The Covenant was a race into the ‘office’ of a very suspicious individual to retrieve and destroy a document you regret having signed. It was also our first experience with public bookings in an Australian escape room venue – we had only seen that in pop-up rooms before. The Brisbane operation of Escape Manor is a franchise of the same-named company in Canada. As far as we know, Escape Manor is the only public-booking venue in the Australia. We found out when we arrived that we had been paired with another couple for this adventure. How do you think it unfolded?

Escape Hunt Brisbane: The Jewel Thief [Review]

Location: Escape Hunt Brisbane, South Bank, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Date completed:  October 2017 (2 players). Succeeded escaping!

Creativity: 7.5; Difficulty: 7.5; Atmosphere: 7.5; Fun: 8

Requirements:

• Fluent English
• 2-5 players
• At least two players with full mobility

Your latest theatre play was a huge success, praised for the quality of screenplay, acting and props. Among the latter, a set of jewelry had most stunning pieces – necklace, tiara, earrings made of beautiful precious stones. They were on loan from a famous jeweler and made media headlines. However, this six piece jewelry set is about to be in the newspapers again for a completely reason: they were stolen from the backstage of the Brisbane Arts Theatre! You were sent into the prop maker’s workshop to locate the items (or find out what happened to them) before it is too late!

The Jewel Thief was a game with very detailed props and with an interesting ending – it posed a moral dilemma to us and was our favourite game out of the three we played at Escape Hunt Brisbane. The theatre theme was very enjoyable. As Jaques said, ‘all the world was a stage!’

Escape Hunt Brisbane: Treachery at the Racetrack [Review]

Location: Escape Hunt Brisbane, South Bank, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Date completed:  October 2017 (2 players). Succeeded escaping!

Creativity: 7; Difficulty: 7.5; Atmosphere: 6.5; Fun: 7

Requirements:

• Native/Fluent English
• 2-5 players
• Acute senses

Guests and gamblers were shocked when a jockey died during a race in Brisbane. The tragedy was quickly ruled an assassination by the police: his horse riding equipment had been tampered and his fall was not accidental. An arrest was made, but rumours have arisen that a local crime syndicate have done a frame job on an innocent person. In this game by Escape Hunt Brisbane, players need to find the evidence to figure out who the actual murderer was and what in happening behind the scenes in this Treachery at the Racecourse.

This was the hardest of the three games we’ve played at Escape Hunt Brisbane. It was especially challenging for my foreign ears, so have your senses at spider level when attempting it!

Escape Hunt Brisbane: Bomb at the Government House [Review]

Location: Escape Hunt Brisbane, South Bank, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

Date completed:  October 2017 (2 players). Succeeded escaping!

Creativity: 4.5; Difficulty: 4; Atmosphere: 7; Fun: 7.5

Requirements:

• Intermediate English
• 2-5 players

Your team of investigators just received a letter informing that a bomb has been set to detonate in Brisbane’s Government House in 60 minutes. Your mission is to find and disarm the device, and try to find out who made this threat. But why are there so many clues left behind? You start wondering if  the bomber actually wanted to be caught…