Location: Adventure Rooms Adelaide, Rundle Mall, Adelaide, SA, Australia
Date completed: Mar 2017 (2 players). Succeeded escaping!
Creativity: 7; Difficulty: 6.5; Atmosphere: 7 Fun: 8.5.
Requirements:
- 2-7 players (we recommend 4)
I am a very lawful and well behaved lady, who has never been in trouble with the police. But I have to admit, since the escape addiction took over me, I’ve been in prison more times than anyone would expect. Maybe because prison break is one of the most popular escape games’ themes?
After a positive experience with Adventure Rooms overseas, we decided to check how the rooms in the Adelaide branch of this international company would look like. For Gaol Break, Trapspringer and I were separated into (seemingly) identical cells and had to use the best of our communication skills to reunite and escape!
After being cuffed to a metallic bed with a very thin mattress near a wall, I could not see where they took Trapspringer, neither he could see me. But we could hear each other and identify we were in adjacent cells in the same prison corridor. The background story of this room is not about being arrested unfairly or anything – you are criminals and simply want to escape using your smarts. Fair enough, that’s what we did (to use our smarts, not be criminals :P).
The first step was to find out how to get some more mobility, while describing to him what I could see. He seemed to be in an identical cell, but good communication guaranteed we could realize some special spots and working our way out. I particularly liked the start of the game, as things I said affected his side of the game, and vice-versa.
The initial puzzles require a lot of search and dexterity. Make sure you have people with delicate and precise movement skills in your team, as they will be important! Also, be attentive for props that may have less obvious uses, and tell your mates in the other cell about everything you find! We can’t stress enough how this is important! At a certain point, you will be actually doing very hands-on things together, even though you can’t see each other!
Once you manage to get out of the cell, it’s time to get out of the prison! Some easy puzzles in the prison corridor will be the warm-up to the hardest part of the room that will come ahead. A layered puzzle will give you access to some important information, so get people working on each branch of this task right away!
Tasks will require association and some assembly to go on, but if you do it right, you will know exactly where to look for. We thought Adventure Rooms did a good job inserting some technology in the later part of the room in a way that totally fit the setting. The final puzzle is also interesting and unexpected, quite hard to describe without spoiling. Maybe I should call it the “anti-aha moment”? It gave me quite a mix of emotions, from disbelief to a burst of laughs! My reaction was probably best described as “whaaaaattt?”.
I had to come back to my senses really quickly though, as we had no time to spare! Trapspringer and I got out of the room with only 16 seconds left on the clock! Our gamemaster Tash was very nice and got us a lot of water, much appreciated after such a thrilling ending! According to her, games at Adventure Rooms Adelaide have a 30% escape rate.
After completing the Gaol Break, we went on to play Mad Scientist at Adventure Rooms Adelaide. We did not try their third game, The Black Queen, which we had played previously in Florence (Italy), but may give it a new go in Australian lands. All three games are also available in Adventure Rooms Melbourne, which opened in 2017.
Out of the room
Service: In Adventure Rooms Adelaide, you take your items into the room with you. There is water for players in the reception areas and toilets. Our briefing was comprehensive and our gamemaster Tash was very kind.
Communication: If the gamemasters notice you are stuck, they will send hints through a screen. you do not talk to them directly.
Surroundings: Adventure Rooms Adelaide is in the middle of Rundle Mall in the heart of Adelaide. There is no shortage of options for food in this area and it is easily accessible by tram or bus. there are always performances going on on the street as well, some quite good.
Lock Me If You Can 
Is it scary?
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