Update: The Vampire Chronicles room is no longer open, but the Escape Room Australia complex has new escape rooms to choose from, including a slaughterhouse horror room.
Gliding off the escalator onto the first floor of a CBD mall, we’re met by slick black-and-yellow branding and an army of busy, smiling staff. Posters and props spruik the six different rooms to choose from: a bandaged mummy beckons to an ancient Egypt room; a poster invites us to become art thieves in the Gallery. Then, we notice the Vampire Chronicles room and our hearts beat harder. Do we dare to enter the lair of an ancient bloodsucking monster? We’re told that it’s a four-star rated difficulty, but hey, we’re veteran escape artists, right?
Not exactly. In fact, we’re stumped almost immediately. The room is a dimly lit homage to Gothic horror (no sparkly Cullens here) in a palette of purples, reds and blacks. Our erudite prince of the night has trapped us among paintings and bookshelves. Slight claustrophobia sets in as we realise how small the space is. But wait a minute – what’s that gap behind the bookshelf?
From here onwards, our escape from the Vampire Room becomes an emotional rollercoaster of feeling totally stumped, then unlocking some of the most brilliant surprises we’ve come across (one had us shrieking, dancing and laughing all at once). Satisfyingly tricky (yet solvable) puzzles almost make up for a couple of frustrating bugs in the game; we’re reminded here of the importance of thoroughly testing the rooms. Ultimately, we fail because we leave a tool behind that we would’ve needed to solve the final clue – and really, in a game that’s all about persistence and lateral thinking, one small mistake shouldn’t doom the mission. But we emerge feeling like we’ve seen what the shiniest escape rooms in Asia look like. And we want more.
Outcome: Failed
Atmosphere: 4/5
Creativity of puzzles: 4/5
Difficulty: 5/5
Fun: 4/5
Best quote: “I know these bats are trying to tell me something but what?”
Our tip: When entering nooks and crannies, make sure you bring helpful tools.