In the heart of the Sydney CBD another set of office blocks have been taken over by the fantastical fun of escape rooms. The Mystery Puzzle, a local business, changes their rooms every few months, with a team constantly working on new and exciting challenges. In its current state, we venture into The Room of the Lost Pirate Souls; the humble abode of some sort of sea captain.

Not entirely sure why we are here other than the fact we need to escape the room in 60 minutes, we set out upturning the room. A lack of narrative makes it difficult to see where to start first, and – although some of the puzzles themselves are clever – there is very little guidance or sense of flow. This isn’t helped by the lack of audio recording in the room. Our supervisor can only see us and can only communicate via a TV screen with text. Often we’d be given clues for things we had already solved and the only solution was for the supervisor to enter the room and talk to us. Better communication with the ‘outside’ is a must for this room. The aim is to escape without assistance, but, if assistance is available, it needs to be convenient and preferably portable.

Once we knew what our tasks were, we could set out completing them. The puzzles aren’t technical but they are creative and require a variety of approaches to solve them. We’d recommend assessing the tools you’ve been given and making sure you carefully consider which tasks or codes they relate to. Being methodical pays off in this room as you are solving the larger escape lock in pieces while unlocking other codes to garner more information for the overall code.

Choose this escape room for the constant re-freshing of material every few months, but be mindful that a sacrifice of this luxury is a clear and moody atmosphere. You very much still feel like you’re in an office building in this room.

SCORE

Overall: 5/10
Fun: 6/10
Atmosphere: 5/10
Difficulty: 7/10
Creativity of puzzles: 6/10
Foyer: 6/10 (Bar and food are a win. Plus, there’s bowling downstairs)
Value of money: 6/10

For more information or to book, visit www.themysterypuzzle.com or call (02) 9994 8221. The Mystery Puzzle is located a few minutes walk away from Martin Place Station in the Sydney CBD at: Level 1, 37 Bligh Street Sydney, NSW 2000.