[187] Riddle Room: The Dungeon

Date: 08/06/2024

Company Name: Riddle Room

Room: The Dungeon

Cost: $45 per person - Riddle Room were kind enough to offer us $10 off per person (Team of 4)

Time Allowed: 60 Minutes

Website Link: https://riddleroom.com.au/canberra/#rooms

Location: 8/160 Lysaght St, Mitchell ACT 2911

Best Parking: Street parking right outside the establishment or there is a complex out the back which has ample parking available

Succeeded: Yes in 45 Minutes, 38 Seconds

Rating: 

• Hospitality/Gamesmaster: 9
• Room Quality: 8
• Immersion: 8
• Puzzle Design: 8 
• Fun Factor: 8

Overall: 8.20/10

Room Description: 

Gone mad with power, the old King decided he only wants the greatest minds to dwell within his kingdom. Will you pass his tests, or will you be banished forever?

Comments:

After finishing The Nightmare, we took a brief intermission before heading back into the beautiful establishment that is The Riddle Room.

The staff at Riddle Room were, as always, exceptional. With their welcoming smiles, they were highly attentive, and spot-on as our Gamesmasters. They use a unique method of communication for Gamesmastering, utilizing a version of the "Voice of God" system. Responses to our questions are displayed on a monitor that also keeps track of our time. I quite liked this approach as it minimized miscommunication. However, the only drawback is that in a multi-room escape, you have to make your way back to the first room to see the monitor. Fortunately, this wasn’t an issue with The Dungeon, which is almost exclusively a single-room escape.

The Dungeon features a dimly lit space, with one area that is nearly pitch-black. However, don't let that deter you if you’re not a fan of scary or spooky rooms, as there wasn’t a single jump scare. The room flow and design in The Dungeon are really interesting and unlike any other room we’ve experienced. The room is designed with two paths that players must take. Each path is linear, but both can be progressed simultaneously, making it multi-linear rather than non-linear. The design is well thought out. To assist players in understanding the order, the game includes iconography on a wall that signposts each step along the way for both paths, with a convergence point towards the end. We hadn’t seen this done before.

The puzzles in The Dungeon are truly varied, incorporating spatial awareness, pattern recognition, and more. It was a great room for enthusiasts, as our team really enjoyed the diversity of challenging puzzles. As far as theming goes, all the props were high-quality and made sense in the space. There was also a strong storyline that continued throughout the experience and brought everything together nicely.

Another excellent service that Riddle Room provided during the debrief was the Gamesmaster running through all the stats, showing where our team was at certain puzzle intervals compared to the average. This was a great little touch that we haven't seen offered as "the norm."

We had a fantastic time in The Dungeon, escaping with about 15 minutes to spare.