The Cipher Room - St Peters (Sydney, Australia) Time limit: 60 minutes Age limit: Recommended for age 12+ (creepy atmosphere/themes) Player limit: 2-8 (recommended 3-6) Difficulty: 4/5 Date visited: November 2025 It's hard to believe, but the last time we visited The Cipher Room was to play Espionage in October 2024. At the time, we were optimistic we would be back to play Metamorphosis soon-ish, though I always prefer that escape room builders take their time to deliver t

(UPDATED with new numbers after voting closed) I'm excited. When I started my escape room journey in July 2024, I never expected to reach 100 rooms within the next 15 months. Yet here we are! I thought No. 100 was Cabin Cult , but I actually made a mistake with my count, and as it turns out, my 100th room was Motel in Melbourne. D'oh! Nevertheless, hitting the 100-room milestone means I am now an eligible TERPECA voter! I submitted my application a couple of weeks ago and go

Strange World Escape Rooms - Darlinghurst (Sydney, Australia) Time limit: 70 minutes Age limit: Recommended 18+ (jump scares, coarse language); under 17 requires adult Player limit: 2-8 (recommended 4-6) Difficulty: 3/5 Date visited: November 2025 One of our most anticipated new rooms of the year was the new entry by Strange Worlds, which impressed us last year with their first room, Mrs Claws , a fun, campy horror-comedy. For the longest time, we thought the new room would

Escape Games Melbourne (Melbourne, Australia) Time limit: 60 minutes Age limit: Under 16 requires adult Player limit: 2-7 Difficulty: 4.5/5 Date visited: October 2025 We were still amped up after our transcendent experience at Carnivorou s in Geelong the night before, so my friend V and I decided to do one more room in the morning before my return flight to Sydney. As a two-man team, we decided upon Motel at Escape Games Melbourne to take advantage of a Groupon deal that ma

Containaphobia (Geelong, Australia) Time limit: 80 minutes (intended to be played multiple times) Age limit: 18+ Player limit: 3-4 Difficulty: Expert Date visited: October 2025 Be prepared to run...   Some time over the past year, a legend began to grow about an escape room so wild, so insane, and so terrifying — yet so brilliant — that it had to be played to be believed, probably even multiple times. Countless people cried and gave up just minutes into the game, or worse, a

The Mystery Rooms Geelong (Geelong, Australia) Time limit: 60 minutes Age limit: None Player limit: 4-10 Difficulty: 4/5 Date visited: October 2025 This room… this was not my kind of room.   It was bound to happen eventually – my first Indestroom experience. Indestroom is probably the best-known escape room supplier in the industry, offering a wide range of products ranging from escape cubes, portable games and escape room props to entire escape rooms. That Quizy game show I

Escape Room Geelong (Geelong, Australia) Time limit: 45 minutes (up to 60 minutes) Age limit: 18+ (no exceptions) Player limit: 2-4 Difficulty: Medium Date visited: October 2025 Our third room of the day took us out into the suburbs of Geelong and my first professional “in-home” escape room. Yes, this one is literally inside a person’s residence. Normally, I would not look to book such a room, but the owner and creator, Andrew, is a professional escape room designer and buil

Containaphobia (Geelong, Australia) Time limit: 70 minutes Age limit: 15+ (under 18 requires adult) Player limit: 2-5 (3-5 on Friday, Saturday, Sunday & Public Holidays) Difficulty: Hard Awards: TERPECA Nominee (2021-2024), Best of Morty (2023) Date visited: October 2025 After our first room in Queenscliff, we immediately headed to Containaphobia to play Mayhem Manor  as a team of 3 (as one team member is horror-averse). Situated in a massive barn in the Geelong suburb of Mo

Queenscliff Maritime Museum (Geelong, Australia) Time limit: 60 minutes Age limit: None Player limit: 2-6 Difficulty: Medium Date visited: October 2025 Here we go! My whirlwind Melbourne solo trip without the rest of the family was initially just to play Mayhem Manor  and Carnivorous  at Containaphobia in Geelong… but since I was going all that way and unlikely to be returning any time soon, it was only fitting that I packed the schedule with more escape rooms.   First up, B

Society of Curiosities Age: Recommended 14+ Players: 1-4 Playing time: 2-3 hours Difficulty: Medium Awards: Best Overall Table-Top Game Of The Year - Bullseye Award (2020) This was the last tabletop game we played before my solo Melbourne trip. Created by the Society of Curiosities, Madok’s Lost Treasure  is classified as a “mystery-in-a-box” game, a self-contained adventure that contains everything you need as long as you have an internet connection. You can purchase it outr