Cold Case

Missing Klues (Canberra, Australia)

Time limit: 60 minutes

Age limit: None

Player limit: 1-8

Difficulty: 9/10

Date visited: June 2025

Our first room in Canberra for the King's Birthday long weekend was Cold Case at Missing Klues (which acquired Revelation Room, the previous owner, in March 2024).

Missing Klues had 6 rooms as at the date of our visit, though only 4 of the rooms were from the original Revelation Room (Cold Case, Overdose, Toxic, and Doomsday). We heard Toxic and Doomsday were solid rooms but utilised the exact same space, which did not sound appealing to me, so we opted for their two highest-rated rooms.

Cold Case was rated their most difficult room, so it was not ideal for us to do it first, but we didn't have much of a choice given that we had to drive over from Sydney first in the morning and the room times worked out best this way.

Cold Case was a different to every other escape room we had played thus far in that the goal of the room was not to escape, but to solve a murder mystery. As detectives, our task was to investigate the crime scene, gather clues, and determine 3 key facts that would allow authorities to apprehend the killer.

The first part of the room played out like a traditional escape room, but the second part had an added layer of difficulty that put our deduction skills to the test. We found the puzzles — a mixture of low-tech and hi-tech — to be pretty fun, and fortunately not as difficult as we had feared (we completed the room with 16 minutes to spare). There was perhaps a little more reading involved than a typical escape room, but definitely not more than expected for detective room or to the point where it got tedious.

The theming was solid for what the setting purported to be. I wouldn't call it realistic but it was better than a simple office space decorated with props. As such, the atmosphere didn't feel particularly immersive, yet it was sufficient.

On the whole, Cold Case was a solid room and a solid start to our Canberra trip. In hindsight, it might be the weakest room of our entire 9-room trip, though this is more a reflection of how great the other rooms were as opposed to an indictment on this room. Certainly, at the time we played it, we were satisfied and enjoyed the experience.

Escape time: 44 minutes

Theming	Atmosphere	Puzzles	Creativity	Fun
C+	C+	B+	B+	B

Verdict: A solid, interesting detective-style room that requires combines traditional puzzles with logical deduction to solve a murder mystery.

OVERALL RANK:

H	E	Z	J
B	C	B-	A-