Next Level Escape (Sydney, Australia)
Time limit: 75 minutes
Age limit: None (but note there is low-level coarse language and very mild scares)
Player limit: 2-7
Difficulty: 4/5
Awards: TERPECA Nominee (2024)
Date visited: January 2025
When I visited the Next Level Escape website for the first time, the room that caught my attention the most was End of the Road, a zombie apocalypse-themed room that also happened to be their newest room. But for one reason or another, we ended up playing Ex Libris, The Game, and The Artefact first. Because of that, we realised that Next Level’s games are mostly cheeky, humorous, and fun, so we knew this was not going to be some “scary room” that the kids or E would not be able to handle.
We went as a family of 4 and came out of End of the Road thoroughly impressed and satisfied with the experience. We all agreed that while The Game might be Next Level’s most unique and technically “best” room because of its rare and exciting head-to-head format, End of the Road might be our favourite because of how fun and quirky it is.
Next Level is perhaps best known for their wonderfully enthusiastic and hilarious GMs, and Chris, our GM for End of the Road, really took it to a whole new level. We were greeted in character even before we caught the lift down to the basement, and given the briefing inside the actual room as opposed to the foyer area like the other games we had played there. Beyond simply thinking about how to design the room and the puzzles, the owners of Next Level really put care and effort into designing the overall experience. Without giving too much away, every aspect and element of the experience until you escape the room was formed part of the game.
In terms of theming, End of the Road was probably the best of the games we’ve played at Next Level to date (note that we have not yet played Forest of Echoes). There were some very clever ideas in terms of props, lighting and sound design that brought the zombie theme to life and added a layer of tension, humour, and interaction that enhanced the immersion. As usual, Next Level implemented some cool tech into the space, but it never felt forced or gratuitous. Tech puzzles are nice and all, but sometimes they can be finicky or frustrating. Fortunately, End of the Road found a smart way to craft its tech around the puzzles rather than the other way around.
As for the scaredy cats, there really isn’t anything to be afraid of in this room. If this can be even classified as a “horror” room, it is the least frightening one we’ve ever played. There’s maybe a potential minor jump scare or two, but again, it’s more cheeky than scary.
Despite this being a 75-minute room, we managed to breeze through End of the Road, smashing our way to the exit in less than half the allotted time. That said, we still felt challenged and engaged throughout the experience, and did not feel like we were short-changed or that there weren’t enough puzzles in the room.
On the whole, this was a fabulous room and definitely one of the most fun experiences we’ve had at Next Level. Everything from the theming to puzzles was designed really well, and in my opinion better than some of Next Level’s earlier rooms. We were very excited to hear that Forest of Echoes might not be a strictly 16+ room (parental guidance recommended), so we will be eager to try it out soon!
Escape time: 36 minutes and 42 seconds
Verdict: Another really fun, funny, and well-designed game from Next Level that is arguably our favourite room there, alongside The Game.
Rating: 8.9
Player | Theming | Atmosphere | Puzzles | Creativity | Fun | Average |
H | 8.5 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 9.5 | 9 | 8.8 |
E | 8.5 | 9 | 8.5 | 9 | 9 | 8.6 |
Z | 9 | 8.5 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8.9 |
J | 9.5 | 9.5 | 9 | 9 | 9.5 | 9.3 |
Rating | 8.9 |
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