Next Level Escape (Sydney, Australia)
Time limit: 75 mins
Age limit: None
Player limit: 2-12 (up to 24 due to 2 identical rooms) (recommended 4-8 per room)
Difficulty: 4/5
Awards: TERPECA Nominee (2020), TERPECA Finalist (2019, 2021-2023)
Date visited: July 2024
We caught the escape room bug on the Gold Coast and were eager to try some of the rooms in Sydney upon our return. Based on a recommendation, we decided to go with Ex Libris at Next Level Escape, which is designed for larger groups and even has two identical rooms so groups (usually corporate) can compete with each other.
We ended up going with a big group of 7, which included our usual family of 4, plus my niece C (who will contribute to the ratings of the escape rooms she does with us), her big sister, and their cousin, all of whom were first-timers. Even though the website states that Ex Libris has a maximum capacity of 12, I would say that even 7 people felt like too many. In fact, I was later clued in to the fact that the idea number of players is typically half of the stated max capacity.
Fortunately, if you do have a larger group, Ex Libris is a good option because it does have decent size and a multilinear design that allows your group to split up and tackle different areas/puzzles at the same time. Conversely, that also means it’s not a great room for those who like to see everything and be involved in as much of the experience as possible.
The theme of Ex Libris is a magical library that utilises different literary classics. I can’t say I was particularly impressed by the look and feel of the room, which feels light on immersion and atmosphere. The puzzles are generally quite good and varied, with a solid level of difficulty that requires different types of skills to solve. In this regard, the room is excellent if your team has players with different strengths. There is one particular room that has a puzzle design I found quite novel and clever.
The other notable aspect of the room is that it has additional optional tasks to complete at the end. Given that it is a 75-minute room (as opposed to the typical 60), this offers extra fun and challenges if your team manages to get through the main story with time remaining. We were actually scrambling around so much that we didn’t realise that we were already doing the bonus tasks, and had to ask for a couple of clues to finish the final puzzle in the nick of time.
My main issue with Ex Libris apart from the lack of immersion and atmosphere is the puzzle flow. Since several doors open at the same time, it can be confusing trying to figure out the correct sequence of the puzzles you need to solve. For instance, there are some puzzles you cannot solve until much later (or might even be one of the bonus puzzles), but there is no way to know because they’re all in the same space. As a result, we wasted a lot of valuable time examining and fiddling with things we didn’t need until much later on. It is possible that this is merely a reflection of our team’s lack of experience, so if any experienced players disagree with my assessment, please let me know!
As we would find out later through repeated visits, the GMs at Ex Libris are the best in Sydney — they are always well-trained and infuse a humorous and theatrical element to the experience. Of course, every GM is different, but with Next Level you can always be confident that they will be great.
On the whole, we did have a pretty good time and enjoyed Ex Libris for what it is. It is a room best suited for team building and larger groups who are content with solving fun puzzles as a team, as opposed to those seeking a more immersive and intimate experience.
Escape time: 74 out of 75 minutes (including bonus tasks)
Rating: 7.8
Player | Theming | Atmosphere | Puzzles | Creativity | Fun | Average |
H | 7.5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7.7 |
E | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6.8 |
Z | 7 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7.5 | 7.3 |
J | 8 | 7 | 9.5 | 9.5 | 9 | 8.6 |
C | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8.6 |
Rating | 7.8 |
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