Heart of the Mountain

H
6 days ago
4 min read

Heart of the Mountain - Marrickville (Sydney, Australia)

Time limit: None (but around 60 minutes)

Age limit: Under 16 requires adult; not recommended for under 12

Player limit: 2-8

Difficulty: 2.5/5 (success rate 61%)

Awards: TERPECA Nominee (2022, 2024), Best of Morty (2024)

Date visited: June 2025

When you're in escape room enthusiast circles, you hear about the trendy new rooms that pop up. And the hottest new room in town is undoubtedly Heart of the Mountain, an ambitious escape room in Marrickville (Sydney's Inner West) that promises to be a cinematic, Indiana Jones-style action adventure.

Visiting on the first weekend of its official opening, we didn't really know that to expect. Situated in Marrickville Traders, a massive new warehouse-sized complex that was mostly unoccupied when we got there, Heart of the Mountain really stood out amongst all the empty white spaces surrounding it.

We had heard that a lot of money was invested into the design and the props and tech, and this was evident right off the bat, from the waiting area to the front counter to the locker for personal belongings. Everything looked like it was custom built for an immersive experience. After the usual pre-game instructions, we were fed a backstory through a voiceover, and away we went!

Heart of the Mountain turned out to be as advertised. In terms of ambition and production value, it is a very promising sign of what next-generation escape rooms have to offer. The look and feel of the theming were that of a movie set. Our GM and an owner/designer of the game told us afterwards that he used to work in the film industry, and it really showed. The Indiana Jones comparisons are legit. However, I don't want to oversell it and create unrealistic expectations — other top-tier escape room establishments in Australia have sets and props on the same level, but perhaps just not on the same scale or scope.

The puzzles were similarly ambitious and adhered to the adventure theme. They were predominantly tech-based and mechanical, with no illogically placed number locks in sight. As with most tech-heavy rooms, the puzzles were more task-based than traditional brain teasers. There were some wild puzzle concepts and ideas that I did not imagine would be possible in an escape room, but Heart of the Mountain managed to pull them off. Fingers crossed they don't break down or are too difficult to maintain!

I would say that Heart of the Mountain is, as the marketing suggests, more of an "adventure experience" than an escape room, in that it leans more into the spectacle than the puzzle solving. While there were puzzles that made use of the film-set quality props, what really made this experience stand out for me were the "wow" moments fuelled by slick tech and cinematic reveals. For me, the puzzles were good enough — a little finicky as tech puzzles can be at times— but you are more likely to be impressed by the way the puzzles are presented than how they are solved.

The room is suited to smaller groups, probably 2-4. The problem when our group of 5 visited was not that some sections felt cramped, but that some players felt like they didn't have as much to do, since most of the puzzles/actions only required one or two people to complete. That said, the hunt and seek portions of the game would benefit from an extra pair of eyes/hands.

Given that we visited the room when it first opened, I am certain that improvements will be made and changes will be implemented to enhance the player experience. For instance, we did find that it was too dimly lit in some areas, and that a couple of things would have benefitted with a bit more signposting. One mechanical contraption functioned so slowly that we didn't even realise it was moving at all. But these are things I'm sure will be adjusted over time as they receive more feedback.

I was particularly a fan of the hint system, which we had only seen a couple of other places utilise before (like Studio Escape in Japan). Basically, the GM has dozens of pre-recorded voice prompts — delivered in-character and in accordance with the story so as to not break immersion — that they can play at any time to guide you in the right direction. If we wanted to ask for a specific clue, we could just wave and say it out loud, as the GM had eyes and ears on us at all times, but the responses would be received via a walkie talkie. It hasn't quite been perfected yet, but again, I'm sure they will keep working on it and add more prompts for common issues and questions moving forward.

We were told beforehand that, unlike other escape rooms, there would be no clock for Heart of the Mountain, because the goal isn't to escape within the time limit, but to have fun experiencing the game. That said, I believe if you are so terrible at the puzzles that you can't make your way through the room, I'm sure your GM will have to push you along, given that some of the bookings are as close as 1.5 hours apart...

In all, Heart of the Mountain was a really cool adventure experience that pushes Australian escape rooms in a bold, ambitious direction. While the puzzles themselves might not satisfy pure puzzle enthusiasts, the spectacle and theatrics can definitely help expand the customer base. Some might still be apprehensive because of the premium pricing, but in my opinion it's worth it because of what you're getting in return. We were told that if the feedback for this first room is good, investors will immediately back the construction of a second room — a replayable one. I'm not sure how I feel about replayable rooms yet, especially given how expensive escape rooms are, but Heart of the Mountain makes me confident that it'll be worth the wait.

Escape time: N/A (I think it was a little over 60 minutes)