Intruders

Mission Escape - George Street (Sydney, Australia)

Time limit: N/A (the experience takes around 90 minutes)

Age limit: 15+ (at least 2 players 15+ required; flexible)

Player limit: 2-6

Difficulty: 3/5

Awards: TERPECA Nominee (2023-2024), Best of Morty (2023)

Date visited: June 2025

When I inquired with Mission Escape about the kids doing The Sacrifice and Intruders, I was told that they should have no problem with the former, but that the latter would be too scary for them. And so after we exited The Sacrifice with our pants still dry, I bid farewell to Z and J, then headed back to Mission Escape to play Intruders with my new escape room buddy, the Escape Room Explorer. For the room widely touted as the scariest in Australia, it was just gonna be the two of us.

Let me just get this out of the way first: Intruders was freaking un-be-lie-va-ble. Hands down, it was one of the most incredible in-person experiences I've ever had, in any medium or format. I didn't exactly know what to expect before going in, but I had pretty high expectations for a good time, and those expectations were blown away.

The background is simpler than it sounds. You are part of a YouTuber film crew that is breaking into an abandoned hospital (set to be demolished next morning) at midnight to investigate what happened to the initial investigation team that disappeared without a trace. You are given specific roles in the crew (we picked them randomly before we went in), which adds the weight of responsibility and places you — and only you — in certain precarious positions. The main difference between Intruders and most other traditional escape rooms is that your YouTube channel director (a live actor), will be coming along for the ride... Well, in theory only... There will be plenty of times when the director ducks off to do something else, leaving you alone to deal with whatever is in the hospital...

Intruders is a difficult room to review because it's unlike any escape room I've ever played. Mission calls it "escape theatre", which is basically "escape room meets immersive theatre". The theming and atmosphere were incredible. Despite physically being in an office building in the middle of Sydney's CBD, I genuinely felt like I was inside an abandoned hospital. Everything from the walls and the ceilings to the layouts and sizes of the rooms came off as eerily authentic (albeit in relative darkness or dim lighting). Mission already did an impressive job with the theming of their newer rooms like Unstoppable and The Sacrifice, but Intruders was just different. Even the intro videos and footage used in-game felt much more polished and professional.

A big part of the immersion was the off-the-charts tech and theatrics. Intruders had multiple cinematic moments and reveals that have been seared into my brain. Employing genius use of darkness and lighting (including strobe lights), sound, music, and most importantly, timing, the design of every aspect of the experience was detailed, intricate, and masterful. It would not surprise me to learn that the designers of the room have experience in the theatre and/or film industry.

And yes, this was a scary room — even terrifying at times! But personally, it was the fun kind of scary, like watching a good horror movie or going on a roller coaster, where the thrills are intense but you also ultimately feel safe. If I let out any high-pitched screams or yelps — which I neither confirm nor deny — they were invariably followed by a laugh.

I was going to say that Intruders felt like being in a real-life horror movie, until I realised what would be an even better analogy — a horror video game. Being in this room brought back memories of playing horror classics like Resident Evil or Silent Hill, both of which also had a fair share of puzzle solving. However, being in the actual physical setting made the realism and sensory interactivity infinite levels above what a video game (even with a VR headset) is able to offer. There were even some immersive theatre segments in the room that very much felt like like cutscenes in a video game.

As for the puzzles, they do take a back seat to the immersive theatre, but I must say there was still more puzzle solving than I had anticipated. And with the exception of one or two slightly gratuitous puzzles, almost all of them came across as a necessary part of the story and the overall experience.

Notwithstanding all of the above, none of Intruders would have worked without the performances of the live actors, especially our director, Choy, who never once broke character. There were a couple of times where I thought he would give us a hint, but he pretended to be as clueless as we were, forcing us to think our way out of this nightmare. In the end, when our survival instincts prevented us from doing what we had to do to finish the room, he finally gave us a friendly nudge in the right direction. I would advise anyone doing Intruders to lean into their roles and pretend it's real as much as they can, because it will only enhance your experience.

Intruders is also unusual in that there is no clock. It's one of a few escape rooms I've done to date where your escape time is not relevant — and I'm so glad, because I wanted to savour every minute of the experience. Having only two people was also a blessing in disguise, as it added to the tension and intensity, especially whenever you're left on your own. That said, if you're a scaredy cat, I'm sure more people would help keep the 💩 out of your 👖.

In my opinion, it's not hyperbole to call Intruders a masterpiece. In fact, I haven't been able to stop thinking about it! Look, if you're looking only to solve puzzles, you're not going to be impressed. Also, the scary and thrilling elements obviously won't be for everyone. But if you can stomach the creepy atmosphere, the horror themes, and some exquisitely timed jump scares, this is one of the best immersive experiences you can have. Solving some puzzles along the way is just a bonus.

PS: I'll be looking to take E and the kids back to re-do at some stage in the (near) future. I'm just worried that I've talked it up so much that they'll end up being disappointed!

Escape time: N/A

Theming	Atmosphere	Puzzles	Creativity	Fun
A+	A+	B-	A+	A+

Verdict: A masterpiece of escape theatre that cannot afford to be missed!

OVERALL RANK:

H	E	Z	J
S	TBD	TBD	TBD